5mo ago

Reduce, Rerulese, Recycle

Hi! Weird request, mildly related, but does any of you fine people have any suggestions for interesting and Lefty-friendly jobs?

After a decade of undoing the universe's work by completely annihilating my soul in IT, I want out. I'm not looking for alternative jobs in IT, I want out-out. Like, I don't wanna be usin' a computer for more than making Spreadsheets, and phones for more than chatting and ignoring emails. Edit here: would also use for graphical design and related, but I'd have to start from scratch. Basic Paint.net usage is my high-score.

In terms of pay, that will be a secondary concern, my priority is establishing a list of potentials in order to have a nice foothold from which to start figuring it out.

If it's of any help, my "Major's" QA, mostly Manual and some Automation (Cypress with JS). I've also officially done some Project Management, Process Auditing and Optimisation, Data Science, and Community Management (-ish on the last one, training programs/materials and project organiser for a community of freelance testers). Got a Bachelor's in Theatre Acting, two years as a bass player in two bands, some IT/maths/phys background from high-school (Eastern European curriculum, so they really let us have it...) and I enjoy analysing and solving problems. Heavily into literature, music and visual arts, I can learn absolutely anything and I do not shy away from physical labour - kinda' miss it, actually.

I'm super-serious about this, I can't stand the domain anymore and I feel I'll lose my mind if I have to keep doing this.

Thank you very much even if you've only read through this!

36 comments

No no, please don't do this without eye protection. I did some grinding without eye protection, didn't hurt or anything, but day later doctor had to drill metal particles out from my eye balls.
0/10, would not recommend
and they said that I cannot get MRI ever again, because some small particles might be still inside and magnet can pull them out. Fun stuff.
- Ah, Lemmy: come for the hazing, stay for the body horror.
  I gotta admit, it's kinda funny that he's got all the PPE except the part he actually needs most.
- Lots of people can't get MRIs. Luckily there are plenty of alternatives.
- MRI wont pull them out, just make eye-soup by twirling them around really hard and fast.

That guy is like, I'm getting paid $18 an hour to hold a plastic bag while they do all of the hard work. I'm just going to sit here and act like I don't know what's going on and let them enjoy their laugh while I collect my paycheck.
- Honestly, this is pretty much the opposite of what civil construction looks like in our neck of the woods. The roles are inversed, the veterans sit around, not even pretending to look busy, while the Junior works.
  Would very much like to get paid to catch sparks. How cool does that sound for a job description!
  
  A lot of veterans will raz new hires this way. One reason is to establish the social hierarchy. The other reason is to teach the new hires to not be gullible dipshits.
- I mean he's making at least 25 an hour to hold that bag

So I'm a dumb who doesn't know anything, but isn't powdered metal like kinda valuable?
He may not be catching powdered metal that is refined to a proper standard, or enough for it to be valuable, but to me, a naïve dork who doesn't know anything, it sounds plausible.
I'd totally be just that sucker, catching sparks for recycling.
- An acquaintance once landed a contract to clear up a gold mine site after shut down. He bid super low for it, the only condition he stipulated was it be left in the condition in which he had inspected it, something like that.
  The operator immediately gave him the contract, and he immediately gathered up all the dust from conveyor belts etc sifted through it, separated all the left over gold inside and sold it.
  Set him up in a big way, the idiot operator tried to take him to court to claim the gold as theirs, with no success.
  So yeah, sometimes there truly is gold in that there dust.

Keep the day job for now and start volunteering what time you can spare to a cause that resonates with you.
That might be the night time soup kitchen, or planting trees with your local working bee, or companionship sessions with the local nursing home. You may find an idea for a vocation reveals itself, and be in a position to hear about any opportunities.
Lefty friendly and community work are pretty well aligned so I think that's a start.
I feel you re IT and related industries. I just want to close my laptop and never open it again, but it's not an option right now.
- Thank you! I've had the immense fortune of landing into some horizontal movement potential, so I can fully quit my job for a while and just do life.
  Volunteer work sounds good, thank you! And, yeah, if nothing else, think I could do with the change in social context as well.
  Hope the skies open up above you and you'll one day manage to turn that laptop into a fine powder!
- Agreed. I quit my IT job and started volunteering on a a farm animal rescue and it has become a whole thing for me. There are always things to be fixed, built, or town down in addition to days of just mucking stalls which is very meditative. Definitely lefty friendly.
  Alternatively, go back to school. I am also pursuing a new degree in Electronics Engineering Technology which can lead to a good trade job or an OT role.
  
  I played around with the idea of trying my hand at a Psych or Philosophy degree, but these specialisations are... malnourished over here. Could try looking for stuff abroad, though. Thank you, on the list it goes!

Funfact: they are cutting a train rail (I recognise the machine )
- One even can see the end of a concrete tie.

Consult a job coach. They will help you explore areas of your interest and expose you to jobs you didn't know existed
- Heeey, I genuinely forgot about this option! Thank you!

Being an IT auditor is largely just working with spreadsheets, leverage your prior knowledge, and you are never on the hook for a feature release. If you are good at writing reports, spreadsheets, and meetings, you might give that a look.
- Didn't limit yourself to just IT auditing - Look into certification bodies like SIS, NQA, TUV etc.
  
  Both interesting suggestions, didn't get to do auditing for long because... abstract management drove things into the ground, come to think of it, will definitely keep it on the list! Thank you!
  Although, to be perfectly honest, I think I'll prioritise jobs where the most complex thing being done with a spreadsheet is keeping track of shelf stock=))

Become some flavor of an engineer.
Mechanical, chemical, civil, etc.
- Y'know, construction was my initially desired career path in high-school, but mum was a construction engineer as well and told me she'd kill me if she caught me sniffing around. Guess it's as good a time as any to defy unhealthy parental 'advice'!
  Mechanical engineer does not sound bad, either, a lotta figuring stuff out and working with my hands, both of which I enjoy!

Electricians making a buck sixty a year after 5 years.

Lefty friendly, i would assume your interests would align with trying to help the common person, and climate change adaptation.
Your stated experience, and interests sound varied, and present you as a highly active person.
Combining these things in my mind i instantly thought you should get into food system adaptation for a warmer more volatile world. Where people could really suffer horrendously with climate change is if food production systems break down. We need smart people, willing to try new approaches in that system. Farming where i'm from is bed of roses, and a lot of the skills you listed farmers here would likely use, so its probably the same/similar elsewhere.
So specifically i's thinking organic farming, or permaculture, or perhaps a more scientific route such as propagation of new tougher varietals.
Logistical needs are also important, the amount of energy used to transport food must be immense and so that could be an avenue you could go down marrying your comments about mechanical engineering to the idea of improving the worlds food production systems.
Good luck with your ongoing career, whatever you decide.
- This was an almost creepy read, because you seem to have highlighted the very reason why I want out of IT and a desire I had swimming in the back of my mind for a while now!=))
  Point one, it's because I feel that the time I invest in my work ends up nowhere - especially in QA and given the tendency to not do actual QA during dev time anymore because more profits.
  Point two, my physical labour background actually stems from several years spent at the countryside and doing honest to goodness agriculture. I miss those activities, from managing a rural household, to sewing and reaping significant amounts of grain, corn and potatoes. It never fully left me, and especially in the past several years it's as though it started forming into a sort of desire. Maybe it's time to actually look into it.
  Thank you so much for these insights, you helped me figure out a bit of myself!

Could it also be a safety thing? So that glowing hot metal shards don't fly everywhere creating a fire hazard?
- Nah if that's the case you put a piece of ply or something down, not a bag that will melt etc

Any interest in anything CAD related? Generally it's engineering/mechanical focused, but I imagine IT knowledge would be very useful (I know Gcode is useful for 3d printing, at least).
- Now that you mention it, I actually think I have an acquaintance who does CAD stuff:-? Unsure what, exactly, but couldn't hurt to ask! Thank you for reminding me of this!

That’s what they make blinker fluid from

If you're in a bigger city, maybe see if you can get work with IATSE doing stagehand stuff?
- To be very honest, I kinda' tried to stay far away from the theatre scene. It's really not what theatre's supposed to be in our country, it's mostly just a cult of personality, and, boy, are those personalities insufferable after a point... It was a painful break-up, though...
  Have considered doing some stuff with 'underground' troupes or projects, but it's either an exceedingly small market over here, or I've completely lost track of the domain.

In a paper bag no less. You guys are fun.

Honestly... Retail management hasn't been bad. Big blue pays acceptable for salaried management positions. If you like to travel, you can do project management positions where you remodel stores. If you're looking for local work and can do handyman stuff, you can work as a General Facilities Maintenance Technician and they pay pretty decent to fix everything and anything between a couple stores.
- Thank you! I was actually considering this for a while, thought about trying to get hired by one of the bricolage chains, or something to that effect. Hell, scene setter at IKEA sounds like a dream at this point...
  As far as a maintenance tech, I realised a couple of years ago that I missed my mark of becoming an IT tech person, just fix work machines and such. Nowadays it feels like most people use private services or buy new gear outright...

36 comments