Many former coders are now in fields outside of the law. They seem happy. I'm glad they found something different that they love.
Truth be told, I have often dreamed of doing something different as well. In fact, in the summer of 2007, I left a coding gig and prepared to enter another field. Whatever the reason, I did not foresee the disaster that was about to strike. Late summer of '07, I had a potential position in line at a major investment bank in New York. It wasn't a trading position; it was a compliance position. Sometime in the midst of the interviewing process, the subprime credit crisis struck, and the job position disappeared. Wonderful! I waited a few months to see if things would get better. Alas, life wasn't as kind as I had hoped. By winter, I had returned to coding. The economy hadn't collapsed yet; coding gigs were aplenty. In fact, like I said in a previous post, there seemed to be a nice amount of money being thrown around at coders.
Are there any other coders out there who have tried to jump out of coding but it didn't work out? Jumping from the frying pan into the fire? I know of at least two people who have tried to go into law enforcement only to find that now, government budgets are being squeezed and that is no longer a viable alternative. One person graduated from the police academy but then couldn't get a job!
Where should coders "jump" to? In this economy, almost all fields are contracting. Becoming a doctor isn't exactly something a coder can do with ease. Shifting gears is easier said than done. :(
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I could never deal with the formalities of a law firm. I've been planning to go into a trade and work with my hands.
ReplyDeleteWell, as lawyers, I think the first thing we should do is lobby the legislature to pass a law making it illegal to discriminate against us on the basis of our law degree and bar admission.
ReplyDeleteUnless otherwise directed, HR staff will default to the unnecessarily conservative rule of "only hire new people who are exactly like the people currently working here."
The odd thing is that we are simultaneously a "professional" and a "service provider." These skills ought to be recognized as widely transferable. But in practice most companies have trouble converting our knowledge, skills, and abilities into non-legal world equivalents. Even something as seemingly "trial-lawyer only" as trial prep is fundamentally about PERSUASION, which is pretty much the basis of sales.
If you can reach a human, then you have a chance of explaining that. But if they are scanning the flood of resumes, the'll kick out anything with a JD, because JDs aren't MBAs or whatever other professional liberal arts degree and background they are looking for.
Ah well. As it turns out, I love being a lawyer, even if is one whose currently coding docs, so I'll continue chipping away at the student loans while there's work to do.