interesting software development

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  1. #1

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    interesting software development

    Hi All;

    I am a "gweilo" software developer who recently resigned from my ibank job because of burnout. I was not happy there because it was a high stress deadend position with no growth. I was giving it 110% and in return I was getting nothing but grey hairs on my head. I decided to leave because this position was starting to affect my health.

    While I was giving my 110%, I neglected many things in my personal life. My family, my finances, myself, another gig. I am now using this downtime to do things I did not do while working. I am getting a dependent visa (since my wife is a local). I am thinking about taking a course in Putonghua and/or Guangdongwua. I am thinking very hard about what I should do next. I plan on getting aggressive with my job search early next year. For now I am taking it easy and recharging.

    I.T. is all I know and what I have been doing for 20 years. I would prefer to a career change, but I have a family to support and I.T. is what pays the bills. It also appears that changing careers in this climate and in Hong Kong would not be the best idea for me. I am totally burned out on the whole iBank situation so I thought, maybe I can try to find something in I.T. that interests me. One thought that I have is "getting closer to the hardware." It would be interesting to do work to write firmware or something of that sort. I have EE experience and doing some EE (aka breadboarding) coupled with using my software development knowledge sounds very interesting to me.

    So my question is, does anyone know of any gigs where you are looking for guys to do low-level software development work? Are there any known local companies that I can cold-call to see if I can create an opportunity for myself?


  2. #2

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    If Shatin is not too far I would have a look at the companies in the science park:

    Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks

    There is a place called ASTRI, just search "ASTRI" on hongkong.recruit.net.

    I would imagine you'd have to accept a pay cut moving from IBs to other type of development. At least I had to, in order to work for a small .NET consultancy company. I also did 7 months in a major IB and left due to burnout and just general poor software practices.

    Another think to consider is perhaps back office IT? I would have thought that back office is not as stressful as front office. I was advised this by a recruitment agent, perhaps it's not correct.

    Or how about choosing a more relaxed IB, but is there such a thing?

    Best of luck.


  3. #3

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    thanks STE.


  4. #4

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    Chances are, after receiving the ib salary (even though its IT) most companies in HK might not be able to afford you, as pointed out by STE.

    Most of the close to hardware / systems work has moved to China from what I can tell.

    I used to see a fair number of Systems Engineering (patch some software / write some modules for a specific requirement...) in pre-sales a while back. Not sure if this is still the case here in HK.

    You should send HK.Com a PM... he might know better.


  5. #5

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    There are some but it's mainly in Taiwan because the graduates here either have no suitable education or equate any such job as a monkey position and demand expedited promotion paths.

    The ones I have seen are Linux based, but all their websites seem out, so probably bust already.


  6. #6

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    Thanks Shri and mrmoo.

    It is unfortunate that IT has become a race to cheaper cost centers. But I cannot change careers because IT is all I know and it is my passion. I figure if I can double up on my IT experience with EE, that will make me a little more marketable while still being able to pursue a career path I am passionate about. It may be wiser to double up on a business vertical (like finance or MBA) to make myself more marketable. But I am not passionate about any business; only CS and EE.

    FYI, I may consider entry level positions to get my foot in the door. I also am realistic about promotions since promotions in I-banking Are nearly impossible. Also any OS does not scare me. I am comfortable with both win32 and *nix.
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  7. #7

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    Just some lateral thinking on this as my brother in law has just visited from Beijing and surprised me with his career choice.

    He graduated last year with an honours degree in computer science and is a complete geek. Although a handsome one at that. He was head hunted by a HUGE PR firm in Beijing and works in the accounts for IBM, Sun, AMD, Cisco and other such luminous names. He gets to do all his geeky stuff to stay ahead of the game and I suppose the idea is to find solutions to the companies problems at a level that us mere mortals would not understand. Basically translating Geek into Real World.

    If you can't get in the front door ................ just a thought.


  8. #8

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    Sales engineer, yup that can be a cushy job.

    EE is rather the wrong way to go, you get paid a lot less than computer janitors. Most EEE graduates take a second degree in the UK because it's not very useful if you want to earn more than 10kGBP/pa.


  9. #9

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    It seems to me EE is a highly technical skill along the same lines as CS. It is very hard to design analog/digital circuits. Communications/RF circuits are notoriously difficult in my experience. I would image chip design requires skill as well. Then why is it that EE people make less than computer janitors? Is it because EE is more evolved than CS? Does this portend a sign that CS will go the way of EE? are EE and CS becoming lost arts in deference to MBAs?I think this is a very dangerous road to go down because someday (hopefully) we may need more EE/CS people than we do now.
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  10. #10

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    Analogue VLSI engineers are different, they get paid a lot, but that's because the field is incredibly difficult. EE's are low paid because of the competition from China, Taiwan, etc. It's a bit sad how much the field is affected internationally because of it.

    I effectively have a joint Masters in EE & CS, I don't see myself using the EE part much.

    Last edited by MrMoo; 09-01-2010 at 06:31 PM.

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