If you weren't a developer, what would you be doing instead?

I was in the Army before I was medically discharged ( I was run-over) so I wound up as a developer not being my first choice.

I think people are developers on a step to somewhere, it's not a destinaton like it used to be. Why? Well I think that coding has lost it's cool.

I love being a Architect but I'm crossing ove to the darkside and entering management ... but I'm still coming here. Being a good *whatever* in tech means that you need to see things from other points of view.

A rugged, but handsome loner paleontologist with a heart of gold. Always looking for that big discovery, traveling from town to town in the American West. Leaving each town a little better than when I found it.

I would be a script kiddie.  Does that count as an answer to this post?  If not, then something mechanical.  I have a deep need to build things.

Wanted to be a fighter pilot since I was a kid. Ended up going to uni for computer engineering.

Given my experience over the last few weeks, I would probably be forcefully hurling my skull against the nearest hard object again and again and again.

I cannot believe some of the people who get hired as developers.

Minh said:

A rugged, but handsome loner paleontologist with a heart of gold. Always looking for that big discovery, traveling from town to town in the American West. Leaving each town a little better than when I found it.

If I remember correctly, all you did before you got hired was lounge around your apartment all day How come you're hardly ever online Messenger?

Dr Herbie said:

ManipUni said:

*snip*

I expect I'd have some crappy desk job in an office somewhere.

My academic career came to an end anyway (didn't like the ivory tower and wanted a decent living wage), so I don't expect I'd have stayed in that field.

 

Herbie

 

You've mentioned the Ivory Tower before, but what about industrial research? The work is more-or-less the same (well, there's less freedom) and the pay is significantly higher. I can imagine there are dozens of companies looking to hire a postdoc in your field.

My #2 interest is music, although I dunno that I could make a living off it.

ScanIAm said:

Given my experience over the last few weeks, I would probably be forcefully hurling my skull against the nearest hard object again and again and again.

 

I cannot believe some of the people who get hired as developers.

We're looking at the moment (anyone want a job in Hertfordshire UK) and I second that comment.

PerfectPhase said:

ScanIAm said:

*snip*

We're looking at the moment (anyone want a job in Hertfordshire UK) and I second that comment.

I'm about 80 miles away, is that close enough?

W3bbo said:

Dr Herbie said:

*snip*

You've mentioned the Ivory Tower before, but what about industrial research? The work is more-or-less the same (well, there's less freedom) and the pay is significantly higher. I can imagine there are dozens of companies looking to hire a postdoc in your field.

Evolutionary theory is a long, long way away from anything that industry would be interested in : there aren't even any experiments, so my experimental methodology is rusty as hell. The only practical applications of evolutionary mechanisms (like genetic algorithms) are dominated by computer science and mathematics (and I am truly dreadful at mathematics). As it was I had trouble getting a PhD studentship because they were all going to mathematicians -- I guess it's easier for a mathematician to learn about biology than for a biologist to learn about mathematics.

I wish I understood calculus -- I've tried learning it three times and still don't really get it.

Herbie

1. User Experience Designer/Researcher

2. Advertising or Marketing

3. Sound Engineer / Sountrack Mixer for Movies & Music

Or a profession where I talk to customers all day about what their like and what they don't. And talk them through possible solutions. *sigh* sales in terms of profession, but in essence I just want to help people live a better life, event if it's just at work where they spend 8 hours a day or a phone they use for 18hours a day. The little things they will look at a million times more than I will in most cases.

Ion Todirel said:

W3bbo said:

*snip*

He's using GTalk, like pretty much everyone else

There should be a spot on the user profile for IM address. I have to image that more people have one or more IM accounts than blogs.

I'd do painting, music and computational art.

me;

Translator/Journalist/Bartender

Fitness Instructor probably... or a sparky 

Homeless