Ask HN: What Skills and Careers Are Most Transferrable Globally | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What Skills and Careers Are Most Transferrable Globally

7 pointstoomuchtodo13 comments

Along the same lines, what skills and careers are most compatible without needing to constantly be active in the field to stay relevant (such as supporting the ability to take several years off and still be marketable upon return to the market)?

I'm a technology professional with over twenty years of experience, and it has never been more clear that the treadmill of tech doesn't support even brief breaks in employment. I'm seeking community input as to what skills and careers have life long value regardless of continuity of employment or marketplace participation, while also enabling you to find work independent of geography.

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I am surprised no one mentioned manager roles. People don't change that much I guess. We know more about our behaviors, that's right, but experience with working with people is something that will be always relevant in my opinion. I'd say the same about sales(?) and any kind of job that is related to interacting with people.

Just my opinion, not sure how true it is.

Managerial roles does not transfer well from country to country. Culture issues arise frequently, not just when dealing with the people you manage, but also with upper management.

Only exception is VP, President, C-level positions. They usually transfer well since they speak the same language.

I can see managing up being an issue, but managing down all depends on managing style. In my opinion if you're a good manager it shouldn't really be affected by culture.

Hmm, I think you are right. I was rather answering the questions in the description not in the title, my bad.

That's the chief argument for going into medicine. Some of my friends would have been great developers, but they didn't want to work 60+ weeks the rest of their life, battle ageism, and have to re-tool. Doctors, Nurses, and Lawyers can get work permits in almost any country.

I would think in tech that the answer to your question would be things that are not usually considered exciting like becoming a Java or .Net developer. You could take a 5 year break and be very likely that people would still be hiring Java developers. Even 10 years off, you would have good odds.

I would say that doctors (depending on the specialty), nurses and lawyers have much worse work-life balances than developers. And law degrees generally don't transfer well to countries with different laws and judicial systems from the one where you studied.

Disagree on nurses.

Both medical doctor and attorney I agree 100%. Most attorneys hate life.

Maybe it's people that hate life that choose to be attorneys? Hmmmm

Probably not - these are just high pressure careers that require a lot of work, way over the usual 40 hrs per week. There is a small number of people with highly conscientious personalities who are willing to give up a lot of their personal life to be successful - those people are just wired to work a lot and they thrive in these highly competitive fields. Everyone else who gets in the field has to somehow keep up but their personality and goals don't match the career they've chosen. And so they end up hating life to a certain extent.

Respectfully, the question isn't "do doctor have a much work-life balance". I'm sure some do and some don't. I'm sure plenty work a lot, but the question wasn't about working a lot.

The question is ....

"what skills and careers are most compatible without needing to constantly be active in the field to stay relevant?"

Docters have a few continuing ed course, but that's it. They can work for five decades making six figures without having to spend huge portions of their personal life re-learning their craft. They could take

My friend is a nurse who works 2-3 12hr shifts a week. She is considered full time 24-36hrs, but most importantly to the original question...she is not required to re-tool.

I'm an American product manager- I had offers in the US and 3 EU countries after my last job search (ended up moving to the EU). Good product practices are transferable across borders.

Writing comes to mind first, satisfying “without needing to constantly be active”. However I don’t know how globally transferable it is.

Nursing and trades.

The beauty of both is that you just work, and usually get paid for what you do. Work an all-nighter? Welcome to overtime.

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