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Comment by thepasswordis | Hacker News Reader

It’s times like this that I’m really sad that I didn’t pursue an engineering degree :(.

I have made plenty of money, and live a very comfortable life, but I would really love to be able to work on projects like this.

I guess one option is to invest in companies like this.

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You can do all but the most cutting edge engineering on your own. People still build cars and planes in their garages. Lots of amateur radio hobbyists build their own radios. Even if you got an engineering degree you'd most likely spend 10 years working on boring projects before you got to do anything novel.

I already do those things.

My post literally meant: I am an engineer who never got a degree. Oh man it would be so cool to work specifically for helion, but a degree is a requirement. I wish I had gotten it back in the day, because I would apply for one of the positions.

Do you believe you can do the work of someone with a degree (or maybe comparable): I bet they'll still be interested!

The job postings all say: "We believe in hiring individuals. If you do not check all of the boxes, we still encourage you to apply. If this job isn't a fit, we have many other openings that may be one. "

So maybe if you have relevant experience and can show it, apply anyways?

I don't want to come across as banal, but is engineering something you would like to pursue now?

It’s a tough spot because:

1) I picked up low voltage electrical engineering along the way, just never did a degree. As in: PCB design, tons of robotics and very small run (<100) bespoke devices.

2) I’m oldish (mid 30s) and have a family and am semi retired. So it would be burdensome to do a college degree, especially with the additional liberal arts requirements.

My point is: if I had the degree, I would “come out of retirement” and apply for jobs like this one, but I don’t, and it would take several years to get it even at an accelerated pace.

So I guess regret is meant literally. I wish I had just done the degree in my 20s, because I actually don’t want to do it now, and even if I do just decide to do it online or something, it will be more annoying at this point in my life than it would have been when I was 20.

I'd urge you to reexamine now. When your kids are grown up and out of the house and you're a little older you might think "it would have been so easy to go back and get my degree then and look where I could have been now." Remember that although rare, there are people getting PhDs in their 60s and 70s.

There was a post on here about a guy who got his degree in less than a year. He used an online school that allows for self paced courses.

Also, you might not really need a degree depending on your body of work. I imagine most startups these days will happily ignore that requirement if the candidate has demonstrable experience in the field.

On the flip side, a company like this probably has low pay, long hours, and it will be a decade or more before you see your work come to fruition (if at all). So if you are financially secure enough already, the work might not be for you. Probably best to pick up some hobby projects that scratch the itch.

Whaaat? What kind of oldish is that? You need a good friend kicking your rear. You need to find something meaningful. The nihilistic trap will do no good to you.

The nihilistic trap of spending time with my wife and children?

I don't know about "nihilistic" but thinking you're "oldish" in your mid 30s could be interpreted that way. If you live to be 70 you're only halfway through, eh?

Anyway, you're young, already semi-retired, with "plenty of money, and live a very comfortable life" "spending time with [your] wife and children", and your regret is not being able to help create fusion directly (as opposed to "merely" investing)?

Not to be that guy, but uh, "must be nice".

Seriously though, congratulations! You seem to have won life. :)

I'm curious about your motivation for your original comment, do you not want encouragement to go back to school?

Yes it is really nice.

No I don't want encouragement to go back to school. My point was that helion is a really cool company, and anybody with the credentials to work there should should be happy about it.

That part is the good part! But more is needed. They will expect more from you. A role model that inspires meaning to them. That comes out of whatever you are doing and studying.

And congrats for achieving that position where you are, that's brilliant. A lot of people is unable to form healthy functioning families. But you in the inside will want more, you'll eventually be hungry for things that aren't transient.

You're in a great position to study classic philosophers and ask the big questions in life and see what comes to you from that.

If you know software, most engineering projects have software development needs, for example method development. You could be contributing to an engineering project without an engineering degree

Tell that to people without enough money to be semi retired before 40 that actually pursue their degrees like everyone else. Some of those, sometimes single parents, have to work full time during during yheir studies (a had one of those in my class for a while).

You are in such a priveleged position, if you want that engineering degree, go get it.

What a strange comment. Yes, obviously I'm in an extremely privileged and lucky position.

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It's never too late! Ever. Keep learning.

never too late

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