From a lorry driver to Ruby on rails developer at 38

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Bootcamps and Income Share Agreements (ISAs)

  • Several comments see good bootcamps as a viable route into software, especially selective ones with “no job, no pay” or ISA models.
  • ISAs are also widely criticized as opaque and exploitative, often targeting vulnerable people and sometimes demanding repayment even for non-tech jobs.
  • A common heuristic: if terms aren’t provided upfront and require long “info sessions,” it’s treated as a red flag.

Career Switching: Dev ↔ Lorry Driver

  • One thread reverses the article’s path: dev → lorry driver, with higher pay and more enjoyment coding only as a hobby.
  • Lorry driving is praised for clear goals, regulated hours, low management interaction, and clean mental separation from work.
  • Concerns about physical harm from vibrations are mostly dismissed for modern trucks; some prefer driving ergonomically to desk work.

Compensation, Cost of Living, and Geography

  • UK developers are commonly perceived as underpaid relative to US peers; HGV drivers there can earn more than many devs.
  • Explanations offered: US concentration of mega-corps, intense competition for talent, easier firing, and weaker social safety nets pushing salaries up.
  • Counterpoints stress European benefits (healthcare, childcare, transit) and argue that effective purchasing power can be similar despite lower nominal pay.
  • Others push back, citing high housing costs, failing public services, and significant US–Europe GDP gaps.

Ruby on Rails, Elixir, and Tech Stacks

  • Rails is still seen as employable but with fewer roles than Java/JS/.NET and often lower pay; sometimes associated with smaller, less profitable firms.
  • Hiring experienced Rails devs is described as hard; many candidates allegedly misrepresent skills or lean on ChatGPT in interviews.
  • Debate over teaching Elixir/functional programming first: some argue BEAM + immutability + pattern matching reduce bugs; others say language choice wouldn’t materially change outcomes.

Hiring, AI, and the Job Market

  • Reports of massive applicant volumes for junior roles (thousands per posting), many with AI-generated, generic cover letters and questionable work-eligibility claims.
  • Some propose video cover letters or networks/referrals as defenses; others note AI will eventually be used to “ghost” interviews too.

Age, Burnout, and Life Choices

  • 38 is framed by some as “later in life,” which others strongly reject; many share that midlife switches (into or out of dev) are reasonable.
  • Several long-time developers report burnout and fantasize about trades or driving jobs; others rediscover joy by moving into management or keeping coding as a hobby.
  • A few comments connect personal pivot stories to larger systemic issues around education, wages, and who gets “kept down.”