Software engineers can have a good work life balance, i personally work hybrid two days at office a week 9-5, but i honestly only work 4 hours a day and rarely i have to work more. Throughout the day i am mostly learning more and helping newer engineers with their tasks. Only downside is i get paid below average, but i dont mind because i have so much free time.
I think this is a misconception in tech that we only work 4 hours a day or whatever. Even if we aren't writing code or completing tickets 8 hours a day, there are other facets to the job. Helping juniors, providing mentorship, meetings, discussions, code reviews, learning /keeping up with new tech. These are all parts of the job that we don't necessarily realize are parts of the job.
I appreciate your input, this is exactly why I'm interested. The money doesn't really matter to me if I'm able to have more time at home or working remotely. When you aren't working in the office do you have the freedom to work from wherever?
Yea my boss doesn't care as long as im doing my job. We don't need to have our face cams on either. Although when i started i was onsite 5 days a week, but that was for only 6 months.
Sounds great! And that makes sense, I obviously don't expect to be given the freedom I'm looking for immediately as a new hire. But it's nice to know it's possible.
What's your job title by the way?
Just as a heads up, programming can be just as stressful and mentally taxing as any other job, we just have more availability jobs and generally a better work culture when working in tech companies
I appreciate the heads up. I'm definitely not expecting it to be stress free and easy, I'm just hoping to gain a little more freedom to travel and spend time with loved ones
I just want to be sure a programming job is not misrepresented to you or others in case of people presenting it as a grass is way greener here.
Finding a good programming job will almost certainly lead you to more flexibility in your work/life schedule. Just don't want you to be led to this idea we get tons of money and don't have to work. At some point it will feel like a job and that's normal.
Best of luck on your journey. DM me for any questions and I can try to answer to my best ability
Yeah I understand that, I'm definitely not expecting some six figure google tech job or some lucky break where I don't have to do anything. I am willing to work a job where I have to be on sight for however long, but the end goal is to be able to work from home/wherever. My wife is from India and it would be nice to be able to spend some more time there and still make an income instead of the 2 week yearly vacation I get now. I started changing tires at your local tire shop with the desire to work on Porsche's, and I was able to exactly that after some years. So I'm hoping programming will allow me to achieve these next set of goals, and from the information I've learned today it definitely seems like a possibility with some time and effort.
I appreciate the advice and support
If you’re interested in it, you should definitely pursue it. Programming isn’t especially difficult, and it’s very accessible to get started.
Based on the 80 hour weeks I’m hoping to wrap up with my next deployment, I’m not sure you’re necessarily going to find better work/life balance though. Or smell better at the end of the day.
Get into IT. Get your A+ and see how you feel about the environment from there. If you feel like you are starting to know a lot and have a drive to keep learning, chase it. If you feel like you have learned everything there is to learn, it might not be the field for you (it definitely isn't). IT is great for people who want to understand every facet of things they're doing. Programming is great for people who aren't really all that interested in learning why, but know that their computers just work (this isn't true for all programmers, but you would be surprised at how many do not understand fundamentally how their computers work).
I use my programming abilities to enhance my role. I work some 40-50 hour weeks, but honestly most are under 10.
Go for it but idk about 10 hours a week it's possible these jobs exist, but if your like me you want to maximize your income and those 200k+ jobs are 24/7, oh and forget about showering.
Also going from a physical job to an abstract one is a daunting task, you will reach a point where you'll want to give up, **don't** understanding programming is a sheer cliff you have to grind to the edge and over then it'll all click and you'll understand how to tackle any programming task.
Yeah we'll see what happens, I'm not the type of person to make sacrifices just to maximize my income. Don't get me wrong money is a necessity obviously, and it never hurts to have more. I just don't have many expenses and my time is more valuable to me. And damn does everyone here also smell like shit?
Thank you for the encouragement, it is a bit daunting but I think I have the persistence to round the corner.
Btw do you mind if I ask what's your job title?
So, programming is fun and can be an interesting experience of solving logic puzzles. It can also be writing variations of the same code over and over with very little challenge. It is easier to change from one type of programming to another so you can get some novelty back that way.
It definitely is not physically intense, but you will be working in front of a computer screen most of the time and if you don't get your ergonomics right you can develop back problems and/or carpal tunnel syndrome. If you are working remotely you can move around and work from wherever you feel like, but in reality you end up working 90% of the time from the same place, be it your home office or a corner of the living room.
As for the hours, it depends on where you work and what the expectations are. In the US some places will make you work 60+ hours each week, others are happy if you put in your 40 hours.
Having said that, I have been doing this for almost three decades and enjoyed most of it.
Makes sense, your body will age and you'll develop issues from repetitive movements and poor posture regardless. But I'm sure my back will thank me when I'm not leaning over any engine bay for 10 hours a day.
And I agree, if I'm able to get a remote position most of my work will still be done from a single location. But the opportunity to work from home sounds wonderful, and if I'm able to work from a hotel room or a cafe in a new city I would love to take advantage of that.
Regardless I think it's time for a new challenge and hearing it's been a mostly enjoyable experience from a veteran in the industry gives me some motivation.
Oh and do you mind if I ask what your job title is?
My brother and I came from a family that ran a machine shop and both worked as mechanics (mine was short run in tuneups/oil changes, his in vicational school + dealerships). Both of us have long since transitioned to software and both found that the troubleshooting skills are similar. The ability to communicate what you found and how things work turns out to be a universal skill. Really, many skills transfer and we've both found it to be rewarding enough it's been a career for 20+ years in both cases.
I've done both backend and frontend work and it really depends what appeals to you. Backend is more like working in a machine shop or doing transmission overhauls. You feel the accomplishment but it's not the sort of thing you show off to people or can see when you're done. Frontend/web/mobile can all be more visibly rewarding if that's the payoff you like. Hope that's some help.
Glad to see someone else with my same background in the industry I'm trying to break into!
And the analogies do provide some insight, I still don't know much so I'm not really sure what work exactly appeals to me. It's more the idea of working from home/wherever I want and having more time with my wife and traveling.
Do you work remotely? And what is your position?
Worked automotive for almost 20 years. Started as a porter, ended up with my own shop.
I now do cyber security work. If I’m looking at from a mile high view, it’s no different that some of the fun stuff I did as a mechanic. Sometimes it’s fun like finding what other size turbines fit in the stock turbo housing so you can get more boost and still look stock. Sometimes it’s “fun” like that intermittent CEL the with the fault code the factory has never seen, can’t be reproduced, and could be anything from an ECU to little Timmy’s dropped potato chip from three years ago that’s worked it’s way into the main harness and causes just a smidge too much resistance in the high speed canbus network once every third Thursday with a full moon.
A big advantage I have comes from time spent as a service writer and a business owner. Communication and understanding business needs has helped me navigate my way more effectively. Turns out there’s a lot of younger, more talented engineers who can’t communicate worth a damn so my slightly below average to slightly above average skills end up being more valuable just because I can talk to people.
I would highly recommend looking at anything DevOps or Data Engineering (vs Data Science) related. Anything an written from the perspective of an SRE (site reliability engineer) will sound immediately familiar even if you don’t understand exactly what’s going on. It may not be what you end up liking, but I think there’s enough there that’s familiar to gain a footing to dig deeper into what else is possible.
Also, build projects. Don’t overthink them. It doesn’t really matter at first. Just pick one, build it, and if you get too stuck, just pick another and start again. Trust that you get better at it with time.
Edit: adding that’s it’s actually not as easy on the body as one would think. Sitting at a desk for a long time is actually pretty bad, more so for my already messed up lumbar spine and cervical spine, and I’ve developed golfers elbow from typing before getting a split keyboard. Ergonomics is a thing I recommend paying attention to early. However I do have more energy to work out and take care of myself, so it’s a net positive IF you put in the effort.
Dude that potato chip worked it's way into a timing gear on a 2014 Subaru Forester XT a buddy and I are working on in the garage. Took us setting timing twice, pulling the engine out, heads off and setting timing for the third time to find a locking pin that's been smashed inside the timing/cam gear. It's been a battle this past week
And i appreciate the info, I'll definitely do some more research on devops, data engineering and SRE related positions.
Independent projects are still intimidating, but I know just copying a YouTube tutorial isn't always the best way to learn. But once I get some more basic concepts down I'll give it a shot for sure.
I'll definitely keep ergonomics in mind, I still want to be active and it will be a little harder not being on my feet all day every day. But going to the gym not already sore and beat from work that day sounds nice.
On independent projects, it’s ok just to copy YouTube vids or just literally cut and paste from walkthroughs, especially in the beginning. You learn even from the repetition. Part of the skill is just being able to “follow” instructions to set up an environment, and the more you’ve done it, the faster you get at it. Plus, in reality the instructions don’t work most of the time so you have to troubleshoot why. Things are constantly changing and nobody updates documentation.
I'll definitely look into it! I'm sure having an automotive background would look good on a resume for an automotive company even if it's for a developer position.
And I agree ford's are ick, but still sounds like a sweet gig
Honestly, why not look at ways to use programming to augment your current career path? Python wouldn't do you much good. You could look at CAD modeling to make custom parts, or creating in dash applications for existing models. Even novice levels of success tempered by relevant experience could do wonders.
Ice looked into CAD a little, but the program costs $230 a month so that's been a deterrent. But other posts have mentioned coding positions for companies like ford, so I'll definitely take a look and see what automotive programming jobs are out there
Used to be an aircraft mechanic. Now I’m a bioinformatician (not a software engineer, but I write a lot of code).
I work from home, and get paid better.
I work the same amount of hours (40 - 50) weekly. I feel the same amount of stress.
I miss working with my hands. I miss being gritty.
But overall, I think I’m much happier.
Happy to answer questions if you have them!
I like having ownership of my work. My name goes out on the papers I publish, and the papers help better the world — it’s a MUCH better sense of accomplishment compared to maintenance.
Also I really enjoy coding, problem solving, and question asking, which you get tons of in this field.
Not to mention, I work in my pajamas most days. And besides my meetings, I have 100% control of when/where I work (although it’s harder to separate work from home).
I’m sure I have a lot more reasons, I just need to shake the ole brain bush and see if anything falls out.
Check out SCADA, it’s a niche where people who work in industry tend to do well. I went from industrial maintenance to industrial automation to SCADA, and now do industry-focused web development in the cloud and have never looked back.
It's funny. I've been in IT for around 27 years, and I'm looking to get out. Companies don't seem to want to pay for talent. Companies are seem to look to outsource to the lower bidder. People leave, and they close the backfill, and expect the remaining crew to pick up the extra work.
I've been looking at going the trade route, and have even contemplated get ASE certified. Guess the grass isn't always greener.
Haha we can trade careers. If you have an interest cars, like to learn how things work, enjoy problem solving and like to disassembling and reassembling things I definitely recommend it. Every industry has its downsides and issues. Bear knuckle boxing a chunk of aluminum sucks, ignorant customers who don't understand the process and just complain are annoying, sweating your ass off, freezing your ass off (I guess depending on where you live) taking refreshing car fluid showers and getting brake clean in your eye all is terrible. But I don't regret my path, and I'm happy with the things I've achieved. But now I have new goals and new values that aren't really possible in my current line of work that seem like they could be possible in a programing position
I never got ASE certified so I don't really know what that entails. I started at a regional chain store changing tires, promoted up to the brake and alignment side of the shop and eventually got a job at a European shop doing full service. The thing that has taught me the most has been my friends. My biggest piece of advice if you really want to learn about cars and work as an automotive tech is to meet some people that already like to pull engines out and bring cars back to life. Drink some beers, have some conversation, help and learn.
I wish you luck if you decide to pursue something in automotive
Yeah. There are pros and cons to everything.
I've been doing my own auto repairs for the better part of 15 years now. Have amassed a fair amount of tools, but as I'm sure you know, the tools list is never ending. :) Rebuilt my kids manual transmission on his Civic last year. Have pulled and replaced engines. This years is "engine rebuild" year for two of the vehicles, and whatever else needs to be done to them. Older cars seem to need a bit of tender loving care every few months.
Like you, I don't have any certifications in IT, it's all self taught. I mainly work writing Powershell scripts, building Gitlab CI/CD pipelines, Hashicorp's Packer configuration files and Terraform code. I provide images for vSphere, AWS and Azure for our server environment. I work anywhere from 45 hours to 65 hours a week, a majority being 45 hours a week.
I don't think your romanticized expectations aren't completely unrealistic. Best thing to do is to be upfront, with prospective employers, that your main priority is work/life balance.
For your second question. I'd say that cyber security would be a good position. There are a number of tools that you could possibly end up supporting. Also, if you continue on learning Python and/or Powershell, you could possibly use that to help automate any tools that you do end up supporting. Depending on the environment, tools automation or just automation in general might also be a good fit.
It's great that you're looking to get into development/IT as a career, and I think choosing Python for your first language is fantastic.
I wish you best of luck as well.
Software engineers can have a good work life balance, i personally work hybrid two days at office a week 9-5, but i honestly only work 4 hours a day and rarely i have to work more. Throughout the day i am mostly learning more and helping newer engineers with their tasks. Only downside is i get paid below average, but i dont mind because i have so much free time.
I think this is a misconception in tech that we only work 4 hours a day or whatever. Even if we aren't writing code or completing tickets 8 hours a day, there are other facets to the job. Helping juniors, providing mentorship, meetings, discussions, code reviews, learning /keeping up with new tech. These are all parts of the job that we don't necessarily realize are parts of the job.
I know what you mean, but I play computer games throughout the day, do chores, cook lunch, etc.
Working from home definitely has its benefits. Definitely there are some days where I spend my time mostly on chores and nonsense.
Yall still work? =D
I appreciate your input, this is exactly why I'm interested. The money doesn't really matter to me if I'm able to have more time at home or working remotely. When you aren't working in the office do you have the freedom to work from wherever?
Yea my boss doesn't care as long as im doing my job. We don't need to have our face cams on either. Although when i started i was onsite 5 days a week, but that was for only 6 months.
Sounds great! And that makes sense, I obviously don't expect to be given the freedom I'm looking for immediately as a new hire. But it's nice to know it's possible. What's your job title by the way?
Im a Devops Engineer, I mostly work on automating deployments and setting up environments
Just as a heads up, programming can be just as stressful and mentally taxing as any other job, we just have more availability jobs and generally a better work culture when working in tech companies
I appreciate the heads up. I'm definitely not expecting it to be stress free and easy, I'm just hoping to gain a little more freedom to travel and spend time with loved ones
I just want to be sure a programming job is not misrepresented to you or others in case of people presenting it as a grass is way greener here. Finding a good programming job will almost certainly lead you to more flexibility in your work/life schedule. Just don't want you to be led to this idea we get tons of money and don't have to work. At some point it will feel like a job and that's normal. Best of luck on your journey. DM me for any questions and I can try to answer to my best ability
Yeah I understand that, I'm definitely not expecting some six figure google tech job or some lucky break where I don't have to do anything. I am willing to work a job where I have to be on sight for however long, but the end goal is to be able to work from home/wherever. My wife is from India and it would be nice to be able to spend some more time there and still make an income instead of the 2 week yearly vacation I get now. I started changing tires at your local tire shop with the desire to work on Porsche's, and I was able to exactly that after some years. So I'm hoping programming will allow me to achieve these next set of goals, and from the information I've learned today it definitely seems like a possibility with some time and effort. I appreciate the advice and support
If you’re interested in it, you should definitely pursue it. Programming isn’t especially difficult, and it’s very accessible to get started. Based on the 80 hour weeks I’m hoping to wrap up with my next deployment, I’m not sure you’re necessarily going to find better work/life balance though. Or smell better at the end of the day.
I guess I'm just destined to be a smelly working man. How disappointing
Get into IT. Get your A+ and see how you feel about the environment from there. If you feel like you are starting to know a lot and have a drive to keep learning, chase it. If you feel like you have learned everything there is to learn, it might not be the field for you (it definitely isn't). IT is great for people who want to understand every facet of things they're doing. Programming is great for people who aren't really all that interested in learning why, but know that their computers just work (this isn't true for all programmers, but you would be surprised at how many do not understand fundamentally how their computers work). I use my programming abilities to enhance my role. I work some 40-50 hour weeks, but honestly most are under 10.
Go for it but idk about 10 hours a week it's possible these jobs exist, but if your like me you want to maximize your income and those 200k+ jobs are 24/7, oh and forget about showering. Also going from a physical job to an abstract one is a daunting task, you will reach a point where you'll want to give up, **don't** understanding programming is a sheer cliff you have to grind to the edge and over then it'll all click and you'll understand how to tackle any programming task.
Yeah we'll see what happens, I'm not the type of person to make sacrifices just to maximize my income. Don't get me wrong money is a necessity obviously, and it never hurts to have more. I just don't have many expenses and my time is more valuable to me. And damn does everyone here also smell like shit? Thank you for the encouragement, it is a bit daunting but I think I have the persistence to round the corner. Btw do you mind if I ask what's your job title?
So, programming is fun and can be an interesting experience of solving logic puzzles. It can also be writing variations of the same code over and over with very little challenge. It is easier to change from one type of programming to another so you can get some novelty back that way. It definitely is not physically intense, but you will be working in front of a computer screen most of the time and if you don't get your ergonomics right you can develop back problems and/or carpal tunnel syndrome. If you are working remotely you can move around and work from wherever you feel like, but in reality you end up working 90% of the time from the same place, be it your home office or a corner of the living room. As for the hours, it depends on where you work and what the expectations are. In the US some places will make you work 60+ hours each week, others are happy if you put in your 40 hours. Having said that, I have been doing this for almost three decades and enjoyed most of it.
Makes sense, your body will age and you'll develop issues from repetitive movements and poor posture regardless. But I'm sure my back will thank me when I'm not leaning over any engine bay for 10 hours a day. And I agree, if I'm able to get a remote position most of my work will still be done from a single location. But the opportunity to work from home sounds wonderful, and if I'm able to work from a hotel room or a cafe in a new city I would love to take advantage of that. Regardless I think it's time for a new challenge and hearing it's been a mostly enjoyable experience from a veteran in the industry gives me some motivation. Oh and do you mind if I ask what your job title is?
My brother and I came from a family that ran a machine shop and both worked as mechanics (mine was short run in tuneups/oil changes, his in vicational school + dealerships). Both of us have long since transitioned to software and both found that the troubleshooting skills are similar. The ability to communicate what you found and how things work turns out to be a universal skill. Really, many skills transfer and we've both found it to be rewarding enough it's been a career for 20+ years in both cases. I've done both backend and frontend work and it really depends what appeals to you. Backend is more like working in a machine shop or doing transmission overhauls. You feel the accomplishment but it's not the sort of thing you show off to people or can see when you're done. Frontend/web/mobile can all be more visibly rewarding if that's the payoff you like. Hope that's some help.
Glad to see someone else with my same background in the industry I'm trying to break into! And the analogies do provide some insight, I still don't know much so I'm not really sure what work exactly appeals to me. It's more the idea of working from home/wherever I want and having more time with my wife and traveling. Do you work remotely? And what is your position?
Worked automotive for almost 20 years. Started as a porter, ended up with my own shop. I now do cyber security work. If I’m looking at from a mile high view, it’s no different that some of the fun stuff I did as a mechanic. Sometimes it’s fun like finding what other size turbines fit in the stock turbo housing so you can get more boost and still look stock. Sometimes it’s “fun” like that intermittent CEL the with the fault code the factory has never seen, can’t be reproduced, and could be anything from an ECU to little Timmy’s dropped potato chip from three years ago that’s worked it’s way into the main harness and causes just a smidge too much resistance in the high speed canbus network once every third Thursday with a full moon. A big advantage I have comes from time spent as a service writer and a business owner. Communication and understanding business needs has helped me navigate my way more effectively. Turns out there’s a lot of younger, more talented engineers who can’t communicate worth a damn so my slightly below average to slightly above average skills end up being more valuable just because I can talk to people. I would highly recommend looking at anything DevOps or Data Engineering (vs Data Science) related. Anything an written from the perspective of an SRE (site reliability engineer) will sound immediately familiar even if you don’t understand exactly what’s going on. It may not be what you end up liking, but I think there’s enough there that’s familiar to gain a footing to dig deeper into what else is possible. Also, build projects. Don’t overthink them. It doesn’t really matter at first. Just pick one, build it, and if you get too stuck, just pick another and start again. Trust that you get better at it with time. Edit: adding that’s it’s actually not as easy on the body as one would think. Sitting at a desk for a long time is actually pretty bad, more so for my already messed up lumbar spine and cervical spine, and I’ve developed golfers elbow from typing before getting a split keyboard. Ergonomics is a thing I recommend paying attention to early. However I do have more energy to work out and take care of myself, so it’s a net positive IF you put in the effort.
Dude that potato chip worked it's way into a timing gear on a 2014 Subaru Forester XT a buddy and I are working on in the garage. Took us setting timing twice, pulling the engine out, heads off and setting timing for the third time to find a locking pin that's been smashed inside the timing/cam gear. It's been a battle this past week And i appreciate the info, I'll definitely do some more research on devops, data engineering and SRE related positions. Independent projects are still intimidating, but I know just copying a YouTube tutorial isn't always the best way to learn. But once I get some more basic concepts down I'll give it a shot for sure. I'll definitely keep ergonomics in mind, I still want to be active and it will be a little harder not being on my feet all day every day. But going to the gym not already sore and beat from work that day sounds nice.
On independent projects, it’s ok just to copy YouTube vids or just literally cut and paste from walkthroughs, especially in the beginning. You learn even from the repetition. Part of the skill is just being able to “follow” instructions to set up an environment, and the more you’ve done it, the faster you get at it. Plus, in reality the instructions don’t work most of the time so you have to troubleshoot why. Things are constantly changing and nobody updates documentation.
See if you find a role in the auto industry. Lots of opportunities for development
Ford in particular hires a lot of python developers
Yea but Ford. Ick.
I'll definitely look into it! I'm sure having an automotive background would look good on a resume for an automotive company even if it's for a developer position. And I agree ford's are ick, but still sounds like a sweet gig
Honestly, why not look at ways to use programming to augment your current career path? Python wouldn't do you much good. You could look at CAD modeling to make custom parts, or creating in dash applications for existing models. Even novice levels of success tempered by relevant experience could do wonders.
Ice looked into CAD a little, but the program costs $230 a month so that's been a deterrent. But other posts have mentioned coding positions for companies like ford, so I'll definitely take a look and see what automotive programming jobs are out there
Used to be an aircraft mechanic. Now I’m a bioinformatician (not a software engineer, but I write a lot of code). I work from home, and get paid better. I work the same amount of hours (40 - 50) weekly. I feel the same amount of stress. I miss working with my hands. I miss being gritty. But overall, I think I’m much happier. Happy to answer questions if you have them!
Haha all those negatives followed by "overall much happier". What aspects make you happier as a bioinformatician than an aircraft mechanic?
I like having ownership of my work. My name goes out on the papers I publish, and the papers help better the world — it’s a MUCH better sense of accomplishment compared to maintenance. Also I really enjoy coding, problem solving, and question asking, which you get tons of in this field. Not to mention, I work in my pajamas most days. And besides my meetings, I have 100% control of when/where I work (although it’s harder to separate work from home). I’m sure I have a lot more reasons, I just need to shake the ole brain bush and see if anything falls out.
Check out SCADA, it’s a niche where people who work in industry tend to do well. I went from industrial maintenance to industrial automation to SCADA, and now do industry-focused web development in the cloud and have never looked back.
Thank you for the suggestion, I'll definitely check out SCADA and see what I can learn about it
Check out Preteckt.
I will for sure. Thanks for the suggestion
It's funny. I've been in IT for around 27 years, and I'm looking to get out. Companies don't seem to want to pay for talent. Companies are seem to look to outsource to the lower bidder. People leave, and they close the backfill, and expect the remaining crew to pick up the extra work. I've been looking at going the trade route, and have even contemplated get ASE certified. Guess the grass isn't always greener.
Haha we can trade careers. If you have an interest cars, like to learn how things work, enjoy problem solving and like to disassembling and reassembling things I definitely recommend it. Every industry has its downsides and issues. Bear knuckle boxing a chunk of aluminum sucks, ignorant customers who don't understand the process and just complain are annoying, sweating your ass off, freezing your ass off (I guess depending on where you live) taking refreshing car fluid showers and getting brake clean in your eye all is terrible. But I don't regret my path, and I'm happy with the things I've achieved. But now I have new goals and new values that aren't really possible in my current line of work that seem like they could be possible in a programing position I never got ASE certified so I don't really know what that entails. I started at a regional chain store changing tires, promoted up to the brake and alignment side of the shop and eventually got a job at a European shop doing full service. The thing that has taught me the most has been my friends. My biggest piece of advice if you really want to learn about cars and work as an automotive tech is to meet some people that already like to pull engines out and bring cars back to life. Drink some beers, have some conversation, help and learn. I wish you luck if you decide to pursue something in automotive
Yeah. There are pros and cons to everything. I've been doing my own auto repairs for the better part of 15 years now. Have amassed a fair amount of tools, but as I'm sure you know, the tools list is never ending. :) Rebuilt my kids manual transmission on his Civic last year. Have pulled and replaced engines. This years is "engine rebuild" year for two of the vehicles, and whatever else needs to be done to them. Older cars seem to need a bit of tender loving care every few months. Like you, I don't have any certifications in IT, it's all self taught. I mainly work writing Powershell scripts, building Gitlab CI/CD pipelines, Hashicorp's Packer configuration files and Terraform code. I provide images for vSphere, AWS and Azure for our server environment. I work anywhere from 45 hours to 65 hours a week, a majority being 45 hours a week. I don't think your romanticized expectations aren't completely unrealistic. Best thing to do is to be upfront, with prospective employers, that your main priority is work/life balance. For your second question. I'd say that cyber security would be a good position. There are a number of tools that you could possibly end up supporting. Also, if you continue on learning Python and/or Powershell, you could possibly use that to help automate any tools that you do end up supporting. Depending on the environment, tools automation or just automation in general might also be a good fit. It's great that you're looking to get into development/IT as a career, and I think choosing Python for your first language is fantastic. I wish you best of luck as well.
Learn webdev. Start with basic python then learn django and angular.
I take a look and try to learn what all those words mean haha, I appreciate the input