I am confused.

Jackal65

Jackal65

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Lets start with why I tried to move from being a welder to IT.

I am old my knees are in a state of constant pain and my eyes is not as good as it used to be. However I did a lot of stuff and would like to know your opinion about all this.

This is a list of what I can do personally. Obviously no qualifications as I never got that far.

build and sell computers as a side hustle.
build out basic home automation system.
build apps in Python "not that hard" and Android Studio "not that hard" obviously used AI to trouble shoot stuff.
My A+ and N+ expired in early 2000s and never went for recertification.

Worked on a bunch of stuff like home networks for small startups nothing special.

So given my basic general knowledge any teenager with chatGPT and Youtube can smoke me any day of the week. I get this but was wondering if any of this would count outside South Africa? Welding is hard work and hard on the body I am old so what am I looking at?

Even my current income is rebuilding gearboxes and engines. I am doing really well but I don't see how that skill will carry over as **** we get here isn't the stuff we will see in the first world. It is all computers and automatic gearboxes and ECU programming that I barely understand.

In my opinion I am ****ed I just need to know by how much?
 
bwana said:
You're a qualified welder, get your knees fixed. I reckon that's what is going to get you in the door overseas.
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getting my knees fixed cost will be R68K per knee and can go as high as over R233k. Then if you end up under a butcher I will end up with a missing leg and I really don't want that.

Friend of mine had it done and it was successful but it cost little over R280k but he had medical aid.
 
Priapus said:
No. Demand is high for skilled developers. This has been my experience whilst looking for a new role here in the UK.
Click to expand...
Any detailed insight will help if you want to post it.
 
If you go to England, you can, after a week, sign on for Supplementary Benefits. There is a waiting period of 15 days and you are expected to sign on at a Job Centre

Be careful what you tell Job Centre. Do not over-estimate your capabilities

Supplementary Benefits is calculated as follows

www.gov.uk

Benefits calculators

Find out what benefits you could get, how much you could get and how to claim
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

You can also apply for accommodation and must take what is offered. A problem is that it might be in a tower block with an unworking lift
 
Jackal46 said:
*sinp*

So given my basic general knowledge any teenager with chatGPT and Youtube can smoke me any day of the week. I get this but was wondering if any of this would count outside South Africa? Welding is hard work and hard on the body I am old so what am I looking at?
Click to expand...
Na, the average person under 30 can't put in a full days work, so don't write yourself off.
 
chrisc said:
If you go to England, you can, after a week, sign on for Supplementary Benefits. There is a waiting period of 15 days and you are expected to sign on at a Job Centre
Click to expand...
Did miss something. How is he eligible for benefits in the uk?
 
Get your knees fixed. I am closing on 10 years of software development experience and I'm drawing on as lot of what I've learnt to get my work done. Gone are the days of companies taking in inexperienced people and training them.

The amount of work you'll need to put in to get to where you'd even pass an interview nowadays is a lot. Like way too much. I fail interviews all the time because of the technical B.S. that this field is doing with interviews.

You're in a really great field. I have friends doing well in Australia and the U.K. as fitters and fabricators. If welding is your field, I doubt you're only needed to weld ECUs onto gearboxes. Expand within your field.

For example, I was primarily doing Android apps but now I have to do iOS more because of demand.
Fix your knees and get out there. I'm rooting for you.
 
Weld ECU's onto gearboxes? Now I'm also confused!
 
ghaye said:
Weld ECU's onto gearboxes? Now I'm also confused!
Click to expand...
I do anything that pays the bills. Engine rebuilds and gearbox rebuilds was a side hustle of mine for the last 8 years. I do it full time after the mine closed down.
 
Jackal46 said:
I do anything that pays the bills. Engine rebuilds and gearbox rebuilds was a side hustle of mine for the last 8 years. I do it full time after the mine closed down.
Click to expand...
Fair enough, I've done my fair share of side hustles to pay the bills. But the welding of ECU's is a new skill for me. Didn't even know it was a thing.
 
Jackal46 said:
I do anything that pays the bills. Engine rebuilds and gearbox rebuilds was a side hustle of mine for the last 8 years. I do it full time after the mine closed down.
Click to expand...
Mix your interests and get into modern box builds. I think you’ll be surprised when you realise how much old school mechanical work is still done.
The big manufacturer dealership setups are not popular over here in the UK. Loads of small indies and they are not “cheap”.

Problem of course is always whether it is a path you can take to get a visa.
 
chrisc said:
If you go to England, you can, after a week, sign on for Supplementary Benefits. There is a waiting period of 15 days and you are expected to sign on at a Job Centre

Be careful what you tell Job Centre. Do not over-estimate your capabilities

Supplementary Benefits is calculated as follows

www.gov.uk

Benefits calculators

Find out what benefits you could get, how much you could get and how to claim
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

You can also apply for accommodation and must take what is offered. A problem is that it might be in a tower block with an unworking lift
Click to expand...

You left out this teeny weeny bit:

1739964031447.png
 
ghaye said:
Fair enough, I've done my fair share of side hustles to pay the bills. But the welding of ECU's is a new skill for me. Didn't even know it was a thing.
Click to expand...
I thinking you are taking me out of context. I think you know programming of ECUs is modern compared to the cars I started to fix when I was young. I mean mechanical fuel injection wasn't even a thing. I am here between breaks trying to follow up on post and make plenty of mistakes while typing. I don't weld gearboxes, I don't weld engines. I rebuild them. I don't work on ECUs because I don't understand them yet.

I was just asking if making a change to IT is worth it this late in the game. **** I don't know if I will be able to work like this for the next ten years.
 
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