Take the Alternative Career Challenge! ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌💼‌

[Michal_Gebacki]

Welcome back, Dynatrace Community!

It's time for the brand new Community Challenge! This month we're drifting away from a direct Dynatrace usage-oriented questions, asking you about something quirky and yet, so down-to-earth that probably is relatable for many of you! Let's sit down and think...

If you were not an IT professional working here under any title that fits in what box, what alternative career path would you choose? It's okay if, who knows, you're still considering this shift in the foreseeable future as nothing isn't destined for us once for good! Share your examples in the comments below and let's start one of the most original Community Challenges of the last months! 👀

Benefits of taking Community Challenges!

👉 Every participant receives a "Briefcase Badge"

👉 You will also get +100 bonus points for extra activity

👉 Engage with others and have fun!

[Mike_L]

An alternative career for me outside of observability, but still within IT, would be as a indie game developer. I love the puzzle of creating my own 3d engine with shaders and vertex buffer objects and all that good stuff.

If I'd take it one step further and not even stay in IT, it'd be more difficult to think of something. Maybe go in my father's footsteps and be a policeman.

[Michal_Gebacki]

Planned to start, but I forgot Mike is always taking the challenge first in the light speed! 🚀

My first dream job as a kid was becoming an automotive designer, who has an actual contribution to the way how cars on the street look like. To this day, I really like looking at cars from the design perspective, spotting some easter eggs, twists, vision of creator, and the general philosophy that could be in mind. However, development and sophistication of my skills stopped when I was around the age of 9, something like that, so I took other career path eventually 😉

[t_pawlak]

Hi,
If I weren’t working in IT, I would probably become a sports coach. I enjoy physical activity and everything related to it, e.g the gym, swimming, hiking, and staying active in general. I think this kind of job would be very satisfying because I could help others improve their fitness, health, and well-being while doing something I genuinely enjoy.

[AntonPineiro]

Hi,

If I were not working in relation to technology, I think I would be working for the state, possibly as a firefighter or a soldier. Another option, since I enjoy learning and sharing knowledge, would be a teacher.

Best regards

[MaximilianoML]

Nice one! If I was not in IT world I would probably try a career in automobilist sports, or even a mechanic! 

I love cars almost as IT, I do have a Sim to race online and train to run in GoKarts amateurly (I went last Saturday, finished in p13, against 26 2º layer pro pilots). In Brazil I also went to several car events, I'll attach some photos here.

 

 

[AntonioSousa]

@MaximilianoML ,

Didn't know that 😂 Have to challenge you for a race, but I have several handicaps 🤣

BTW, Dynatrace supports Racing Bulls, and now they have Arvid Lindblad who lives near Lisbon. Could they have a Max, not Verstappen, racing for them? 😁

[MaximilianoML]

I totally accept that challenge, let's race!

About F1, yesss when I saw the photos of the f1 car in Perform it really made me sad because I lost the opportunity to see that masterpiece personally. Who knows what Dynatrace can make for me?👀

[MaximilianoML]

Adding some stuff,

Can Dynatrace be used to Observe racing car performance (not only 15.000.000€ f1 cars) like that ones I sent? 

[AntonioSousa]

Oh my, when I was a kid I thought I would be an athlete and break some World Record. That dream disappeared when I got the the Book of World Records 🤣

Quite sincerely, I love what I do, and besides working in Observability professionally, I also love Observability in my personal & public life. I would like to contribute to making so many more things more efficient, even maybe a politician to make Society better. But that's also one thing I've promised myself I will never be, a politician...

[Patrick_H]

For me it would probably be something with sports - I would do additional education to work as a private running coach or fitness coach to help people stay healthy or to work as a massage therapist. Additionally I always wanted to get more into wood- or metalwork or playing a music instrument - so plenty of options, not sure if I could make a living on any of them 😅

[GosiaMurawska]

If I weren’t working in tech, I’d be creating experiences through interiors or fragrances.

[Malaik]

For me in Business, and may be and mainly buying/selling/renting real estate.

Or a big brand with E-Commerce

The most important thing: money can come when you are sleeping and in vacation 😄

[dannemca]

I would be a teacher. Any topic. 

👨‍🏫

[DanielS]

If I weren’t working in IT under any title, I think I would have pursued mathematics. I’ve always been good with numbers, and although some subjects can be challenging, I find the field and its applications fascinating.

[GerardJ]

Before working in IT, whilst I was still at university, I tried my hand at careers in sport and music, but neither really took off...
As a teenager, I developed a passion for astronomy, which I put on the back burner to make way for other interests, but it still fascinates me just as much, so perhaps I’ll end up becoming an astrophysicist 🌠

[HannahM]

So many thing, I quite like the idea of being an electrician. I, also, love being outdoors, so maybe a park ranger or guide.

[y_buccellato]

Firefighter or Plumber

[Nataliya_S]

I'd likely be a translator and interpreter, especially since it's also a hobby of mine.

As a kid, I also wanted to be either a vet or a genetic engineer. 😄

[StrangerThing]

I'd be pursuing professional golf. Always been a passion of mine, and I have goals to pursue later in life when I can play in the senior divisions. 

[rohit_bc]

Outside of a career in IT, I would have loved to be a crime investigator. Have always liked TV shows and movies that focus on crime investigations, but I quite remember how hard I searched to get the CSI PC game. Good times!! 

[y_buccellato]

I can already imagine you, side by side, with Davis root cause analysis, investigating both on the crime scene 😛

[RohitBisht]

Exciting topic, I could envision myself being a sports coach or event manager. Would love if any of these were my workplace in an alternate reality.
One that have always fascinated me is being a musician, but i am not really good with it 😂

[lubrman]

If I weren’t doing what I do now, I probably wouldn’t even be in IT, I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else. All the decisions I’ve made in IT have led me here, and I feel good where I am.

And if I wasn’t working in IT, I would most likely be a carpenter. When I was choosing my further studies, I was deciding between IT and carpentry. But since the school canceled that program, the decision was basically made for me.

[AKrasnopolskii]

A musician for sure, 🎸 or 🥁

[Julius_Loman]

Engineering and technology were always my focus, so I would most likely be an electronics engineer or maybe a motorcycle or car mechanic.

[MaximilianoML]

Nice! We could work together on a car 😆

[ChadTurner]

In college I got dual degrees just in case one route never panned out. Ultimately I went with Tech and found Dynatrace as a platform that I sought to master. But if Tech didn't pan out, I also had a degree in Criminal Justice. Ironically I had to pick between going into Policing vs IT. My now Wife, then Girlfriend, talked me into taking the tech job, which is where I started with Dynatrace. Had I not taken IT, who know where I would have been, from Cybercrime investigations, to Corrections to State Police... Ultimately I wouldn't change a single thing at this point. I've meet some amazing people on my IT journey which I'm sure I'd have never met being in Criminal Justice. 

[marina_pollehn]

At 17 I had the random idea to become an Air Traffic Controller; I think that would work well with the monitoring/observability direction I also chose to take in the end 😉

Or start my own kombucha and beer brewery (not that I have the skills but it would be so cool to learn) 😄

And if it wasn't for IT after university, I would now be a policy advisor. Who knows, maybe at some point there will be an opportunity to combine the IT/politics/economics skills.

[wilfred_dj]

Investigative journalism would have been interesting. Or data forensics for law enforcement. Pretty adjacent in a way. 👨‍💻

[Josh_Overland]

New here (it's Day 1 @ Dynatrace).  Teaching myself to vibe code and love it.  Have built a few apps already.  If anyone wants to try something fun (and sometimes hard!), check out dubtrivia.com Is my first public facing app and so far, getting a really good response. 

[MaximilianoML]

I loved your app, for real! And I just discovered the worst game of all time hahaha

[Josh_Overland]

Oh awesome!!  If you create an account it will connect us and then we can "compete" and it will track your streaks, etc....  5 new questions daily :). Thank you for trying it out, it's been really fun to build.

[MaximilianoML]

Cool! My username is @the_ghost, it's a reference to the Ghost from Call Of Duty!

[Josh_Overland]

Didnt pick up your score from today but if you are logged in and play tomorrow it will capture it.  My username is @josh and it should auto-connect us. Enjoy the game!  I pre-load 30 days worth of questions so I mostly dont remember the answers -- gives me the chance to play like everyone else.

[AntonioSousa]

@Josh_Overland ,

So nice! Didn't do any good in the results, only got one right 🤣

[Kenny_Gillette]

Really have no idea since I have always loved computers/IT.

I did love math in high school so probably something like:

Mathematician

Statistician

Actuary

Data Scientist

Engineer - majored in computer engineering

Math teacher/professor

[Joe_Kulesza]

If I had not moved into the world of Tech, I would probably still be a mechanic. I still wrench on my own stuff/friends on the weekends tho, as I it's still a passion of mine. 

[gopher]

I would be out prospecting every day in the golden triangle. 
me, the detector and the native killers in the Aussie bush

[tracegazer]

If I weren't in IT, I'd be chasing two dreams: professional football player or racing driver.

Let's be honest — every time I get behind the wheel of a go-kart, I leave everyone eating my dust, so the talent is clearly there! 😄 On the road though? That's a different story... deep breaths every time I drive. Maybe that's just saving the competitive edge for the track!

Football would've been the other path — there's nothing like the beautiful game. But hey, who says these dreams have an expiration date?

For now, I'll stick to making Dynatrace dashboards go fast instead of cars.

[Georgi_Vuldzhev]

Oh boy, where to start from 😄 I have started from scratch so many times in completely different fields. Also studied a variety of different things.

If I was not in IT I would have probably done something with my hands - some sort of craftsmanship. I am completely obsessed with wooden houses and probably I would have gotten in this direction. And who knows I might still do at some point :D. 

Currently as a hobby I am really into 3D printing which combines quite well with my Engineering degree in Physics (and Optical and laser technologies). This in combination with laser engraving (which I also did) can possily end up in a niche as well.

So if I decide to go out of IT (or if AI takes our jobs...which I doubt) I would probably go into this stuff - Construction, Woodworking or some kind of Engineering. Or a combination.

[TomClinkenbeard]

Something that's always interested me is interior design. I like taking an empty space and finding the best way to organize it with the furniture I'm provided, it's really the only part of the "moving to a new place" process I find enjoyable. It's also a unique way of expressing your personal style. It would also be a nice change to work with physical things rather than ephemeral software. Unfortunately for me, I'm not sure my idea of style would be very marketable in the current minimalist design climate. I find a way to use every inch of space in a room and my personal spaces have been described as "busy" to put it nicely.

Another option I'd consider and would probably do a bit better in is a "personal organizer." I learned about this job option through my mom who hired someone to help her organize her house and processes. They helped her figure out the most efficient way to set up her pantry, where to put which chemicals in the laundry room, create a filing system for her physical documents, etc. I love organizing data and things so this would be a fun way to use that to help people.