April 30, 2012 at 4:54 am
I think I'll be working in the IT/tech field until the bitter end. It just seems to be the only thing I can do well. But then again, I've been practising at it for the last 30 years at the expense of everything else so...
April 30, 2012 at 8:18 am
Nice to see so many people enjoying their jobs. That's a good sign when we often hear in the media about people working too hard and not enjoying their work.
April 30, 2012 at 9:16 am
I've been a software engineer now for over 20 years. I love the work for many reasons: it is a great opportunity to be creative, it is intellectually challenging and it gives me great satisfaction to know that software I wrote helps others.
I've had a few points in my career though where I was really burnt out. But I've learned my lesson and I make sure I get enough sleep and enough down time to keep me going.
It is likely that I will continue to do this work. I have no problem keeping up with ever changing technology-- it comes with the territory right? Just remember, we aren't the only ones; after all medical and dental professionals, lawyers, CPAs, etc., all have to keep up to date as well.
I had the chance to help my daughter with her programming class in college. Unfortunately, it was just a introductory class she took to satisfy a breadth requirement. But it was fun working with her. My son still hasn't decided what he wants to do professionally but there is a chance he might want to get into the software biz.
Another thing I've learned is that you have to make sure you are of use to the company. Don't get stuck doing the same thing over and over again. Ask to be put on that new project. Volunteer to participate in the tiger teams and task forces. Be eager to help out tech support when a customer has an issue that isn't getting resolved. In other words, be the "go to" guy or gal. Learn that new technology up front and be prepared to spear head the effort to integrate it into a new or current product.
April 30, 2012 at 9:21 am
j_e_o (4/30/2012)In other words, be the "go to" guy or gal. Learn that new technology up front and be prepared to spear head the effort to integrate it...
Yeah 🙂
May 1, 2012 at 7:09 am
Born a developer.
Live a developer.
Retire a developer.
Die a developer.
Change job?
meh
Far away is close at hand in the images of elsewhere.
Anon.
May 1, 2012 at 7:16 am
David Burrows (5/1/2012)
Born a developer.Live a developer.
Retire a developer.
Die a developer.
Change job?
meh
+1
May 10, 2016 at 12:49 am
I'm 66, today actually, and I've just finished a contract as Oracle Rdb DBA on OpenVMS, a legacy skill. I started in 1976 taking a programming course, as a second career after a couple of years in international marketing. I remember being told in 1973 by a so called occupational guidance specialist that IT was past its peak and not worth thinking about as a career. You all know the joke about 'experts' 🙂
I worked for 10 years as programmer, analyst, project leader/manager but I always insisted on doing some development. I tried pure management but it was all or nothing and mainly meetings. Due to my commercial background, I discovered an affinity for data and its place in business, so I became a DBA and stayed with this core skill for 30 years as a freelancer. I've moved around as a friend joking said, from continent to continent and there has been a lot of variety. I've worked on Sqlserver as well.
I could do and have experimented with other things but complete retirement from IT seems unthinkable, as is retirement generally.
IT has changed over 40 years in superficial respects but the core has remained the same. Learn program and application design and how to persuade people to use what you develop and be prepared to help people and you will be set for a rewarding career over the next 40 years.
Howard
May 10, 2016 at 1:56 am
There's always times when motivation comes a bit harder, but fundamentally I'll agree with my earlier self's post (comments p1), and David Burrows above.
May 10, 2016 at 2:03 am
Congratulations Howard. And I thought I am an old man in IT. 🙂 Officially retired 6 weeks ago and landed my first DBA Consulting job 3 weeks ago (part time). I am enjoying it so much, that real retirement is unthinkable.
5ilverFox
Consulting DBA / Developer
South Africa
May 10, 2016 at 3:05 am
Japie Botma (5/10/2016)
Congratulations Howard. And I thought I am an old man in IT. 🙂 Officially retired 6 weeks ago and landed my first DBA Consulting job 3 weeks ago (part time). I am enjoying it so much, that real retirement is unthinkable.
Japie, IT is supposed to be for the young according to the experts. The reality is that to survive let alone prosper in IT, you need to able to cope with change and a week is a long time in IT sometimes, even if fundamentally it's the same. Bottom line is that nominal age is irrelevant and health is the only thing, which counts. Besides, older workers are coming into to their own now due to work ethic and ability to ignore distractions such as social media.
Congratulations on landing a part time DBA job. That's my dream, particularly if I don't need to be onsite all the time. With today's technology, it's perfectly feasible to work remotely but that tends to interfer with work/life balance and besides many clients want you onsite so you are personally accessible.
May 10, 2016 at 3:06 am
In my mid thirties now and pretty much put off by the demands of IT. Previous roles working most weekends, evenings and through the nights on call has lessened my enthusiasm for working in IT for software houses and large corporations for the rest of my career.
I think the most frustrating part is that all the extra hours and stress over the last years were avoidable, based on poor coding and system design (I'm on the DBA/support side of the fence). Worse than that is mistakes and poor practices are repeated every time a product or system is built and delivered. It seems the career path is Dev > Senior Dev > Architect, which misses out any of the pain of experience in dealing with the aftermath of poor design and builds.
I'll continue tinkering with SQL databases outside of work regardless, with a few side projects on the go and hopefully turn these revenue generating, but realistically I feel a shift in focus is on the cards in the near future.
May 10, 2016 at 3:29 am
Howard Perry (5/10/2016)
Congratulations on landing a part time DBA job. That's my dream, particularly if I don't need to be onsite all the time. With today's technology, it's perfectly feasible to work remotely but that tends to interfer with work/life balance and besides many clients want you onsite so you are personally accessible.
Howard, there are so many collaborating tools today, that the users do not even realize I am not there. 🙂
5ilverFox
Consulting DBA / Developer
South Africa
May 10, 2016 at 4:05 am
TheFault (5/10/2016)
In my mid thirties now and pretty much put off by the demands of IT.
This happened to me, when I was a permie too. I worked for a generous company but I saw plenty of other people, who had a much easier life but they didn't get 2 consecutive international relocations and a business trip around the the world.
It was less of a problem, once I became a contractor, because clients realise that they have to pay you for every extra hour you work out of hours and depending on you can negotiate, extra on top.
My wife is a permanent employee and she is exploited in a similar way.
You may end up with the same problems as a contractor, but being paid for having your social/family life ruined is some compensation and there is always the contract end to look forward to, to have time to spend your earnings.
Howard
May 10, 2016 at 6:19 am
I don't see myself doing this long term unfortunately. I enjoy database work and development, but IT in general has put me off. Money is good relatively speaking, but work/life balance is poor as the expectation is that I can be reached at all times, can work weekends, etc. Furthermore, in many organizations IT is a cost center and isn't treated as an integral component of the business.
My promotion experiences have also been interesting. It's usually something along the lines of "you're our best developer so we'll have you manage people and do less development."
Maybe going the consultant route would be better, but that's a big leap that I don't think I'm in a position to take at the moment.
May 10, 2016 at 6:26 am
It looks like I have worked in technology my whole career. Now that I'm nearly ready to retire I won't be changing fields.
Viewing 15 posts - 61 through 75 (of 93 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply