Considering a career change. Any suggestions?

[NickPace]

I know how you feel, except I'm leaving one career to move into a software development career. I can't remember who said it, but the key to happiness within a career comes down to three questions (and I'm paraphrasing from memory here): 0) Were you born to do it? 1) Do you love doing it? 2) Can you make money doing it? These are the three questions I used to determine what type of career to move into when I had finally had enough of my first career choice. For what it's worth, I hope it helps, and good luck to you in whatever you decide.

-NP Never underestimate the creativity of the end-user.

[Hans Dietrich]

That sounds like you're describing a Project Manager or Product Manager type of position. So Microsoft would be good, or some other large company; maybe Google.

Best wishes, Hans

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[Hans Dietrich]

Well, opinions are like ________, everyone's got one. :)

Best wishes, Hans

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[Jim Crafton]

Nishant Sivakumar wrote:

Join their R&D division.

I think that requires a pretty hefty PhD to even be considered.

¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog Just Say No to Web 2 Point Oh

[Big Daddy Farang]

John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

this was funnier than the hair stylist remark

Yes it was. Don't forget, it's only the Lounge. Who cares about votes here?

BDF People don't mind being mean; but they never want to be ridiculous. -- Moliere

[Big Daddy Farang]

Jim Crafton wrote:

PhD

Pile it Higher and Deeper? Oops, here goes....

BDF People don't mind being mean; but they never want to be ridiculous. -- Moliere

[Nish Nishant]

Jim Crafton wrote:

I think that requires a pretty hefty PhD to even be considered.

True. Both people I know who worked there were post-Doc guys.

Regards, Nish

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[PIEBALDconsult]

Open a third-world cantina.

[Mustafa Ismail Mustafa]

Back in my younger days when I finished my internship at MS and then later worked there, I wondered if I could be transferred to the R&D division. They said, sure, as soon as you get your Masters degree and have published research papers to your name, then we'll consider it. They don't play over there, those guys create. I've met 2 across all the years and they were insanely intelligent. I really mean that, insanely so.

[John M Drescher]

Good questions. All 3 are definitely yes for me. I would program if I was not getting paid for it. I would however not do it for 80 hours a week though.

John

[John M Drescher]

Exactly. When you do not have the drive to continue learning and do not want to work long hours programming it is time to manage people who do.

John

[Jumping Jupiter]

I am in almost the exact same situation. I looked into going into teaching. The pay is so bad and it takes so long to climb up the ladder to a decent pay scale that its just not worth it. :omg:

[Vikram A Punathambekar]

I can SO identify with that, only I have about half your experience. I am trying to transition into a BA role* (see, I can already talk like that :rolleyes: ), but you sound like you might enjoy being a Technical Writer as well. * Having said that, it still cracks me up when I read Scott Adams' description of Business Analysis: The word Analysis comes from the root word Anal and the ancient Greek word Ysis, which means 'to pull numbers from'. :laugh:

Cheers, Vıkram.

Carpe Diem.

[VentsyV]

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Christopher Duncan]

[edit] Wow. That happened fast. I guess I should have expected this kind of response given the size of the site. In just this short period of time I already have as much as I can handle, so I won't be bringing on anyone further right now. Thanks! [/edit] As it happens, I'm in the process of revamping my company web site to reflect some new consulting services I'll be offering shortly, and career coaching is actually the section I'm working on even as we speak. While I'm an enthusiastic capitalist and like driving little red Corvettes, I've been thinking about offering this particular service for free for a little while to the CP folks as a way of giving back to a community that's been good to me over the years. And with the tech industry being as screwed up as it is these days, I figure there's probably a few folks who are giving their careers a close look right about now. For what it's worth, I'm currently on my fourth major career change. Each one has been doing something I truly love and I've been paid well for my efforts. There's no reason in the world that you can't earn a living doing something you look forward to each day, and there's no rule that says you can't ditch it for something else should you ever become bored with it. It takes work, but it's easier than you might think. Anyway, should you (or any of the other folks here) be interested in the pro bono coaching, just hit the contact page on my web site and we'll take it offline so as not to dilute your post (don't use the email link on this post as it might not get to me, and I wouldn't want any of you to fall between the cracks).

Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

modified on Saturday, March 14, 2009 5:23 PM

[Vikram A Punathambekar]

And they still managed to create that half-arsed (or should it be full-arsed? :laugh: ) Explorer in Vista?

Cheers, Vıkram.

Carpe Diem.

[wolfbinary]

amymarie3 wrote:

I do enjoy working directly with the users and designing software.

Is this what you liked about programming when you were taking classes in college? It took me a little while to find what I liked about programming again after I started wondering if I wanted to keep going or like you're doing now, consider a career change. I know plenty of nontechie programmers out there. You don't have to know the latest programming fad to be effective, but it does help to make sure you're competitive. It might help for you to look inside and find out what made programming a career choice or interest at least in the first place and then keep your focus on that.

[Mustafa Ismail Mustafa]

Well, these guys were both in the Comms area and one also delved in the black magic known as AI, so I really doubt that they even remotely touched on that. Couldn't tell you specifics though, tres hush hush, if we tell you then we have to kill you sort :) Besides, they were insane, they might have done it as a practical joke! :laugh:

[Vikram A Punathambekar]

wolfbinary wrote:

Is this what you liked about programming when you were taking classes in college?

To be fair, college simply doesn't prepare you for daily life as a programmer*. True, you learn how doubly linked lists work, and such, but if you're like me, I'm sure that's the least of my day-to-day worries. * Whether it prepares you for daily life in any other career is a different question, so it's best ignored now.

Cheers, Vıkram.

Carpe Diem.

[jhaga]

Christopher Duncan wrote:

or any of the other folks here) be interested in the pro bono coaching, just hit the contact link on my web site below and we'll take it offline so as not to dilute your post.

Done!

jhaga