We've all had good career runs (for varying values of "all" and "good") working with one particular technology or another. But at much as we may have loved it, there comes a time when it becomes apparent that that particular string has played out and it's time to figure out what's next.
How do you know when that time has come -- and how do you figure out what your Next Thing is?
- Those that have been there for years (3/5/since the beginning), are usually underpaid for the long hours they put in, and may or may not have stock options.
- The rest of us.
And it seems that the first group rarely moves on. I suspect it's because they're too heavily invested in the company with some sort of golden handcuffs, or they've become too comfortable and don't want to look for a new job. They also seem to prefer ignoring the fact that they're underpaid comparatively to more recent hires or to the market.
The second group usually moves on after 10-12 months on the job, sometimes up to 18 months. Sometimes it's a lateral move, sometimes it's a step up, but it's almost always for more money and slightly different technologies or a better work situation.
Short of the usual advice that if you're dreading going to work, aren't feeling challenged anymore, or your managers don't support you then it's probably time to change jobs; it would seem that the typical time to move on is every 12-18 months.
Keep in mind that these are my anecdotal observations, it may or may not be representative.
Technical lessons about design, architecture, and infrastructure choices one has made, how they cope with scale, subtle mis-steps, etc. Interpersonal lessons about how people develop and communicate. Lessons about why some approaches work and don't work organisationally.
Like I said, might not be representative but has been my observations.
First part - When to know when it is over? In the simpliest form, when the jobs available suck. Either the pay or the volume. When I have changed it was both. So actually this is how you know you should have changed a year or two ago.
Second part - What to do next? That is a gamble. Anything that is up and coming has a risk of being overplayed (too many others going into it) or fading out. This then becomes an issue of your objectives: 1) Write books 2) Become the industry expert 3) Just make good money 4) Be happy If you are #2 or #4 then it involves exploring a few technologies, I recommend either MOOCs or reading on forums, to decide what excites you. If you want #2, you need #4. #3 You still need to explore, but I would start with what you see job demand for. Then explore MOOCs to see if you can stand the tech. Then be sure there are enough resources available for you to learn enough to be hired. You might have to do some pro bono work for resume food. #1 - sorry no clue.
What ever you choose you cannot rest. You must evolve, why? 1) others will compete and drive down the value of your skills 2) because you do not work cheap, there is a large profit motivation to make your skills more of a commodity (easier for #1)
If you are a reasonably aware and informed person with regard to the matter at hand (and additionally, shouldn't your own well-being be a principal "matter at hand"?), it is yourself cluing in, ahead of constructing a fully-conscious analysis and argument.
The times my intuition has really -- in the gut -- pushed me, it's been right. Often, later -- days, week, or longer -- I find myself placing that gut feeling into context and events in a way that totally makes sense.
Some might argue I'm just rationalizing it. Seemed much too immediate -- and then crystal-clear, in hindsight.
For eight years, I had worked in both small and large agencies as a .NET developer, working on a whole range of sites - some tiny ones, mostly medium ones, and the odd behemoth. I had a few user group talks behind me and a good reputation amongst my peers.
My breaking point was when I thought to look who else was hiring, and couldn't find anyone I was either excited or scared to work for. Sticking with agencies would've been no different to what I was doing, and the larger .NET houses were fairly boring affairs. I had made a career as a .NET developer without moving into enterprise, so I had no intention of doing that now.
So, I decided to jump not to the next big thing, but for something different. I now work with startups outside of the .NET stack, and the challenge of switching from being a solid .NET dev to a beginner in various languages on the Linux stack is both exciting and scary. Sure, I could make more elsewhere, and I've put myself in a position to look stupid, but I forced a change and hopefully the change in scenery will push me towards a more complete understanding of development, and onwards to the next big thing.
I greatly enjoy my day job as a developer. But my organization is floundering (aspects of my team need improvement, but also the multitude of others across the org). I want to improve it, I can't do it as a developer (alone). So I'm moving up closer to management (but doing my best to stay out of management proper) to a position where I can have more sway on decision makers, and advocate for the resources, training, and improvements the product producers need.
I have other goals with respect to learning and improving my craft as a developer, but they're slightly (just) lower priority than getting this organization to function better. And if I fail, I can at least say I tried. To pursue my developer craft goals, I'd need to leave this company. And I'm not ready to yet (I'd have to move, which is not something I'm ready for).
In the worst case, I tried. I learn something new about how management functions. How to be a leader. And that'll prepare me (success or failure) for my next role.
Good framework figuring out your next thing in the book Designing Your Life by a couple of Stanford professors-
Here's a podcast interview with the authors, to give you a flavor of what it's about > http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-10-03/using-design-th...
Also, NY Times review > https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/fashion/design-thinking-s...
Somewhere can mean anything - a career improvement, or benefits like child care. Maybe even a team that clicks with religious beliefs. In some cases it's money.
More often, it's a kind of experience one longs for. Maybe you just really want to make a game or a CRM. Maybe you just want to enjoy traveling the world on company money.
Second, you just measure how you're going along this path. Ideally your job will take you there.
In my experience high demand and high rates environment lasts 3-5 years. Bit of a challenge to pick the next best technology. Not too soon on the adoption curve and not too late.
Then figuring out what/whether/is-it-worth is the on-going interesting part, and it can last months - or even years.
That may not mean that it's time to change careers. It might just be time to change jobs.