Long-Term Career Plans for Programmers?

zeno_lee asks: "Over the weekend, I spoke to a successful man in his 50s. He works in finance, but has had jobs in construction, trucking, and accounting. All throughout he has had concrete goals and pursued them vigorously. In his 20s he set a goal to be an expert in his field in finance, and achieved it successfully. I'm in my 20s and he advised me to envision what I want to do when I'm in my 50s, set my priorities and goals, and achieve that vision. He mentioned that success (career wise) depends on carefully planned goals with a vision, not a haphazard obstacle course with no end in sight. Beyond receiving a paycheck in the short term and steadily gaining expertise in my field, I have not given my long-term career any concrete thought. I don't have a vision of what I will be doing when I'm 50. Has anyone thought of their long-term career thoroughly and are working towards it? By this I don't mean the usual vague response 'I'll probably be in management one day.' I'm looking to hear from both junior 'careerists' in their 20s who have concrete goals, and the older folks in this field who have established careers and have an opinion about this."

Comments

Philip Greenspun's Guide

[Bouncings]

I suggest you read some of the works of Philip Greenspun on this topic. He's part MIT-professor, part photographer, and cofounder of Arsdigita. In particular, you might want to read:

• Career Guide for Engineers and Computer Scientists -- a humour look at the role of education in job seeking. Not very serious, but a good read and actually very thought provoking
• How I Became a Scum-Sucking Yuppie Materialist and his advice on investing are a good and geeky introduction to money.

When all else fails, read Seven Habits of Highly Annoying People. ;-)

Joseph Campbell

[bowronch]

I think Joseph Campbell said it well...

Nothing is exciting if you know what the outcome will be.

That and

Follow your bliss.

Plans can change

[Kerne]

Being aggressive is one thing, being stubborn is another. While it's nice to see success stories like that, not everyone knows what they'd be happy doing for the rest of their life by the time they graduate college.

While I was in college getting a degree is music I had the goal of owning my own recording studio one day. By the time I graduated that had changed to computer systems design and programming. Recent events have led me in yet another direction...but this time I can finally imagine myself doing this for the next 30 years.

Next week I'll begin classes to get an Emergency Medical Services degree and national certification as a Paramedic.

It's an old cliche, but if you do what you love you'll never have to work a day in your life!

Intl. Fire Rescue and EMS News: http://www.firehouse.com

Expect Change Inside and Out

[GuyMannDude]

This is quite true. If you are in a fast-paced and relatively new field like programming, you'd better not make your plans too rigid. It's interesting that you mention "typewriter repair jobs" because I was actually going to use the now-defunct Smith Corona Typewriter company as an example of changing technology spoiling the best laid plans.

The person asking the Ask Slashdot question also states that he's "in his 20s". Are you 20 or 29? There's a huge difference. Are you married? Any kids? Not only will technology and the world around you change, but you are certainly going to change in the next 30 years. The goals I set for myself when I was 20-24 are certainly not what I consider my goals are now. And your future family might not be thrilled with your goals if they require 60 hour work weeks during your midlife.

It's nice to give some thought to your long term goals but I would be wary of making rigid plans 30 years down the line. The advice this finance guy gave you about how "success depends on setting long-term goals" sounds like something you'd read in an Anthony Robbins book (or inside a fortune cookie). Life is pretty complicated. You can't expect the secret to professional success to be captured in a single sentence. Be smart. Be able to work with people. Be flexible and adaptable. These suggestions, too, are no guarantee that professional success will come to you but it will help you a lot more than planing for the year 2030.

Good luck,
GMD

Timely...

[superdoo]

Well, today was my last day with a company that I've been with for 4.5 years. Before that I was with a startup for about 1.5 years. I'm 25. I've known since I was around 7 or so that I wanted to get into programming. The startup company was a fluke, but it was a trial-by-fire introduction into the corporate world or wheeling and dealing and on-the-spot, impress-the-possible-investor situations. Since then I've worked for 4.5 years with a services company, starting out installing hardware, and moving on up through every facet of large corporate network management and administration. Software solutions, large-scale migrations, etc. I've always know that I want to get into programming, so why have I been doing these other jobs? I think most people get sidetracked by their impatience. They want to start coding now! I want a long, rewarding career. I didn't want to code for 80 hours a week and be burned out by the time I turned 25. Instead I've built up a lot of experience in how IT works in large companies. Now that I'm starting a programming job on Monday I have years of experience to know how program requirements and design choices will actually affect the people that use the programs. I know that the last 4.5 years will not get me a programming job but they will show that I know how to function in a large corporate environment. I think that is something that a lot of IT people don't realize. A valuable programmer is one that understands how the business works, not one that is stuck in a closet somewhere coding inside a black box and trying to make everyone conform to his data structures.

If you take a long-term approach to your career you can avoid getting caught up in the "now! now! now!" attitude. Take some time to think about the skills and experience that will help you down the road. And it's not learning a new scripting language, it's understanding how to add value to a business.

My two cents anyways...

I have never been able to get into this mindset...

[Nomad7674]

It may have to do with the fact that my father was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was 9 and finally died when I was 20 (he was about 40), but I have never been able to understand the mindset of "I must set a plan TODAY in order to achieve in 30 years." And don't get me wrong, I have been challenged often enough and desired to be able to provide that kind of long-term vision - especially in interviews for jobs.

But the reality is that no one really knows what tomorrow brings and it is the small decisions today which make the BIG differences tomorrow. In college, could I have planned to be a Business Analyst? NO! I did not know one existed. But by making the right small choices in life - finishing the things I loved in college, following advice of friends in jobs, working hard at the jobs I had, treating people right, keeping my eyes on God, etc. - I wound up in a very good place.

Is it the place I planned to be? No. I am still unmarried and have not yet written the great American novel. But I have few regrets.

I guess my point is: Feel free to plan, but never forsake now for the far-flung future and never take the low road now assuming you will get back to the high road later. You may not be around to get to your vision in 30 years.

Oh, and for the record, I am 28 now.

When 50's are your short-term goals

[coyote-san]

Okay, I'm 41 and change, still many years from 50, but I can provide a bit more specific advice than many others here.

• Always know your fire exits. Both literally (when checking into a new hotel while on a trip), figuratively (e.g., always keep an eye open for trucks with loose cargo that can suddenly dump heavy trash in your lane) and in life. Some day your life will depend on it.
• Plan for a rainy day. Hell, plan for a 100-year flood. And know how to recognize when you're in it. This should be automatic to anyone living through the current IT depression.
• Always have a backup plan. Always play with the next move or three in mind.
• Always keep some cash on hand. Liquid funds (before and separate from your "rainy day" funds) in the bank, even a kilobuck or two in a fire safe at home. Cash speaks in situations where nothing else will work.
• Always keep your car in working condition. Nothing is more worthless than an untrustworthy car - you can't use it when you need it, but the upkeep is a constant drain on your resources.
• Always keep a few days worth of emergency rations and water in your house. It will seem to be a wasted effort... until that crazy kid two blocks over blows up the substation and you're without power for a couple days.
• Finally, the little stuff adds up. If you're a regular runner your knees will be beat up unless you always wear good shoes. If you don't workout, you will resemble Jabba the Hutt as you hit middle age.

As for career advice, it's buried in the advice mentioned above. You can (and should) sketch out a general career arc, but don't bother trying to make a detailed prediction 30 years out because too much will change. E.g., what happens to your plan if you're diagnosed with MS (or worse, ALS) in another few years? What if your kid dies tragically in a decade, and you think you can see a way to help others avoid the same cruel fate?

All you can do is ensure that you're never "checkmated" because you're stuck in a job you hate but can't afford to quit, with career skills that have become hopelessly outdated, that you aren't caught in an easily avoided layoff, etc.