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Ask Slashdot: How Do I Stay Employable?
illcar writes "Hi, I am a 40-year-old working as a senior developer for one of the biggest investment banks. I have always worked as a full time employee in my career; however the last 5-6 years have been very tough for me because of office politics, outsourcing, and economic conditions. The financial industry is not doing well, and we may be at the brink of another round of layoffs. My family is growing, my spouse does not work, and I still don't own a house. I am worried regarding my job security & career growth. Considering Medicare does not kick in till 65, I am still looking at 25 long years of career. I am wondering what the best way would be for me to stay employable in the coming years?"
illcar continues: "1. Should I stay technical, and be ready to work as consultant/contractor? How does medical insurance work in that case?
2. Should I capitalize on the domain knowledge, and move onto business/managerial side?
3. Will the MBA degree or alternate career help?
4. Any other suggestions?
Thanks."
2. Should I capitalize on the domain knowledge, and move onto business/managerial side?
3. Will the MBA degree or alternate career help?
4. Any other suggestions?
Thanks."
If you haven't looked for a job for the last several years, make sure you know how to make your resume look good. I've seen people with excellent skill who couldn't find a job, because they didn't know how to write a resume. I've also seen people who horrible, that had no problem finding a job, because they could make their resume look good. Finding a job is a skill like any other.
After that, you should decide what you want. If you want to become a contractor, focus on skills (and resume writing skills) that will help you get that. If you want to go into management, go for that. If you want to remain a programmer, then aim for that.
Realistically, there is enough demand in the market for any of those positions if you can do it reasonably well. If you aren't willing to relocate, that could possibly limit your options, though.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
It's a changing world, few people can expect a long career with the same company. prepare you yourself for the worst situation, live in a house that you can afford, not the house that you want. Give your kids a good education, not the best education. Be prepared to shift into a more stable job at the expense of salary. I'm 55, if I lose my job tomorrow then I'm out cutting lawns or doing part-time teaching(?). And if things don't go bad, then you are in a good position for retirement. Start planning for 65 now, not in 10 years time.
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BOFH is the tagline for a long-running series of humor articles on theregister.co.uk. It stands for "Bastard Operator From Hell". The series is about how an IT person makes his charges miserable. You will also see "PFY" reference, which is the BOFH's "Pretty Fucking Young" associate and protege.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Bzzzt.
Please turn in your geek card.
PFY = "Pimply Faced Youth"
PFY actually stands for Pimply Faced Youth.
IT tends to throw out the old and import the young because the old hands don't keep up with the new technology. But if you have special skills that are vital to your industry they'll keep you around until you choose to retire or die of old age.
You will have to keep up on technologies as they come. Your company will tell you what skills they're looking for... Definitely keep training.
The suggestion to move to management also isn't bad.
Work on increasing your value and look at job openings that are close to your skill set. Ideally you don't want to care if you're fired because you're so valuable that you'll just get another job.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
I'm a big believer in the idea that social interactions are more important than job skills when it comes to getting or retaining a job. Just think : how many people have you worked with that seem to have no job skills whatsoever, but they often thrive in an office, undeservedly becoming manager when they don't know how to spell IBM?
Those people are either lucky, or more likely, they know how to manage the social game. With that in mind, here's my advice:
1) Learn to play office politics.
I'm not talking about some sort of 80's and 90's era sabotage-the-other-guy or beat-them-with-a-better-pitch schtick. Just realize that the ability to socialize in a business setting is a valuable job skill. Make sure you know what's going on in the office, and at worst, offer to pitch in where you can, or act to perform introductions between those that need and those who can provide.
This ability is especially rare among stereotype IT/developer types, so when it's recognized, it's usually well rewarded. If you're having problems in this area, I recommend joining a toastmasters group if simple social interaction is your issue, or asking a manager to mentor you ... which leads to my next item.
2) Keep climbing up.
The standard business operates not based on income, but the rate at which their income is fluctuating. If it's not going forward, then there's something that needs to be 'fixed' - at least from a stock, investor, board standpoint. This feeling trickles down though. If you're happy doing the same job for years, then either there's something wrong with you, or the job - according to some managerial viewpoints. That's why they ask you stupid questions like, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years," in your interview/review. They're just checking that you're normal, according to their standards.
The easiest path up is management. Ask to be mentored, indicate that you want to move into management. Leverage your technical seniority. You can go the project management route since there's an easy certification for that, if you're into certifications (some companies are, some aren't).
Alternatively, court the architect position. If it doesn't exist at your company, request that it be created for you. You don't need more money (though you shouldn't ~say~ that), in fact, you might not even need new responsibilities. Just do it for the title. It's important. Maybe not to you, but when they make decisions at the top level, they know they can afford to get rid of developers - even a senior developer or two - but an 'architect' sounds invaluable.
3) Take ownership .. ugh... powerpoint, drawing gant charts, whatever it is that will sell that idea to the business with YOU as the lead.
You've spent significant time at your company, and you have a good idea of the technical domain. You must have a million ideas about what can be done, and what can be done better. Find something you can care about and make it happen. That means drawing up a business plan, inserting yourself in manager's schedules, getting approval, learning
It helps then, to be able to pull it off, but honestly it doesn't seem to be all that important.
4) Self-promote.
Ugh. I hate this one, but it's necessary. The only people who may really know your value is your co-workers, and if you're on a small or isolated product, maybe not even them. Your manager ~may~ have a good idea of what you're worth, but let's guess that it's 50%. His manager only has about a 10% grasp, and the department manager with 300 people only knows you by job title and the section his direct report manages.
If your manager isn't whooping up your name and your co-work
Idiocracy may have been a comedy, but it called the shallow end of the gene pool straight up.
Congratulations, you've just invented the Caricature Assassination, my aren't we clever! Why do you people keep associating Obama with liberals? He is the limpest of milk-toast moderates, he's only liberal compared to the neo-nazi's and religious whack-o-doodles that wander mumbling to themselves on the Republican side of the House/Senate. I'm beginning to think that we should consider spiking the Republican water fountain with Thorazine as a national safety measure. I think the only true remaining liberal in the Senate is an ex-writer for Saturday Night Live. The Dems are now moderate conservatives and the Reps are simply shocking... no, I mean WTF, I get dizzy whenever I read the latest stupid thing uttered by a Washington Republican. They're like flounders, they only have a bottom and a right side. Its like Picasso had a psychotic break and breathed life into a one sided scribble.
You wanna know who's against managing illegal aliens? The Reps, because it would be bad for business. As for birth control, you can't have it both ways, you can't complain about them being here, then complain about the solution to fix the problem. Let me think, contraceptive pill 30 cents, new American Citizen with poor foreign national parents... from birth to 18, what $200,000 tax dollars? More? Even if you count all the contraceptive pills that couple can use over 18 years, those are some of the best tax dollar that ever got spent, talk about a bargain!
That's the other thing about these conservative spewings, they keep harping about the same crap, none of it makes any sense, none of it holds up to even the slightest logical inspection. Its just more mouth breathing, knuckle dragging noise being regurgitated by some "Click Head". You know why they call them "Click Heads" right? Because the poor little petrified bean between their ears makes a clicketty sound whenever the breeze between their ears rattles it around.
Oh, and one last thing... if you been getting that "called a racist, homophobic, bigot" thing a lot, perhaps its not the people pointing out the obvious who are the problem. Just a nugget for you to chew on, nightie, night.
Hey mods, '1, Insightful' is not a substitute for '1, Glad someone else suffers from crippling social problems too'.
hth.
I had similar concerns and this is what I did, and how it turned out.
[Sorry this is so long, but I spent way too much time making it this short.]
At about your age I was facing the prospect of going the management route or doing what I loved. I had been acting like a manger as a team lead but avoiding much of the messy side of dealing with personel. I was expected to move on up and take on the added burdens of full management and give up the hands-on fun (for me) stuff. Didn't want it, yet I saw what happened to 50 year olds who didn't move up. I didn't want that either. So, I planned an exit strategy, and left becoming more or less a consultant. I had an incorporated company(very important to be an employee of a company - not a freelancer) already set up and 6 months of cash put away before I left.
Here are a few key things that worked for me. They weren't really part of my strategy, but just came naturally, and really paid off.
(1) I really cared about the folks (mostly 10 to 15 years younger) I was leaving behind, and I wanted them to succeed after I left. I made it a point to mentor them, so they could survive after I left.
(2) I really cared about the organization and the current projects I was working on, and delayed my departure for a year, to make sure they succeeded and there was a heir apparent team lead to take over.
(3) I didn't tell anyone what I was planning, other than my wife, my dad (who had just retired) and a close uncle.
(4) When I was ready to leave, I went to my boss, and told him I would like to sit down with his boss and anyone else that they wanted to invite and explain exactly why I was leaving, what I intended to do after I left, and make sure that any rumors would be put to bed about why I was leaving. I reviewed everything I would say with my boss, and asked for any suggestions he had that might make what I said as painless as possible for him and his boss.
(5) The main points of that meeting were (1)(2) and (3) and I wanted them to know what I planned, before my peers and team members found out, so they could prepare to deal with any fallout.
(6) I also offered that I would stay up to 6 more months to help finish or transition projects, or I was prepared to be escorted by security on the spot to clean out my desk (which was official human resources policy at my previous job).
(7) The last and maybe most important point I tried to make in this meeting was that I was hoping not to burn any bridges, because they, the organization, the bosses, the team members helped make my career, and I didn't want them thinking bad about me, because who knows, they might even need me from time to time as a consultant. I told them that, I wasn't just thinking about it.
Now frankly, I figured I had a 50-50 shot of being shown the door immediately or worse. They probably thought I was a bit crazy leaving excellent pay and benefits for an uncertain future, but seemed to respect the approach I was taking.
Bottom line - they asked me to stay on for 6 more months and gave me a great send off complete with memorabilia. 6 months after that I was their consultant and they started outsourcing some development tasks, and now 12-1/2 years later, I still do work for them. Most of my income comes from other sources, but they are a dependable customer and the people I left behind have brought me a lot of business through their natural networking. My house is paid for, both my kids went to college, for as long as they wanted, and are doing very well in their chosen professions. I'm able to give away a substantial portion of my income to benefit those less who are less fortunate. So at least to this point it as worked out well by any measure.
One last part but not the least part of this story - (I'm pretty sure this will get mod'ed down because it cuts so much against the grain), I prayed this whole thing through, before during and after. I 'knew' this was the right thing for me to do and there was a right way to do it.
Full disclosure: Yes I'm one of those. In
You are a Senior Developer for a Bank. By all accounts, you should have job security. Why? Because banks are notorious for having antiquated technology, particularly in-house code. As a Senior Developer, you are in a position to make yourself irreplaceable. Dig your self into the old code that no one wants to touch. Dig in like a tick. If a) you are the only one who knows the language and b) the only one who can understand the logic, then they will keep you. Don't push it, because if they know you are extorting them they will cut off their arm to spite you. Lay low and know where the skeletons are buried. You should have no problem cruising through til retirement.
I don't think you understand how banks or other financial institutions work. If you start working your way through the source code of trading software or something, you will be discovered, sacked on the basis you are performing industrial espionage, and probably find it a tad difficult to get another similar job.
A "senior developer" in a bank is just another cog in the machine, not some superstar responsible for keeping the company profitable.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Not such a good move when he is the sole breadwinner. Which is his biggest problem - choosing to have a partner not working in this day and age is like having a servant. A bloody luxury, and one that makes you so much more dependent on your employer. And you should never let yourselve be in an unequal power relationship for long because you are gonna get yourself rogered big time.
Then you haven't read what I have read, or haven't taken it in. There has been quite a bit of useful advice:
1) The wife should get work - more than one income = greater security
2) Get into an area of the bank that is high value and obscure
3) Go contracting.
4) Drastically reduce costs
I have no idea why your post has been modded interesting, but all of the above are worth a go, even if 3) is high risk without 1), but as you say in this economic climate things are uncertain.
My golden rule has always been: Spend what you need, not what you earn. This means that as you earn more money, don't just upgrade the car/house/family/holidays etc as if your new income is the norm. Work out what you need. The rest goes into assets. For a rainy day, or for retirement, which ever comes first.
Can you work for yourself?
If you can quit relying on others for your prosperity, you can dump this whole useless line of worry.
This is a great idea if you like working 70 hours a week for little pay and no benefits, combined with new taxes and penalties from the likes of Obama. The cost of my services went up 10% thanks to an Obamacare excise tax. "Well, pass it on to the customers." I do, but raising prices 10% in a struggling economy doesn't exactly help sales. Soon I'll face a penalty for not being able to afford health insurance too. "But if you can't afford it, there will be assistance for you to be able to." Orly? "[T]he state might not be required to expand coverage to ... adults making up to 133% of federal poverty limit, which is $14,900 for a single person."
$14,900 * 1.33 = $19817. So if I make $20k/year, I'm rich and should be able to afford my own health insurance, else get penalized. How many people do you know making $20k/year can afford living expenses (not to mention paying off debt) AND health insurance? I'm a single white male, so I don't qualify for government assistance anyway. Soon I'll be penalized for it!
Yay for democracy! Fuck small business!