Career Advice: IT/Development

Hey all,

I know I should be posting this on an IT forum, but I figured I’d try the people here at T-Nation before (as there’s some bright IT guy on this board).

I graduated college 2 years ago and took a job as a Web Developer for a small consulting group. I enjoyed the job, but was put on projects I was totally unqualified for and this caused me to not enjoy the job (I did IT in school so I wasn’t very technical). I started getting treated poorly from others and was very worried about my job as one project was going badly. So I found another job as a Web Content Specialist with a bigger company and put in my two weeks. It was described as a mix between marketing and IT and had lots of room for growth. I figured, I might as well try the business E-commerce side of IT while I can.

Now after 5 months at my new job, I’m really regretting my decision. The job is boring. It’s basically data entry and not exactly what they described. I used this job to get my foot in the door as they said you can move around in different positions. I think this is untrue as after my 2nd month here, they had massive layoffs and the VP said there will be no new positions.

I have a “goals” meeting next week and want to ask this question:

  1. Where do you see me here in 1 and 2 years?

I will then explain that I want a junior developer position and ask what I need accomplish this. If they can’t do this, do you think it’s unreasonable for me to start searching for new jobs (I’d wait a few months to get my Java Cert from Sun I’ve been studying for).

It’s never unreasonable to search for a new job. When you are young, it is important to constantly be searching for the best job you can get. It’s the opportunities you create early in life that shape how the rest of your life will shape up.

As someone in IT, I personally think it should always be your goal to get out of technical work. I got my foot in the door with programming, but my goal is to get into systems analysis and eventually enterprise architecture. I’m young now, and I have time to spend 60 hours a week studying the latest technologies, but I won’t be able to keep it up when I’m older. Senior programmers who don’t have management potential get laid off - young guys, with way more expertise can be hired at half the cost.