Am i in the right job 0_0

[Croaks]

Hi

Ive just recently finished Uni and moved into my first job in IT. The problem is that I seem to be doing such a varied job that I don’t think ill get the chance to specialize any time soon.

At the moment Im programming bespoke apps in VB.net and Java but Im also the network admin and website admin/developer. Im just worried that all this variety will effect my career prospects in the future.

Would be nice to get an opinion of people already established in the industry.

Croaks

 

[TomKane]

Hi,

Personally, I don't think it's a bad thing to have a bit of variety - particularly at the start of your career. There's a long way to go to the finish line and I can't see you needing to rush towards specialisation just yet. I think if you have a bit of experience in other fields in IT it's going to give you a more rounded (and informed) view of IT and an appreciation of how other things work.

I started out as a trainee/operator then became a developer - I moved to another country and went into application support for about three years before returning to development. I have to say I thouroughly enjoyed the support thing and think it's definately helped me with the development work I'm doing now.

Best of luck,
Tom

 

[chiph]

At the early stage of your career, having some variety is a good thing -- you might come across an aspect of the industry which you hadn't previously considered, but like a lot.

Chip H.


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[wmichael]

Croaks;

I agree with the others; variety is a great thing. In the short term, the breadth of experience you gain will pay off in spades as your career progresses.

The only caution I have is that you want to avoid becoming too stretched. As your experience increases, you may find it beneficial to your career to find a place to dive in more deeply.

Having the responsibility for being a network administrator as well as an application developer may eventually kill you; the two are very different disciplines, and you may find that priorities will conflict.

My prior experience has been similar to yours, where I began as a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. It was not until I spent about 5 years as an engineer, then another 4 as a software developer that I really felt my competency levels made me much more useful and marketable. It also felt pretty durn good to be very skilled at something.

Bottom line is this; You are doing what is necessary in the short term, and will gain a lot of experience and overall generalized knowledge. Longer term, you may want to choose an area to focus on and get *really* good at.

Good luck!

~wmichael

"small change can often be found under seat cushions