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And Apolyton has a wide range of professionals in varied fields. So after three years as a software developer I am completely maxed out in my career at this point. I guess I should be happy I made it to the salary and level I'm at right now in such a short period of time, especially since most people never even make it to six figures. I feel nothing though. There are people where I'm at right now who have information that is beyond me. I can tell when we have high level academic discussions about architecture and software patterns that I am not still not at their level. It's only a matter of time though before I take on everything they know like I have at every other place I've been. Over the past year and a half I switched jobs 4 times, each time soaking up all the information they had in a matter of months and then moving on like a locust to the next one.
That's coming to an end though, both from a salary stand point and information stand point. Everything is finite, and I have reached the limit. There will always be things to learn in software development, but the law of diminishing returns is setting in. I estimate I have about 6 months left before I will be simply putting in my time each day and picking up my paycheck. I know lots of people who are in that mode, and they're perfectly happy with what they make and do. For me though, I have to be moving forward every day or my whole world falls apart. There is nowhere left to move up to at my years of experience. I am in a situation right now where all i can really do is just sit and wait for the years to go by. No amount of skill or knowledge is going to let me move forward at this point. The money is good where I work, but I hate the work I do.
Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful for where I'm at now considering I was a step away from being homeless just 3 years ago. I am in no way whining about anything, but I am looking for a way to continue moving forward. I have numerous start up ideas I'm working on on the side with people (one of the up sides of being a consultant you meet all kinds of people who want to start side projects with you), so I will probably always be doing software development and enjoying it. From a day job perspective though...I feel like the ceiling as a software developer is too low.
So, I need advice on how to keep moving forward. I have no doubt that if I spent the next 5+ years just doing what I'm doing I'd probably be able to move up some more, but who knows how much and how long it would take. I've already started branching out into other areas to get a very large base of knowledge including general business, finance, and I may even add law to that list. Would an MBA open doors? How about process certifications like Six Sigma and ITIL? Anyone here have experience as a sales engineer or know of some other areas a software developer can move into? Thanks.
That's coming to an end though, both from a salary stand point and information stand point. Everything is finite, and I have reached the limit. There will always be things to learn in software development, but the law of diminishing returns is setting in. I estimate I have about 6 months left before I will be simply putting in my time each day and picking up my paycheck. I know lots of people who are in that mode, and they're perfectly happy with what they make and do. For me though, I have to be moving forward every day or my whole world falls apart. There is nowhere left to move up to at my years of experience. I am in a situation right now where all i can really do is just sit and wait for the years to go by. No amount of skill or knowledge is going to let me move forward at this point. The money is good where I work, but I hate the work I do.
Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful for where I'm at now considering I was a step away from being homeless just 3 years ago. I am in no way whining about anything, but I am looking for a way to continue moving forward. I have numerous start up ideas I'm working on on the side with people (one of the up sides of being a consultant you meet all kinds of people who want to start side projects with you), so I will probably always be doing software development and enjoying it. From a day job perspective though...I feel like the ceiling as a software developer is too low.
So, I need advice on how to keep moving forward. I have no doubt that if I spent the next 5+ years just doing what I'm doing I'd probably be able to move up some more, but who knows how much and how long it would take. I've already started branching out into other areas to get a very large base of knowledge including general business, finance, and I may even add law to that list. Would an MBA open doors? How about process certifications like Six Sigma and ITIL? Anyone here have experience as a sales engineer or know of some other areas a software developer can move into? Thanks.
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