Dear Sir,
My name is Amit & I have a degree in C Engg
I completed my CE in 2005
Joined a software company ?AT? as developer, & worked for 1.5 years.
In 2007, I joined xxx Publishing and IT(Pune based) as SD and have been working till date.
When I joined xxx, I was the only IT person in company. I developed the company website and various software's required as per company specifications.
Currently, we have IT team of 6 and I am the Team Leader for all. I am not only looking at software development but also managing IT support staff, and other things related to the IT dept
xxx has an eLearning product in pipeline, I will be the TL for that too
The company has been good to me
My Exp 4Y & CTC 4.4LPA
xxx is providing me managerial training. I am not sure if I shall switch to another company as programmer or continue with xxx as TL and later as Manager of IT and eLearning team
I plan start with my MBA within a year. Ki
rajesh's Advice on Thursday, October 29, 2009 :
From what you describe it seems you are already in a good position. Many people wait years to reach this stage. I don't think its good to switch to another company if you are satisfied with your work and the company is good to you.
You can do MBA along with your work as well unless you are planning a full time one.
If programming is what you like you can still do it staying at the same company. You can actively participate in the core design/code of the product which you are developing. That will give you a good design experience and management experience as well. You needn't be doing coding 100% of your time unless that is what you wanted to do.
It all depends on where would you like to see yourself in your professional career few years from now. You won't definitely be a programmer (although there is nothing wrong in it).
My request to you is to analyze your current situation with respect to your professional goal and take a decision.
Don't just jump jobs for the sake of jumping unless you have very strong reason to do so.
All the very best to you.
sainath's Advice on Thursday, October 29, 2009 :
I agree with what Rajesh has stated above. The organisation where you are working appears to be employee focussed. You have been given:
- Managerial training - grooming you to take up greater responsibilities
relatively easily. Trust me, this is rarely the case. Change for the sake of change is not wise thinking. At the same time, loving comfort and not aiming for bigger things is not good either. Doing MBA is a long-term commitment and usually people who complete it don't hop jobs in between once the course has commenced - if you do then you will lose momentum and time. At the same time, even the E-learning project you mention will take time to be developed and setup. I think you are sitting in a good win-win situation without realising it.
Just 1 word of caution - please make sure you maintain contact and share and gain knowledge from other highly competent people as your organizational exposure appears to be limited. This is possibly the only thing lacking right now - participate in specialized trainings, technology roadshows,etc and try to implement the knowledge gained in your organization.
"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you'll drift in that direction."
- Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, CEO
Regards,
Sainath Sherigar,
www.ugain.info
Infobits said on Friday, October 30, 2009
Thank you Sir,
That really helps me; you have told me just what I needed to know.
I have similar feelings but I always get confused when I meet my friends working in various MNCs.
The company has always appreciated my work and provided freedom. I guess I have to choose my own path.
The position that current company is offering me is what is required for them (managing IT support, managing software development being the technical architect of elearning course and managing elearning team) I am not sure where my career is on right path and where it is taking me.
What scares me is that after working for many years in the company if I need to switch to another company, what position would be suitable for me and if I would be able to survive there.
sainath's Advice on Sunday, November 01, 2009 :
Your point of being scared is a very valid one - we have all been there before, maybe still are at times.
Be very careful whose opinion you allow to influence your thinking - ask yourself "Has this person already achieved what I want to achieve? Is he speaking from experience or is he stating his opinion on a matter?". This will help you to filter whose advice to listen to. For most people, partucularly in the immediate peer group, the answer will be "No".
Let us say you did go ahead and manage to land a job in one of the top 5 MNCs. Let's analyze the advantages:
Advantages- Huge brand name on CV
- Possibly stronger presence in job market
- Exposure to latest technologies - this is relative and will depend on which account you are placed in. Just being in a leading MNC is not enough, what role you are in is crucial. If you land in an account wherein the client still believes in using outdated technology you will be in trouble. Company policy will require that you spend a minimum time period in that account before shifting to a different account.
- Exposure to good training programmes - this is a fact. But again a lot will depend upon your initiative to learn new things. Moreover, this should not be considered an advantage as this is something you can achieve on your own with a little investment.
- Interaction with mentors worthy of emulation - this is very much possible. But again luck plays an important role here.
Disadvantages- Sometimes the developer pool is so huge that you can find it difficult to become visible in the ocean. This is a common problem faced. Right now, you have strong visibility in your current company. The very fact that they are sending you for a management program indicates one thing - firstly, they see potential in you. Second, they have a vision for their IT setup and want you to play a strong role in the same. Agreed, they are meeting their requirements but at the same time they are also ensuring that you play a key role in the same.
- Since the staff size is huge, financial gains can take a while coming.
Beyond a certain point more than the company label what matters is the role you are currently engaged in. Ask yourself "Does the role offer enough scope for learning and growth ?"
Let's analyze your current role:
- As technical architect - you have plenty of scope to grow technically.Long term career direction - technical architect and beyond
- As team lead - you have enough scope to develop people management and planning skills. Long term career direction -Project Management and beyond
- Handling maintance and support is sometimes treated with disrespect or frowned upon by developers - please check out standards like ITIL in detail and you will realise how crucial this is for businesses. Account managers look upon maintenance as a steady ongoing source of income. Long term career direction -Service Delivery Management
Your current role is multi-dimensional - a year or more time spent in such a role will automatically help you identify where your interests, ability and passion lies. Map this against what you want to achieve against the various career paths and you will succeed.
Please check out this earlier post where career directions are mentioned in great detail:
www.dotnetfunda.com/advices/a22-carrer-advice-needed.aspxTo ensure that you are relevant in the market in terms of knowledge and thinking, ensure that you are listening to the experts. Benchmark your knowledge, skills and thinking against the best in the industry.How do you do that? - one effective way is by visiting enough sites on which experts speak and if possible interacting with them on their blogs. For example, listen to David Anderson speak on the below link:
channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/David-Anderson-Thoughts-on-Visual-Studio-Team-System-and-quotDark-Matterquot-Iteration-Forcasti/
and you will automatically realise why Agile is where the future is and the limitations of the waterfall model. Also you will find it interesting to know why a leading guru like David Anderson quit Microsoft to join Corbis - the answer, what I have stated above, better and bigger role.Ensure that you hang out with enough competent people - in the real or virtual world and your competency will only increase. This way you ensure that your competency and market rating is very high and you can survive, rather excel, in any company.
?You are the same today you?ll be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read."
- Charlie "Tremendous" Jones
"I always tell people that I have two kinds of advice: I have good advice but then I have priceless advice. I always have to ask them, ?Would you like my good advice or would you like my priceless advice?? Their response is, "Well, what?s the difference?" The difference is this: My good advice is good. But my priceless advice is never ask for or take advice. Because when you ask advice, you are asking somebody to tell you what they think you should do, and they do not have any idea. What you should do is never take or ask for advice but get counsel. Counsel is when you gather information from different sources and then make your decision with the help of God. But always--when you make your decision--you make it your decision and let no one else influence it (except for their counsel)."
- Charlie "Tremendous" Jones
Regards,
Sainath Sherigar,
www.ugain.info
Infobits said on Friday, November 06, 2009
Thanks for your valuable opinion.
I really appreciate the time n effort you have put in to guide me in taking another step in my career decision.
On behalf of the users of this forum, I would like to thank you for your complete support, in helping us who are not sure how to proceed ahead in their careers. At this stage of career its really difficult to find people whose counseling can help?