Hey all!
This is one of my first posts in a forum and my first in this one, so please be patient! 
I have recently hired as a software engineer for a contracting software company. Upon reaching my job, I was asked to be a technical consultant/ devops. My job is to help oversee an important piece of software and monitor it. When there is any issue, I speak and lead a team to upper management of various bureaus, vendors, clients to understand the issue and solve it appropriately. Personally, I like this kind of job as I like being technical but not passionate about coding. This job allows me to see the bigger picture and gives me an opportunity to exercise my communication skills ( which I love). Also, I have the freedom to develop dashboards, etc to help me automate my job as much as possible.
However, I am just curious to how this type of job is for overall career and long term pay. This is my first real job and I thought I was going to be a developer; however, I feel like I will soon like this job even more and am curious about career advice.
Ex: what should I brush up on? certifications? Am I approaching this problem with an incorrect paradigm?
3 Spice ups
The job is what you make it, same goes for your career. It can be if you want it to be. If you are happy and feel like you enjoy the job more then its a good place to be. Working on your management skills and people skills will help you progress up the chain which as you say are already good at and enjoy. it seems you are already doing the right things.
If you got the job you have the right skills, work on developing skills that are and could potentially be related to your current field. If in the future you want to change then start working towards those skills or certs. In terms of pay, a jack of all trades never gets as much as someone who is a master of one. A handyman gets paid way less then a builder specialising in high tensile concrete form work. If you want money stay in one particular area and get really good and then charge your time out at exorbitant rates.
2 Spice ups
@JfHuges Thank you for your reply! My question is as a developer I can understand how I can develop my skills. IE improving Java, Python, etc. As a Technical Consultant, although I can improve my communication and managing sklils; how can I show it? I can have projects with Java, Python, that are stand alone and the experience alone will help. And the demand for programmers will always be there. I am wondering how to add security and freedom to my skill as to that I can move to another job or increase marketability.
Your communication is shown whenever you interact with someone. if the people you manage dont hate you, and you can achieve goals then you are showing your management skills. these are things that dont have a real measure, its all down to opinion. its very hard to have everyone think the same thing about you as people have different different opinions about what makes a good communicator or manager.
if you want security you need to become indispensable for your company. that is a type of job security. Freedom to choose jobs comes from being the best for that position. as long as you apply for jobs that you have the skills for you have freedom, if you dont have the skills then you go back to square one and gain them through training or certs. marketability comes back to communication and experience. you can have a great resume and poor people skills thus leading to poor marketability. so marketability i think comes down to how you present yourself as a person and through your experience.
DevOps isn’t a job title, it’s a culture. So asking about the long term pay and career growth isn’t really relevant. From what you described, it sounds like you are a Sysadmin or network admin of sorts in charge of monitoring app(s). That’s on the Op(s)eration side of the culture. If you like what you are doing, focus on automation and infrastructure as code.
1 Spice up
dzee
(DZee)
6
I started as a software engineer, but what I did when I first got on the job was software QA. This led to being a liaison to other firms, and suddenly I was way off the track of what I had intended on doing The vendor involvement led me into hardware engineering, but I had opportunities to write software in the form of drivers for the hardware. I spent a little more time programming, then I did project management of development, then managed software development for websites. After that I got involved in marketing because they are strongly involved in websites, then back to purely technical web development where I was promoted to a director.
All this led me up the ladder of titles and pay, but it sure wasn’t what I was expecting when I walked out of school expecting to program for the rest of my life with a B.S. in Computer Science.
If you’re in your 20s or early 30s, I’d say stick with what you’re doing right now and get the experience. Program where you can if that is also of interest - even if you do it on the side. While programming can be fulfilling and well-paying, ultimately to move up you’re going to need to do some of the very things you’re getting an opportunity to do. I would say you’re getting a rare opportunity to show organizational and communication skills which could put you on a fast-track right past programming and into project management. It sounds like you might enjoy that. Do not underestimate the value of being able to translate the technical to the layperson and back again from the executive suite. You’ve found a high-visibility position that can lead to early recognition.
Some things to consider as you go:
- Big-picture jobs like you describe are great in large firms where there is a need to organize and communicate between teams. This is a valuable skill to large firms and can pay well, but in smaller companies, that tier is frequently absent. Also, if a firm is consolidating, it may be a job that is eliminated. I’d continue to look for opportunities to program while doing a big-picture job to keep your programming skills fresh and viable to smaller organizations.
- Programming and the technical disciplines in general are a meritocracy. You can’t hide a lack of hands-on experience from those who have it like programmers, so if you want to take your big-picture job as a fast-track to management, be sure you don’t forget you may have a manager title, but must be a leader of the type that coaches behavior and leaves the details on how to accomplish things to the experts you lead. My firm is going through a lot of management training, and this is the type of manager everyone should be. In Agile, it’s called a servant leader. You don’t prescribe how the problem is solved, but you lead by providing cover to your staff and making sure the obstacles in their way are removed.
- You’ve no doubt heard the adage, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” If you have found a job you enjoy and you’re not working below your skill level, just do it, even if it isn’t what you focused on during your education. The world is full of executives of small and medium businesses with generic business degrees, but if you look at the top executives in the most influential firms, they have an education in a discipline that is related to the business of their firms. Just make sure to do something that stretches you outside your comfort zone.
Good luck in your career!
If you like what you’re doing PMP and ITIL certs could help pave the way for your future.
