This article is for professionals who have completed more than a decade in IT and thinking about "What Next?" Let me first cover current market situation for senior technical folks.
1. Very few takers for 15+ yrs experience- Interestingly all the job offerings are for 3-12 yrs bracket and if you have 15 or more years of experience then you will find yourself in not so good situation. Possible reason of this could be billing pressure from customers, workforce aging, hyper automation, higher salary expectation, lack of right skills etc.
2.High expectations from employer- Employer expect bit of everything from senior folks. e.g. PreSales experience, Team management experience, latest technology knowledge, Expertise in given technology, Leadership skills, Interpersonal skills, Industry level expertise and 100 other skills. Employer wants "Superman" and nothing less than that.
3.Rapid changes in technology landscape- Few years ago, Cloud, Big data, Mobile apps were distant dream but today it has become a reality and it is disrupting the IT landscape. Infrastructure space is going to be changed upside down and most of the so called Admins (Storage, Network,Compute, Database) will be things of the past. You will be amazed to know the ratio of Admin to number of servers managed by Admins in GAFTA leauge of companies. Imagine that happening everywhere.
After reading about this fearful situation, you must be thinking what is the way forward? How can I remain employable? Here are my 2 cents on this. I would love to see your expert comments/suggestions.
1. Stay relevant- Not staying relevant or updated is one of the common mistakes done by senior folks. It is very important to make time and invest in yourself. In today's connected world, staying updated is not very difficult, we all are updated with latest jokes/news/rumours/useless gyan via various social media options. Why not use it for your own career's benefit, like- Use email subscription for some top notch journals, weekly news, blogs update. Use Twitter for getting useful insights from experts around the world, Use LinkedIn to stay connected with your professional network and stay updated with latest technical happenings. Attend industry events, conferences, subscribe to magazines and newsletters.
2. Come out of your safe zone- Being in safe water (same company, same project etc.) gives us false sense of importance. To see your real worth give atleast 1 interview in every 6 months or so. Objective is not to switch the job every 6 months but just to see where do you stand from market demand perspective? Also this might give you desired job break. If giving interview is difficult then atleast switch project, technology so that you get different exposure.
3. Be Jack of all, Master of one- For junior level, becoming master of one is extremely important so IT folks under 10 yrs of experience should strive to become master in one technology area whereas for senior folks you need to be Jack of all. Master of one rarely helps after 15 yrs of experience. for example- database professional should have expertise in 2-3 DB technologies but after 15 yrs they need to broaden their horizon to cover Cloud, Infrastructure, Big Data, Solution design, Enterprise Architecture etc.
4. Create differentiation- Think about the ways that can differentiate you from million other folks at your experience level. Differentiation can come from top level certifications (like- OCM in Oracle DB world), Industry level recognition (like- Oracle ACE Director), Papers, Patents, Books, Knowledge of niche technology etc. Remember course/certification alone isn't sufficient, you need to have on job experience.
5. Think about your alternative option and long term goal- Have you ever thought about getting pink slip for no reason? What if such thing happens? How long will it take to get another similar paying job? What other things can I do if I don't get what I am looking for? Do ask yourself question that is usually asked by employer? Where do you see yourself 3 years or 5 years from now? It is an eye opener question.
SOURCE: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-next-after-15-years-abhinivesh-jain?trk=mp-reader-card
