.Net developer career suggestion

Question

I have been working as a .net programmer for the last 5+ years but don't want to go into management or people handling. I want to stay in technical side always and also want good future growth with a secure career.

As these days the IT industry is down I feel I should be an Oracle DBA which is more secure and interesting for me to do.

Please advise me where should I go?

1) Oracle DBA 2) Technichal Architect in .Net (but I heard that down this line one day one has to manage people which I do not want at all)

Thanks

Answer 1

It looks like you already made up your mind ;)

Answer 2

I'm not really sure wich is the most secure choice but I've been in the same situation and never regretted going by my heart. You have to ask yourself what is more important - finance or happiness.

Answer 3

Do what interests you the most. It will most certainly give you the most interesting and rewarding work life.

I don't think you absolutely need to manage people to be a technical architect. It is true that this path, by definition, requires you to make technical decisions and help junior developers create the correct solutions.

Don't make a career decision based on the current recession. It will be a few year at the most, before the demand for .NET specialists will go up again.

Answer 4

If you find that a career as an Oracle DBA is more interesting, go with it!

Answer 5

Jimmy is absolutely right, you need to follow your heart. I've worked with guys who've gone down the more $$$ path and have been miserable. Do what interests you the most. Do what will keep you excited, especially on those days that seem to drag on and on.

Don't be pressured into a position you don't want to be in. Definitely don't do it because of the economy. The economy will change... when it does and when the demand goes up again, you don't want to be stuck doing something you dislike.

Answer 6

Hmmm, tricky combinations of requirements.

Interesting work, great career prospects and job security but without moving up the slippery pole.

It sounds to me that doing your own thing is the best option, however this is precluded by your stipulation that job security is a must.

I'm not 100% sure that job security can be found anywhere these days, even the Google cash machine has been laying people off.

I think the best way to look at it is by weighing up which priorities are best for you and your individual circumstances.

I suspect locking yourself mentally into one path and one path only is likely to lead to frustration and boredom.

Do what you think is right for now and review as you move forward, in 5 years time you may feel differently about Oracle, .NET, people management etc.

Allow yourself room to grow as a developer and a person and take new opportunities as they come.

Answer 7

You have to differentiate between managing people, and telling people what's the best thing to do. I've been a manager, and changed to a consultant/architect role many years ago. Management has a lot of unpleasantness associated with it - timesheet checking, disciplinary/HR issues, personality clash resolution, politics, endless meetings about productivity, brainless KPI nonsense etc, etc. Lots and lots of squishy people stuff.

The architects role has much much less of this kind of stuff, but you still have the responsibility of telling people the best way forward. It's just not your fault if they don't listen :-).

I do miss the power of being a manager, but I don't miss all the hassle. The only advantage of being a manager is the slight possibility that you might actually avoid all the back-stabbing and politicking from your fellow middle managers, climb the greasy pole and end up as CEO/CTO. But that's a long pole, with lots of chances to fall off, and you don't even have to make a mistake to fall, either - you can get pushed.

I don't regret my decision.

Frankly, in my opinion (and it is just an opinion, worth no more than yours), if someone really wants to be a manager they should start their own business.

Answer 8

My suggestion would be to try to become a consultant that works with something rather technical like a systems integrator. The architect role in a way is stepping back a bit in the technical realm as the architect creates the plan that the developers use to build the software.

Edit to clarify what I mean by consultant with an example of each kind:

1. Incorporated independent contractor that uses a company for contract placements such as a developer or a business analyst that gets paid by the hour and is placed through firms like S.i. Systems.
2. The other is the systems integrator such as Non-Linear Creations or OSI Consulting, Inc. where the projects can last years with various people in the firm working on the project as opposed to just one or two people. This is where you have large Content Management Systems, Enterprise Resource Planning, or Customer Relationship Management projects with budgets in the 7-8 figure range.
3. Outside process experts brought in to help adoption of new process. In this case, a couple of people from ThoughtWorks were brought in for a couple of weeks to help educate us on pair programming, TDD, Mocking objects for tests, and other Agile practices.