How soon should I try to jump ship from my job?
January 1, 2011 6:04 PM Subscribe
After a long period of not-working and contracting, I finally got a job as a web developer. Now I think I'd prefer another job, but I don't feel my skills or my self as a whole are good enough to land something better. Should I job hunt anyway, should I make getting job-hunt-worthy task number one, or can I afford to stay still for a year and accomplish other goals?
The company is the least-dysfunctional that I ever worked for, and they seem to be doing well in the market they are in. But: All of the superstar technical people have left. Our company got bought and is now a division of a larger company, so we're getting more corporate. We're not very good at software development or processes, really, it's all fly by the seat of the pants, which doesn't work well once you move on from building things to maintaining them. I keep getting moved to less technical roles, while still being on technical cleanup duty.
I'd like to spend 2011 working on bettering myself in the personal sphere, but I wonder if I NEED to focus on my career instead. If I searched for a new job, I could find something great. If I got laid off, I might be wrecked. I don't have a good feel for how likely either of those are. What does MeFi think my plan of attack should be?
The company is the least-dysfunctional that I ever worked for, and they seem to be doing well in the market they are in. But: All of the superstar technical people have left. Our company got bought and is now a division of a larger company, so we're getting more corporate. We're not very good at software development or processes, really, it's all fly by the seat of the pants, which doesn't work well once you move on from building things to maintaining them. I keep getting moved to less technical roles, while still being on technical cleanup duty.
I'd like to spend 2011 working on bettering myself in the personal sphere, but I wonder if I NEED to focus on my career instead. If I searched for a new job, I could find something great. If I got laid off, I might be wrecked. I don't have a good feel for how likely either of those are. What does MeFi think my plan of attack should be?
Find tasks and work assignments that can sharpen your skills and make you a better coder. By all means start looking if only to know what frameworks people are using so you can keep your skills current. Do one interview in secret every year. Don't tell your boss you are looking don't post your resume out there, but try to pick a few places to target every quarter.
posted by humanfont at 7:11 PM on January 1, 2011
posted by humanfont at 7:11 PM on January 1, 2011
The best time to look for a job is when you have a job.
posted by snowjoe at 8:13 PM on January 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by snowjoe at 8:13 PM on January 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
You should always be looking for your next opportunity. That can be within the company or external. Getting bought out often means that there are different opportunities that didn't exist in a small shop.
Some things you can do this year: join professional associations and attend meetings, take a class that's slightly outside your current skill area, volunteer for leadership roles a group where you can expand your network. All of those items will help if you do need to look for a job. And if a new opportunity falls into your lap, then so much the better.
Those are also things that should be fairly easy on your calendar. You'll still have time for personal development.
posted by 26.2 at 9:43 PM on January 1, 2011
Some things you can do this year: join professional associations and attend meetings, take a class that's slightly outside your current skill area, volunteer for leadership roles a group where you can expand your network. All of those items will help if you do need to look for a job. And if a new opportunity falls into your lap, then so much the better.
Those are also things that should be fairly easy on your calendar. You'll still have time for personal development.
posted by 26.2 at 9:43 PM on January 1, 2011
Try going to user groups. Getting jobs, particularly in this field, is often more about networking than anything, and you can start that process without explicitly putting yourself into job-hunting mode. I've had great luck, in the past, with meetups and user groups for various web technologies, and if you're in a big city, there will almost definitely be something similar for you, particularly if you have experience with relatively modern technologies (the ones that have been of most interest to me, for example, are the Django and jQuery groups where I live, but there are also ones for Rails, Groovy, etc., as well). If you *don't* have experience with hotshot technologies, there's no time like the present, and meetups are a good place to get your feet wet.
Something else you might consider is to try making some contributions to open-source software. Not for everyone, but it'll give you some experience, let you flex your technical muscles even though your job isn't pushing you, and get your name out there.
posted by andrewpendleton at 9:44 PM on January 1, 2011
Something else you might consider is to try making some contributions to open-source software. Not for everyone, but it'll give you some experience, let you flex your technical muscles even though your job isn't pushing you, and get your name out there.
posted by andrewpendleton at 9:44 PM on January 1, 2011
You won't like this...I don't care.
First, meditate on how it was not having a job at all. Now think about having no job again. So where did your career and self improvement go? Down the crapper.
But here's a threefold solution to improve your job, your skills, and your integrity:
Work your butt off to become the best person in your company/job. Learn more about what you do AND DO THE WORK than anyone else in the company. (Your first job is to do your job well.) Your job is real, and for all that you know, you may be in it for the rest of your life...so make it good.
Learn/do everything about how your job connects with the company. Become the expert in your work. Your career will work itself out.
Benefit: This will reduce any boredom at work, ensure that you are the valuable employee, and advance your career.
Aside: When I first read your question I was incensed. I thought: "as soon as this person starts a relationship, does he/she look for a better one?"
Disclaimer: I never "managed my career." I worked/learned.
As a humanoid, you only have so much time/energy/attention. Focus it on the work, secondarily, better your knowledge/skills of the work, and thirdly, improve your skills for your career.
My background: I was a computer consultant to the federal government (Canada) for over 20 years. I became the expert (on my own, they did not pay for my training) on all the systems I worked with. When I heard the first murmur about "pay equity" I went ahead (on my own, in my spare time at work) to set up a system to accumulate all the data that Treasury Board would need to satisfy these claims. As a result, I saved the Canadian government over 2 million dollars (a conservative estimate) received some recognition, and found that was one of the most memorable things I did in my work there (now retired).
posted by mbarryf at 7:25 AM on January 2, 2011
First, meditate on how it was not having a job at all. Now think about having no job again. So where did your career and self improvement go? Down the crapper.
But here's a threefold solution to improve your job, your skills, and your integrity:
Work your butt off to become the best person in your company/job. Learn more about what you do AND DO THE WORK than anyone else in the company. (Your first job is to do your job well.) Your job is real, and for all that you know, you may be in it for the rest of your life...so make it good.
Learn/do everything about how your job connects with the company. Become the expert in your work. Your career will work itself out.
Benefit: This will reduce any boredom at work, ensure that you are the valuable employee, and advance your career.
Aside: When I first read your question I was incensed. I thought: "as soon as this person starts a relationship, does he/she look for a better one?"
Disclaimer: I never "managed my career." I worked/learned.
As a humanoid, you only have so much time/energy/attention. Focus it on the work, secondarily, better your knowledge/skills of the work, and thirdly, improve your skills for your career.
My background: I was a computer consultant to the federal government (Canada) for over 20 years. I became the expert (on my own, they did not pay for my training) on all the systems I worked with. When I heard the first murmur about "pay equity" I went ahead (on my own, in my spare time at work) to set up a system to accumulate all the data that Treasury Board would need to satisfy these claims. As a result, I saved the Canadian government over 2 million dollars (a conservative estimate) received some recognition, and found that was one of the most memorable things I did in my work there (now retired).
posted by mbarryf at 7:25 AM on January 2, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by raisingsand at 6:46 PM on January 1, 2011