August 4, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Un-retiring
August 5, 2008 at 1:55 am
It is much easier to take a career break these days as things are changing far less rapidly - we are on the flattening out of the exponential development curve of IT.
I took a break to have children from 1986 to 1993. As I left work PCs were just starting out over here and I was working on DEC PDPs. While off work I learned on our home computers - an Amstrad then a 286 and Windows developed and became the standard in this period. I learned DBase, Word and Excel to manage our contracting business and accounts and this got me back in to work in local government where I moved via Paradox to SQL Server, Delphi, Web Development and so on.
If I hadn't self taught I would have found it impossible to get back to computing and I don't know what other job I would find as challenging, professional and as enjoyable as software development.
August 5, 2008 at 2:05 am
I think the key is the knowledge that all fields of employment move slowly enough to allow new blood in; if it didn't, the field would simply die. Therefore, as Steve says, if you can break into a field once, you can do so a second time. It's not necessarily easy, but it's possible, and there are certainly ways of making your seemingly outdated experience work for both you and your potential new employer.
Personally, I suspect those who use rate of technological change as an excuse for not taking a break are those whose glasses are always half empty. You can convince yourself something's impossible or you can convince yourself something's within your grasp, and the thing itself is far less relevant than your mindset.
In my humble opinion.
Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat
August 5, 2008 at 3:02 am
As a programmer from wayback - 1982 to be precise - I have seen everything come around go away and come back again, with a lick of paint; a new acronym and loads of extra hype.
I've seen RAD, SCRUM, AGILE gain favour and disappear into oblivion to be renamed, rejigged and reintroduced.
What I'm saying is that there is very little in a computer that changes - concepts change but basically you Create Read Update and Delete information. Sure there are new human interface devices but you still display on a screen, still read from a storage device etc.
Right I'm off to figure out what Net 3.5 gives me over v2....
August 5, 2008 at 3:05 am
Jamie Batiste (8/5/2008)
...Right I'm off to figure out what Net 3.5 gives me over v2....
When you work that one out, can you let me know too? 😀
Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat
August 5, 2008 at 4:22 am
I want to be a DBA....and not the trouble shooter....I run out of bullets too fast 😀
Hiding under a desk from SSIS Implemenation Work :crazy:
August 5, 2008 at 4:32 am
I agree with Steve... Most of us can take a break and come back to our previous levels in a (short) period of time. The main reason i think is that most of IT people are always updating their knowledge without any formal training. This really helps when we come back after the break.
"Keep Trying"
August 5, 2008 at 5:31 am
I took a 20 year break from technology before coming back to it. I went back to school for two years before returning, and have found my colleagues are mostly further behind in terms of new technology than I am. As it's been less than a year, they are still more efficient than I am, just less innovative. Since we must constantly educate ourselves, I don't think taking a break is a disadvantage. Working outside the field gave me great insight into the needs of the end user and lots of process knowledge. I think it actually makes me more valuable. I find myself focusing on making technology accessible for everyone rather than secretly thinking my end users are idiots.
August 5, 2008 at 6:12 am
If you are working with a company that is slow to adopt new technology, you will see new graduates coming out of school that have more up-to-date skills than you do. Granted, they won't have all the experience on the little nuances that we have all learned the hard way over the years. But the effect is the same as if you left the field for a couple of years...your skills are not up-to-date unless you put in the effort to update your skills on your own.
As far as not leaving because of a pay cut, that is a personal choice. My philosophy is that we get one chance to experience life and it isn't all about money (no armored cars in a funeral procession). I say go for it. The memories of an adventure will last a lifetime and to me are priceless.
If it was easy, everybody would be doing it!;)
August 5, 2008 at 6:39 am
I wonder if, for our own self-preservation we should start coming up with schemes for "semi-retiring". I entered the computer field my my late 30's after leading a very idealistic younger life. So, I'll probably wind up retiring later than many of my peers. I'm not sure though that I'll have the energy when I'm 60 to keep up with technology if it keeps changing the way it currently does. With due respect to those who think it's topped out, well, I'm not so sure it will ever top out. I think I'd be happy to look at dropping down to part time, but I don't see a lot of those kinds of positions available. It seems like there would be large numbers of men and women that would be happy if we could figure on periods of life where we slow down and get back in, as opposed to drop out and get back in. For example, many women would prefer to take a few months of maternity leave and then work 20 hours a week for a few years while their children are young to the "either-or" of the status quo where you're either employed for 40(+) hours a week or completely out of the market. It would also help keep skills current.
Steve- My "ideal younger life" included a double-majored in music and guess what, drama. I'm sorry to say that your son is in for a much rougher life than he realizes at the moment. However, you're right - if you discourage him he'll just dislike you and spend his whole life wondering what might have been. In order to make it in the acting field you must be both extremely talented and extremely lucky. For every regularly-employed actor there are hundreds of people who are just as talented waiting tables looking for their "big break". Some part time jobs in computers might help the aspiring artists among us, too! It would be much better than waiting tables...
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“Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.”
August 5, 2008 at 6:52 am
"We did work in other fields in our '95 study. It was a slightly different pool, but we found that women across industries will often take a brief break -- like for two years. But our sense is that this is distinctly worse. In many fields, almost 100% of women will try to get back into the industry [later]. Here, only 60% say they would be willing to give it another try if conditions were right." (ComputerWorld)
It is very hard for women who take a break from family obligation for a couple year and return to the workforce. I find it very difficult for women especially since we already have to work twice as hard to prove our skills. After I had my child, my old company did not give me the promotion which I deserved and the reason they gave me was I had to take care of the child that I took time off during the day when I took the kid to the doctor for shots and checkup and had to leave at five promptly to pick up my kid from daycare. They did not count that I made up my time over the weekend and I never missed one deadline. My work performance was good but not good enough to get the promotion because I had a small child. I sent out my resume the next day. When I resigned even the CEO came to say goodbye. The good news was my VP was fired six months I left the company.
I am sure I told this story before, but the fact is I constantly have to fight the uphill battle. With the technology changes so fast, we have to keep up our knowledge while we have to take care of the family. It is working two full time jobs at the same time.
The worst part was many managers did not think about this. My last manager complained that I did not go out to lunch with the team or go out to dinner with the team (he worked out of town so when he was in town, he expected to have a dinner with the team for team bonding.) I told him I had a lot of other family obligation that I might not be able to do those things. It was not in the job description that I had to go out to dinner with my manager. The fact was I would probably go out to dinner with the team if he did not put pressure on me to do it.
Also I found out my male co-workers made more money than me when I worked more hours and took up much harder projects, I felt it was very unfair. Even though most managers still prefer male developers than female developers. The only manager did not micro manage me was a woman.
I think about dropping out of this business everyday. I even advise young people not to major in computer science. In the town high school graduation class of this year, out of 600 students less than 10 will major in Computer science.
BTW I find out a bus driver can earn up to $80,000 a year, with flexible working hour, great benefits and retirement package and never worry about outsourcing.
I work up to 60 hours a week and the next thing I know my job is going to India!!!!!!!!
Am I in the wrong profession!!!!!!
August 5, 2008 at 6:54 am
Steve is right; IT people, on average, can make (a lot) more than most other industry categories.
I wrote an article about IT's pay advantage according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics at my blog:
http://www.intermz.com/blog/2008/04/28/why-choose-it-as-your-career/[/url]
"For non-management positions, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) indicates that IT workers, on average, earn 77% more per year than any other occupational category."
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August 5, 2008 at 7:00 am
The most valuable lesson I learned from my Dad when I was growing up was 'Look it up!' If I had a question, he wouldn't tell me the answer, he taught me how to find the answer. If you know how to find the information you need, it doesn't matter if you fall behind a little in knowing the new technology.
Besides, there are a lot of companies that are not using cutting edge technology. The company I work for doesn't use C# or VB. We use Visual Foxpro which has recently given up the ghost.
August 5, 2008 at 7:01 am
Personally, when I get to the point where I can retire, I have no plans of un-retiring. Technology does move far to fast and I feel like I'm already behind, partly because my current employer is still running technology that is eight years old (an eternity in the technology arena). I finally decided to build a business on the side that will eventually replace my primary income (I would be happy to share what I'm doing - just send me a private message). At the point when it does replace my primary income, I will likely choose to continue part time for a while but I know that won't last long and I'm perfectly fine with that. My daughter is nine years old and I'm missing out on her growing up every day I spend at the office.
August 5, 2008 at 7:07 am
However if you have a dream, something you want to pursue, and it's not the job you're in, think about making a change. Look for ways to move to your new career, plan on it, get your finances and other things in order and go for it.
I love this quote Steve!
:{> Andy
Andy Leonard, Chief Data Engineer, Enterprise Data & Analytics
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