How to move on/out of Development

change direction

Hi Everyone, this question is somewhat different to the normal 'development' type questions, basically I'm looking for a path out of software development. I've been at the software game for over 12 years now and it's just not satisfying any more and I can't see where to go. I've tried a few things to try and reignite the spark but nothing seems to work - Arduino's gathering dust, half finished apps, open source, websites everything eventually becomes mundane and I end up getting more irritated by the 'community'

I'm a good programmer (not a great one) and but my skill set doesn't seem to be one that the big companies want and frankly the idea of a developer interview terrifies me at this stage Theres no room to move in the company i'm in at the moment as well.

Family commitments mean that I can't just up and go back to education much as i'd like to - someone has to pay the bills!

So whats out there? How does one even go about finding a position? Or what would a new position even be called!
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

TrueDub

change direction wrote: »

So whats out there? How does one even go about finding a position? Or what would a new position even be called!
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Assuming you want to stay in Tech and don't want to become a plasterer or something completely different, you need to figure which bits of the biz do interest you.

Do you enjoy testing? Are you someone who is good with detail and has the tenacity to plough through things to make sure they're right? If so, QA might be for you.

How about earlier in the dev process? Does the idea of dealing with the business directly, driving out the requirements and determining exactly what's needed interest you? If so, BA is up your street.

There's also project management, release management, DBA, systems engineering - actually there's lots of things that don't actually involve developing code, but are vital to deliver good products.

You need to think about which bits of the process interest you most, then manoeuvre towards that area. Mightn't happen overnight, but the only one who can decide where you're going is you.

a fat guy

Business Analytics maybe?

Just knowing how to use SAP would give you a whole other avenue to check out.

And as TrueDub said, databases are another area to look at. Data Warehousing is, again, something you should see.

Phoebas

Have you considered Product Management?
A tech background is helpful because you'll be interacting with dev teams, but you'd also be dealing with sales, marketing, support, your customers and the wider market.

Its usually quite a pivotal role and fairly well rewarded.

change direction

Thanks folks, quite some food for thought there. Simply outlining the amount of crap *ahem* experience you are exposed to in a small software shop brings an amount of clarity.

Databases are something I've worked with a bit, analytics and analysis look somewhat attractive as well.

Anyway - I'll either have a damascene conversion with a new interesting project that might come along, or I'll find some new niche! Either way hopefully I'll let you guys know what happens.