It's been so long since I last posted, my front page has nothing on it. I can hear my 10s of readers calling to me in their unhappiness, "Content! We want content!" Ok, ok, here's some content on what's been keeping me busy lately. And this is just the developer stuff...
I think I've been suffering from a case of DADD lately, and, no, it's not my father's fault. I mean Developer's Attention Deficit Disorder, the problem of bouncing from one new technology to another without completely finishing anything.
I'm trying not to be too critical of myself, because it's such a normal state of being for a developer and I'm hoping that out of this chaos, I'll gain some new skills and know how to apply them.
The last time I posted (and a long time ago it was), I was working my way down the meandering path of C# and .NET 2.0 knowledge. From there jumped over to code generation, specifically CodeSmith, based on a very enthusiastic recommendation by a software architect I work with (Yo, Sven!). I was partway into that when I split down another path to explore Microsoft Patterns and Practices land in the form of the Security Application block, also on recommendation from that architect. And it was from a conversation with him that I went off to learn about .COM Interop and VB Fusion. Come to think of it, he may be a DADD enabler, I seem to be picking up tangents from him like a communicable disease.
And even though I have unfinished business in all of those areas, right now I'm onto something shinier and newer: Windows WorkFlow Foundation (.NET 3.0). This is after seeing a couple of presentations by Paul Mehner, leader of South Sound .NET (SSDotNet), my local INETA user group. Paul is a very enthusiastic proponent of this new technology and gave me a long list of links to follow for downloads, tutorials, articles and the like. He'll be presenting at Devscovery in August and also at the Portland Code Camp in July.
There is a common theme running through all of this and it's not just the pursuit of new, shiny things. I want new skills, I want to be ready for new jobs, new challenges. Right now, based on my skills and experience, I'm well suited for maintaining and improving applications and systems based on older technology – Visual Basic, SQL Server, Access and the other Office applications. I'm well suited and bored. I'm currently working on the trailing edge of technology, and I'm worried that the need for my experience in those areas will continue to diminish along with my earning capacity. I need to move on, I need to find work in .NET and related technologies. The challenge I face in this situation is getting a .NET job, while not having on the job experience in .NET. And how do you get .NET OJT without already having that experience? I need someone to take a chance on me. In the pursuit of that experience, I'm actively looking for projects I can talk my way into through my current assignment or volunteer for with anyone who will take me. Yes, I'm even willing to work for nothing (for a short time) in order to pave the way for a more interesting and lucrative future.
Posted by buggy at July 6, 2006 08:11 AMYeah I totally know what you mean, this is the same dilemna I faced when I wanted to jump from the VB/MSSQL world into Linux. What I did was work on some related projects (like scoop) and also hosted a server (duh) which gave me practical experience in the field I wanted. Then I could portray myself as an experienced person with loads of general experience who took initiative to learn this new technology which is part of the job requirement I wanted to get.
When it came time to look for job postings, I applied for the ones that said "years of experience in a technology ryan wants to work in but doesn't have years of experience in" and explained in the cover letter what I was doing. And I have to say that it worked rather well -- aside from the interview that I totally sucked at I got the first job I applied for and had two requests for interviews after that based on resumes I'd put out there.
And in the greater Seattle area, there are far more .NET positions available than Linux jobs, I bet if you can position yourself properly you'll find a company that is willing to bet on your demonstrated competance and past experience rather than just hoping you satisfy some lame bullet point requirement to a T.
Oh, and whatever you do, good luck. :-)
Posted by: Ryan on July 7, 2006 08:17 PMI do take a lot of inspiration and encouragement from you and other techies I know who have made their way from one area of tech to another through volunteer and/or self-made opportunities. The key seems to be to find something you are interested in and start digging. Of course, self-study only goes so far, like so many solitary activites, if you know what I mean ;-)
The next step is what you and others have done: create a job, talk your way into a job, squat on a job until it's yours. That's the step I'm taking now, finding people who are willing to take that chance, who I can talk and shmoooze into giving me an opportunity. I have no doubt I'll be successful.
As to job opportunities, I'd have another job already if I lived "close enough" to Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond -- close enough not to have a miserable commute. And I'm even questioning that limitation at this point. That's how badly I want to create the career change.
Thanks for your encouragement. It definitely helps to have positive examples, like yourself, to gain inspiration from.
Posted by: buggy on July 10, 2006 09:24 PM