How does one cope with the changing technologies in IT ? What was 'in' in yesteryears is 'out' today and a new technology has come in place ...... this is a perennial all time question in a career of the fast paced Information Technology world .....

The paradox being (unlike most professions ) the more experience one gains , chances are more rear in the queue he has to stand ..... young people are better versed in new technologies ... This leaves one with 2 choices :

a. Either learn the new Technology and start afresh , losing years of skill / experience in a technology which has become outdated ..

b. Move up in level of seniority and take on more responsible roles like PMs / Designers and the ilk ...... but lose the chance of working on Technology.

For people in IT who have felt this : how do you cope with this and which do you feel is the better alternative ... and why ?

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Fido.

Move up...too tough to learn a new technology every 3-5 years

Also, guys with less experience will command a lower salary, so employers will be inclined to hire them.

There are opportunities higher up the ladder - PM/Dev Mgr, then Dir of IT etc. More money too

Some people want to be code monkeys all their lives (nothing wrong with that). However, your salary will most likely be capped.

Mgmt brings a different set of challenges, which can be fun too. It's also nice to see the bigger picture, for e.g., playing an integral part in defining the company roadmap for the next 3 years.

Or go the architect route and stay current with technology. IMO, less positions available (comp. to mgrs), and staying current again can be difficult.


Did I mention - more money

I second alexm's post.

To add to it, even of you can keep up with technology and want to stay at the entry level forever, sometimes you just cannot do it because of mental capacity. I have seen this from having worked with folks between 40 and 50 who were still programmers and my peers. They struggled many times and simply weren't fast enough. They took too long to program - and under the pretext of "thinking it through". Bull. They just were not upto it. And they cannot stand the fact that a new kid's on the block who can do things 10 times faster and 20 times more efficiently.

Having seen these things, I have decided that you need to - if circumstances let you - move to suitable positions as you age. This is just one aspect. I am not saying the role of a Project Manager for example is not stressful. But that's a type of stress you would naturally handle as you progress as opposed to being hopelessly stuck with figuring how to work the damn code.

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If you have a gun, you can rob a bank.
If you have a bank, you can rob everyone.
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The way i look at it, with seniority you have three options

1. Become PM etc and move to a non-technical role.
2. Move to a Architecture role.
3. Keep on doing what ever you do.

Now which line you should pick, depends upon individual to individual.

Based on my experience, i have seen that many strong technical resources don't enjoy the management role OR just can't do it.
In management role instead of being star performer, you have to be a good at delegating things, manage projects/members and do lot of administrative work.
Your success is based on team's success and majority of technical resources dont fit well in that.

Second role is for the persons, who are star performers and want to be on technical side but also want to spread their knowledge in different platforms are good at learning new things, explaining it to other technical team members, good at presentations and comfortable with business.
This role is also excellent for pay perspective and in any big organization these people make more money as compared to PM.

Third options is for the person(s) who are happy where they are and don't want to take more stress. Pay is below PM or Architect.

Thanks for the responses .... unfortunately like surgeons / CA s , IT is a world which is meant to be fast changing ....... It gives great pleasure to work with Technology & you tend to become a better coder with experience ..... unfortunately the technology gets super seeded .....

I agree PM s / Architects are 2 options and based upon our interest / acumen we should choose either --- Managerial position is kind of drifting towards the Administrative side whereas as Architect , you run the risk of facing a new Technology ........... either way , you find positions relevant to your experience ... no point of being a code monkey , unless one derives a lot of satisfaction in it ....

Just wondering if transcending to Business Analyst is another viable option .....less administrative , more technical and business oriented ....... domain oriented ..... would it pay in long run to become domain specific viz banking and then gradually become a domain expert ...

Just thinking out of my hat , does anyone consider that there may be scope for performance tuners combining skills of DBA / Tuning etc esp in batch cycles as a consultant ??

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Fido.