5 ms·
How to get out of career limbo?
What I'm about to say is speculation, because I haven't received any explicit feedback.
I feel I've put myself in a position where it's harder to get a job and I don't know exactly why. I have a hunch, but I'm not sure.
For context, I have 14 years of experience as a software developer. I've mostly done back-end with numerous languages and I also know infrastructure.
For the past few months I've been applying to jobs and either I get no reply or the generic "after consideration we've decided to go with someone else". The only exception was a reply saying I had "an impressive background" but they decided to go with other candidates.
My guess is that someone with my years of experience either has transitioned towards tech lead or architect or has specialised in a narrower field.
I, on the other hand, have had a tendency to learn more and more tech (jack of all trades) and I've also been more of a lone wolf on some projects.
Any tips on how I get out of this?
- giantg2 3y agoSimilar position here, except I'm a midlevel and have a disability. I have absolutely seen some bias where they expect there is something wrong with you for not moving up. I also agree that most places want narrow specialty expertise in at least one area - something I also lack. I'm completely fucked at this point. I just need to hold onto my current job until I die or retire. But I absolutely hate it and I get bad reviews.
- elbear 3y agoI hope you find a path that is better for you. I'm also doing some soul-searching trying to find something that I can sustain long-term. I've been all-over the place, because of indecision. I do enjoy programming, I just found it hard to pick something to get really good at. Or probably I don't yet know how to show what I'm good at. For example, I've used more than 10 programming languages, so I'm good at picking up new tech, but maybe I don't convey that well enough.
- tucaz 3y agoWithout knowing more about you it seems like you are having issues communicating your experience and how valuable that is. We just closed two positions on my team with that exact requirement (BE + Infra) and it was not super easy as most people with that experience are looking for "higher" positions than individual contributors. A lot of places need good IC's who can execute so I doubt the issue is that you have too much experience. I would try to re-frame your experience as being one who can guide, mentor and help elevate the whole team you are part of.
- skwee357 3y agoOh man. I JUST finished a blog post draft about exactly this. Probably gonna publish it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, so keep an eye on my blog [0]. Going back to your question, I'm exactly the same. 14 years of experience, never progressed to leadership. Got the same ghosting as you. My advice would be: keep looking. Eventually, you will either find a company that will accept your experience, or you will find an a-typical company that doesn't care too much about titles (the latter happened to me). Feel free to reach out (contacts are in the blog) if you want to discuss it further. [0] https://www.yieldcode.blog/ https://www.yieldcode.blog/
- skwee357 3y agoJust published it, in case you want to read [0] [0] https://www.yieldcode.blog/post/the-curse-of-the-senior-engineer/ https://www.yieldcode.blog/post/the-curse-of-the-senior-engi...
- elbear 3y agoHey, I just read it. Very good overview of the situation. My experience matches yours pretty closely. One difference is that I received less feedback, but I think I also applied to fewer jobs (I didn't count, but I think it was fewer than 100). One issue particular to me is that, even though I've been doing freelancing for all these years, I never specialised and I also haven't mastered a specific deliverable, for several reasons, including fear of choosing something that would become obsolete or fear of boredom. So my profile is light on depth. I think I now need to do some soul-searching and find a path I can commit to. I think I have good general problem-solving skills, but I lack expertise in one particular thing, which seems to be more in demand. Or maybe I'm bad at selling my strengths (also because I've been bad at seeing them). I've been rambling a little with this comment. Anyway, I appreciate you commenting and sharing the article.
- paulcole 3y agoIf I asked all of your previous coworkers, would they say that you're fun to work with?
- zero-sharp 3y agoMore importantly: were you popular in high school? Were you voted "most likely to get rehired"?
- paulcole 3y agoFun to work with is probably more useful to know than anything about your high school experience for a variety of reasons.
- zero-sharp 3y agoBoth are data points to measure social status. Both are dependent on the group (I've certainly had the experience of having more fun with some coworkers than others). And neither are actionable. And I don't think either are all that relevant to this post.
- paulcole 3y agoIt’s not measuring social status. It’s measuring social skill — something that can be learned. If everybody (or the majority of people) you work with says you’re not fun to work with, that’s a decent sign that you’re not fun to work with. Why would I want to work with someone who’s not fun to work with?
- elbear 3y agoSome probably would, some wouldn't. I've had issues relating to people and that's one reason why I tended to become more of the lone wolf type on projects. I used to be more rigid and arrogant on certain occasions. I think I've loosened up in that respect.
- 3y ago
- iamflimflam1 3y agoHard to say without seeing your CV.
- elbear 3y agoMy LinkedIn is in my profile.
- gcheong 3y agoI wouldn't say it's the reason, but wouldn't mention the career breaks and especially the explanations of burnout and anxiety. While these are quite common conditions, I think explicitly mentioning them would still be considered a red flag for many employers. If you do mention the career breaks, I would put them outside of the companies. Having them listed under a company is strange unless it was an leave of absence granted, but even so probably not worth mentioning as you wouldn't have been working during that time anyway.
- elbear 3y agoI added the career breaks, because I've received the feedback that gaps in my CV look bad. However, I just removed them from being under a specific company or job.
- aristofun 3y agoMarket