I've been a developer for more than 10 years but I never planned it and I don't tend to plan my career. I want to do things I like, doing in a role where I feel useful and can contribute.
I've always been a techie, I love messing around with tech seeing what it does, what it can do and what I can use it for. I started in a tech support role and built my career from there. I took opportunities to do more than just support. I learned the programming language the company I worked for developed for their platform. I took an opportunity to move to a different role where I could use some of those skills. I did well at that but after a time I stopped feeling useful. I took an opportunity to try something else, it didn't quite work but I realised that that wasn't what I wanted to do.
Then another opportunity appeared, full time developer at a company with the chance to build a team, I built a great team. I built trust in what they did and I built some cool tech.
I did the same thing again when a new opportunity arose, it wasn't great. the job was fine but the company wasn't... I moved on again to a small company, it was great fun, we built cool things and it nearly burnt me out... so I moved on again to a very large organisation.
Ok that seems like a lot of rambling but the lessons I have learned along the way are
You can't plan everything
Take opportunities when they present themselves
Not everything will work out and that's ok
Never take a step down, I did that once and I regret it
Build strong teams and be a contributor
Don't burn bridges, leave a company on good terms, you never know what will come around in the future
Front End Developer with a focus on React (web) and React Native (mobile), Code Connector national team Online Content Manager and a leader for the Memphis chapter, Gardner, and Outdoor Enthusiast
Thank you for the inspirational comment. It's important to keep going when something don't work out and even more to learn from it. It's all part of an career.
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I've been a developer for more than 10 years but I never planned it and I don't tend to plan my career. I want to do things I like, doing in a role where I feel useful and can contribute.
I've always been a techie, I love messing around with tech seeing what it does, what it can do and what I can use it for. I started in a tech support role and built my career from there. I took opportunities to do more than just support. I learned the programming language the company I worked for developed for their platform. I took an opportunity to move to a different role where I could use some of those skills. I did well at that but after a time I stopped feeling useful. I took an opportunity to try something else, it didn't quite work but I realised that that wasn't what I wanted to do.
Then another opportunity appeared, full time developer at a company with the chance to build a team, I built a great team. I built trust in what they did and I built some cool tech.
I did the same thing again when a new opportunity arose, it wasn't great. the job was fine but the company wasn't... I moved on again to a small company, it was great fun, we built cool things and it nearly burnt me out... so I moved on again to a very large organisation.
Ok that seems like a lot of rambling but the lessons I have learned along the way are
Thank you for the inspirational comment. It's important to keep going when something don't work out and even more to learn from it. It's all part of an career.