Computer programmer moving into support

WobblyDog

I'm a software developer my mid-forties, and have always spent quite a lot of time (mainly my own) learning new technologies. Due to changing business requirements, most/all of the software development posts in the company I work for are likely to become jobs involving supporting other companies' software, with very little development involved. My job is likely to remain secure and well paid for a couple of years, but the market value of my skills will decline. I'm concerned that my development skills will become so out of date that it will be difficult to get another well-paid development job. I have some questions:

- At what age do software developers decide to stop trying to keep up with the latest development technologies, and start "cruising" towards retirement? I don't think I'm at that point yet.

- How many months without development work should a developer stay with their current employer before leaving, in order to preserve their marketabilty?

PlutoinCapricorn

It is more a stage than an age: the time may come when you just can't get interested in a new and exciting package and you realise that there is a new generation of keen, enthusiastic people coming up behind you. If you have sacrificed a lot of time to your work, you may realise that there is more to life than IT and there is a whole world out there.

agrinnall

I'd been in support for a long time anyway, but still learning new things, but when I was 48 I moved to lead a team who used software and techniques that were completely unknown to me, so I just let them get on with understanding the technical stuff and concentrated on making sure they did the work that was required. Although I've now left IT I'm pretty sure I that if I was still in the industry I wouldn't be bothered to learn a significant new language/package/technique now.

AndyBSG

WobblyDog wrote: »

At what age do software developers decide to stop trying to keep up with the latest development technologies, and start "cruising" towards retirement? I don't think I'm at that point yet.

If you're around 40 then you are not even half way through your working career so you definitely don't want to be cruising now, in fact you should be at the peak of your career from now until your 50's IMO.

I am a little younger than you but develop in a language that is pretty much becoming a 'support only' language. It still accounts for a more code than almost any other language out there but most companies are trying to actively move away from it so new development is being done in other languages and systems are slowly being replaced.

I found I had two options, carry on learning new tech or move away from development entirely, Business Analysis and Project Management being the obvious candidates.

I chose to learn new tech and even with the new language i've learned and am currently developing in I suspect i'll only have 10 year shelf life before I need to learn something else.

Unfortunately that's just the nature of our industry, evolve or die.

Given your age i'd say you will need to cross train at least once more before you can think about winding down.

PlutoinCapricorn

There may be some legacy systems that need support - for a while.

There is also the option of moving from the commercial to the charity sector, where good database people are rare: I know this from experience.

FireWyrm

Take a few months 'off' and consider your options. By 'off', I mean just sit in that job cruising for a little while until you are completely sure of where you want to go. At 40, you are still very young and frankly, you have at least 20 years of working life ahead of you, now it not the time to take the foot off the peddle. Look around, do your research and start looking for somewhere else to stay for the next few years, this job sounds like it is going no-where but off-shore. Spend some time learning new technologies, new languages and researching where to move to but acknowledge that this job is dead and that you need to start thinking about where to go next. There is too much work out there for developers yet to start getting pessimistic and worried about being on the scrap heap. In my own industry, I am pestered daily by other companies trying to acquire my skills. There is just too much work and not enough well trained people to do it. Offshoring is fine in the short term and for simple projects, but British customers want British developers to speak to them face to face and in their native language.

What are your professional qualifications looking like? Take a few exams, brush up a bit, spend some time getting a new skill and then, booted and suited, go out and find your next role with the confidence that 20 years in the job market gives you.

TELLIT01

Many large companies want team leaders / managers just to manage and not be involved in the hands-on area of the job. The big danger is losing those technical skills and then having difficulty in finding employment should the job end.
I found that out to my cost some years ago! I had been very much a hands-on manager of a small team within a subsidiary of a large organisation. Restructuring brought all IT under central control and we managers moved into a pure management role. When the crash came and numbers were cut I quickly discovered that employers then wanted people who could cover both the management side and the tech, hands-on aspects. As I had been on the management side for about 4 years by then, my tech skills were out of date.
I still had the transferable, management skills but little or no chance of remaining in the IT support field I'd worked in for years. For personal reasons, relocating wasn't an option.