[lopsa-discuss] Career planning

[Mark Lamourine]

On Tue, 2005-12-06 at 09:58 -0500, Josh Smith wrote:
> AW == Allan West <allan at cookie.org>
> 
> AW> How (un)usual is my position compared to other sysadmins who have been 
> AW> working in the field for 10-15 years?

I've been what I call a system administrator since about 1987.  I
started work as a Software Developer CO-OP student in 1983.

My employment durations are 8, 2, 9, 3 years, and (most recently) 12
weeks.  I've been laid off twice.  If Genuity hadn't imploded, the 9
year one might well have been 13 by now.

While I had a couple long stays at companies, each of those involved
working at several different jobs.  I typically stay in a position for
2-4 years, then look for a lateral shift within the company.  It's not
like I plan it that way, but after 3-4 years doing the same things I
grow and my interests change.

I make it a practice to update my resume, job search and interview about
once a year, just to stay on top of the opportunities.  I usually walk
out going "It's not so bad where I am" and go back to work.

I figure periodic job changes are a fact of life these days.  You may
not want to hop around, but be ready to go when life throws you a curve
ball.  I'm 42, though I'm often told I look younger.  We'll see how
things are when I'm 62 and looking for a new job.

- Mark

-- 
Mark Lamourine <mlamourine_at_comcast_dot_net>
17 Forest Street, Billerica, MA 01821
Voice: +1 978 671 9263