Monday, November 17, 2008
Upward Mobility
I hold a BA in information systems from NJIT and work for a company called eComServer Inc. My position deals with Conversant Systems' UnixWare, and with products that our company has designed for these systems. I deal with HP Openview, Tivoli, and CA Unicenter at customer sites, configuring the software to work with ours on the Conversant systems. What advice can you provide that would help me shape my career? - Vinay Patel
To shape your career you need to figure out where you want to be in five years and then figure out what you need to do to get there. Once you have settled on your long term goals you can begin to interpolate the steps you need to get there.You should also be asking your current manager or supervisor for career development advice. Some managers are better than others when it comes to developing their people, so don't leave it up to your manager. Review your career goals and plan to reach them on a regular basis, by yourself and with your manager. You should look at developing your technical skills, interpersonal skills, and leadership skills. If you aspire to move into senior level management, you should also consider an MBA at some point.
OPPORTUNITIES AFTER MBA
I am doing my MBA at a reputable school in the US. Although my major is IS, I have taken a few courses in marketing communications and international marketing. I have a good background in telecom, general programming (C and Java), and databases. I do not intend to become a hardcore programmer. What I want to do is become a marketing manager who has good technical knowledge. I'm more open to international travel, but I don't mind working in the US for some time. What future do you see in this? What kind of salaries can I expect? - Krishna
I think you are employing an excellent strategy. In marketing there tend to be three types of people: 1) pure marketers who know marketing in and out but are weak on the technology side; 2) engineers who have their MBA and have added marketing skills on top of their technical skills; and 3) marketing people who have picked up much of the technical knowledge. You clearly fall into the last category.
Speaking as a recruiter I can say this is fairly rare. I see an excellent future for you because your technical grasp will allow you a better understand than the pure marketing types. Technology is still in full swing, and I think you will have no problem finding a good job. I hesitate to give a salary figure because there are so many variables. Graduates of top tier MBA schools are highly prized and get more money than graduates from other schools. Your grades and the program you took will also be factors. Salary will also depend on the location of the hiring company. The cost of living in Raleigh, NC, or Dallas, Texas, is significantly different from Santa Clara, Calif., or Boston, Mass. Don't be overly concerned about salary. Concentrate more on finding the right opportunity and the right fit for your skills and temperament. Most companies these days offer fairly competitive salaries and benefit packages.
You are better off in the long run finding the right opportunity because once you are hired you will be rewarded for what you can do. Ten years later your starting salary will matter very little. While it is harder to get H1 sponsorship when you graduate from an MBA program, I have seen it done. Find an appropriate company for your F1, and you should be able to get them to sponsor you.
SWITCHING SOFTWARE CAREERS
I will be graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in May with a BS in computer science/computer engineering. My question is about job “typecasting.” As you know, there are different types of software development. Currently, my interest is with operating system internals. So my primary function is to write software at the hardware level. If, say tomorrow, my interest changes to application development, will I be able to successfully migrate to that type of software development? Or will employers typecast me into hardware level software? - Swamy Ananthanarayan
I don't think you should have any problems starting in an OS (operating system) group, then later transitioning to applications software design. Generally, those with a more intimate knowledge of the OS will be better application designers because of it. Typecasting tends to set in if you spend too much time in one position. If you work two to five years in OS, you should be able to easily move to applications design. More than five years and the risk of typecasting starts to increase. It is fairly easy to migrate from one type of software design to the next. All software design languages for the most part have the same underlying concepts. That's why, once you can program in one language, it is easy to pick up other programming languages. The main thing is to keep your software skills current by getting appropriate training. Ten years ago C was all the rage. Then came object-oriented programming, and C++ became popular. In the last few years, Java has become the hot skill to have on your resume.
