Think Two Jobs Ahead

The job you are looking for right now is only one stop along your career. In Silicon Valley, programming jobs only last a couple of years on average.

So, when job hunting, ask yourself:

"How will the job I'm currently looking for prepare me for the job after this one."

The job that looks best in terms of salary and benefits right now may not be the best one for your career in the long term. You may get paid more today for using a mature technology that you're experienced in, but if as that technology reaches the end of its lifecycle, you may find your career options limited. It might make sense to take a more junior position in order to work on a BuzzwordCompliant technology that you expect to be in high demand in the future. For example, Java, XML, or XP.

Also, think in terms of your long-term career goals. If you someday hope to be CTO of a hot startup, what skills do you need to add to your resume today to further that goal?

--JohnBrewer

There's something sad about this. Not only are we not dedicated to what we're doing now, we're not going to be dedicated to what we'll be doing next. Forever. I'd rather be happy NOW. --RonJeffries

Ron, I don't see your and my statements as being in conflict. When I'm job hunting, I look for both immediate happiness and long-term growth. I just think that in the heat of a job hunt, some people tend to focus only on the immediate goal, and forget that it's just one step on a life-long journey. -- JohnBrewer

I don't see the incompatibility. If the context is 'JobHunting?', which happens for some of us more often than we might prefer, then thinking strategically shows dedication to oneself. Once you've gotten the job, the context changes. Applying your best efforts to the work then at hand also shows dedication. --DaveSmith

Following this advice would be hard for me. It implies a sort of orderly path, a predictability to career tracks, that I have not yet found. Speaking as an mathematician who became a programmer who became a consultant who is now an AI researcher, I find the idea of preparing for the job after the next one a little, well, incongruous. There are so many possible job-after-nexts that I can't possibly prepare for them all in the specificity mentioned above.

What I've been doing is taking side jobs that polish my non-technical skills. More or less on the assumption that technology is forever changing but fundamental skills are eternal (and exist across a wide swath of the career spectrum). E.g., I taught night school for a year and I can now give a damn fine presentation. The book I just signed a contract for is going to help me polish my writing skills. And so on.

-- WilliamGrosso

It sounds pretty hard to me too, but perhaps that just means I should spend some time thinking about it. Goals are important, but discovering yourself as you go along is important too. -- MartinPool

The importance of ThinkTwoJobsAhead wanes as your careerpath gels. At the outset it's far more important to think about the direction you want than the other factors. Later on you've already established a direction and can go more for immediate gratification. Then again, if you think SpecializationIsForInsects, you may regard or disregard this equally no matter where you are in your career. --PeterMerel

You can also ThinkOneJobAhead?. The job you're doing now is generating value for your employer. That value will outlast your contract.

Therefore,

Seek for yourself, in the job you're doing now, some value that will also outlast your contract. Learn something that will prepare you for a better or better-paid next job.

But,

I agree with Ron that the NOW is important. Don't learn something *just* because you ThinkOneJobAhead?, let alone two. Learn because it's fun to learn. The reason I'm learning about XP is ThinkOneJobAhead?, but the reason I'm enthusiastic about it is because it will help my current employer.

The advice was to think two jobs (or one job) ahead, not commit two jobs ahead. If you're thinking about all the variability that exists two whole jobs ahead, you're already following the advice. The alternative is to believe that this is the last job you'll ever have, or simple oblivion about future jobs.

Don't throw away the quality in the NOW experience, just be aware that the choices you make now may influence the choices two jobs ahead. I must commiserate with Ron about the way things seem to be today. It's hard to find lasting quality when everything changes so fast. --WaldenMathews

Makes perfect sense to me. When I was 12 years old I figured out I wanted to write a 3D spoken/gestural operating system, I've been preparing myself ever since. Every job I take is a step in that direction. Everything I learn about programming builds towards that. I tell my employers that I work for them to learn, and that when I've stopped learning, I'll leave. --ShaeErisson

At least three years after I wrote the above paragraph, I've discovered that Europe is different. You're actually supposed to pick a job, stick with it, learn more, get promoted, and all that stuff. That's pretty wild. --ShaeErisson

Also note that, if YourJobIsYourLife?, then while advancing your career you don't have to think too hard about all the other messy details of navigating to your ultimate desired life's destination.

On the other hand, if YourJobIsNotYourLife, then you have a game within a game, and aligning them matters more.

-- GarryHamilton

CategoryCareerEmployment?