New grad here. Masters degree from an American university. I am a U.S. citizen. I started my professional career as a software engineer last year. Reading all the threads/posts here from various experienced engineers from various tech companies, I am starting to doubt this path. At some point down the road somewhere, I know that I will get fukced with periods of unemployment. I accept the reality and am ready. Hopefully, I will still be young enough to re-invent myself when that happens with a family to feed. Is it too late to get out of this career and start over again with medical school? I am capable of doing that. I am 25 years old by the way and I have no debts. Even at this age, I get burnt out from time to time trying to catch up with new technologies (15, 20 years later, things won't be the same as we all age.) Thank you very much for your comments and advices.
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@vlh: no female will go for someone like him. Have you seen the singles field off late ? so many younger and dynamic guys with dreams that have already been realized by the age they are 35.
cisco is not the "Cool" place to be in. And someone stuck in cisco like him for 40 yrs, is not attractive for a secure/progressive future.
Women want more and you guys cant bring anything new to the marriage table.
@ppr - do you need a girlfriend? ;)
A lot of good comments here. However, I think some are just not practical. Sure, you can learn anything until you die. Most engineers are capable of learning new things easily given that you have the energy and the time (don't try to be single for the rest of your life; but if being-single-for-life is your goal, then you'll probably have a better chance of keeping up with new technologies. Try doing all of that with a family and kids.) In tech sector, I think it's very important to get the actual experiences for certain trendy new technologies. That being said, you have to wait for the opportunity to present itself. Once you get hired working on the new technologies, then you've smoothly made a good transition into a different domain/industry. However, this transition stage is very difficult most of the times. Certain positions require certain number of years of working experience, and if you don't have that basic requirement and the skill-set, you won't be on the short-list. Most transitions that I have seen were from embedded/firmware/low-level software to .Net/web development. I have NEVER seen them the other way around. It's just not very common. If you have to take a big pay-cut to gain new skills for long-term benefits making a transition into a new domain/industry, sometimes you will just have to do it. Good luck.
Tech has many opportunities if you never stop learning and looking for areas where there is growth. Don't get stuck in any role more than 3 years if you are not growing, learning, and working in an area that is growing. People who get stuck and become the experts on the old technology make great money over time but are the ones who get hit after a certain age unless they play politics well.
Play the game and make it work for you. Never think that you cannot be replaced.
Go for medicine. At least you may actually do some good.
Nah - the software/tech industry can be rewarding. It can be a treadmill of the learning -> deskilling -> reskilling, but that's increasingly true of every occupation these days. But there are a couple of rules: 1) stay nimble and ACTIVELY manage your career. Once you start to get comfortable, it should be a warning that you are starting to slip back towards the rear of the herd. 2) Get involved with the business/people side of tech (but NOT management). We can hire the cheapest muppet on the planet to do the tech sh--, but they can barely speak a global language, cannot write, cannot present and cannot communicate. The secret (you seem to write well) is to be on the side that cannot be farmed out, off-shored or automated. But still stay technically relevant.
Oh come on, don't be childish. You know the rules. I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop. I work here with my old man and my son, Big Hoss. Everything in here has a story and a price. One thing I've learned after 21 years - you never know what is gonna come through that door.
FOLLOW your BLISS. (been a lurker here, but am compelled to share to you) Mine happens to be global high tech... with my help, the world can understand HOW and BE a better world... when connected. etc (two points for you Sherlocks 'getting it' that I'm in marketing.) I'm an avid learner. love tech. and know how to translate what the engineer 'gods' develop so that the LOB folks can 'get it.' Was LR'd in Feb. Knew Cisco wasn't 'all it' after I joined as a contractor.... Leadership is the issue. (they're daft) I was reallllllly disappointed how LOW the level of marketing automation existed in '13 when I first joined. (can we say: laggard). Many of my integrated marketing skillsets went to the wayside. .... But I sure did learn a lot about so much more. My next gig: I'll be one of 'those' involved with a smaller but nimbler high tech team that beats Cisco's a--. To Chuck, Karen, Inbar... your loss. You have NO idea how to keep a team together or what a team needs to be. Had you taken the time, you might have learned something. Sadly, you focused on the yes men/women who fawned you. In the end... Cisco is now a mess. and here you are. MOST of your stellar talent have been LRd and so that Karen Walker's premise of 'just good enough' (she actually said this during an all hands... I ask my fellow super stars... WHEN was the last time you swallowed being LESS than you can be?) can do their uneducated magic. O wait!!! the Millenialls will save us ALL! They know EVERYTHING!!! (gag, gag) Good luck with that. ... thank you for listening.
Do your math: i am 41, single, graduated with a cs degree, very strong state school, 600k in 401k, saved extra 400k plus gains on housing (lucked out)... Not too shabby, not stellar but not shabby
Follow what interests you. I've been in SW for most of my career and have gotten lucky with a couple acquisitions- one of them Cisco. Like any large mature firm in a mature slow growth industry like telecom/datacom, one of the few levers a publicly traded company has a available to offset flattening sales is to reduce its cost basis and declining margins by making redundant ailing products/projects and eliminating well paid Sr. people, which are replaced with lower cost resources. Not very kind, but such is life when the shareholders own you. By the way, this is not unique to Cisco.
Nothing wrong with giving Cisco a go-if you know the rules and environment going in, you'll be right and will learn heaps. Just don't stay too long and become stale. Look at it as part of your evolution in your career.
There are plenty of privately held tech firms which, as a SW person, you would do just as well if not better. Having said that, it's always good to get the larger corperate jobs out of the way while you are young and before you get complacent.
Best of luck!
You don't go med for the money. The hours you put in for the pay is simply not worth it. Don't stop learning, don't get too comfortable and you'll do fine even if you get LR. If you become a manager then it's another story.
you could consider being a product manager after getting a mba. lots of them earning well in bay area, no loyalty, not looking for any tenure, good ppt skills, good visibility day to day with directors/VPs, just keep on moving to the next gig after 2-3 yrs...mobility options seem to be high. better than being a low vis hard working sw type in the foxhole perhaps...you never know when the B52s coming out of the clouds with LR carpet bombing...or when someone higher up starts taking a grudge and punishes you on hikes/RSU/LR fronts.
Tech is good, not easy but good. You grt comfortable after 10 years, cruise, good money and benefits, RSUs, etc. One day an LR comes and your world crumbles. Its hard to start over and be a yr 1 b--ch again...
Med school, its a safety for life, but if they open that up on #H1B (like they did with tech and Pharmacists) you are basically screwed...
My 2 c, do what you love and kick butt, money will follow
The key to success is never stop learning!