in reply to OT: Perl Programmer Career Path

I've been with my current employer for over 9 years now, and can tell you that, while we use many similar terms, their definitions vary wildly from what you've posted. Which should be of little surprise to most people (it was for me - a little surprising, but not much).

My recommendation really is only to talk to your manager about what you like doing and what you don't like doing and then work out with him/her the best way for you to maximise what you like and minimise what you don't, as that way everyone gets to maximise happiness (presumably, you'll be more productive doing things you like).

I've gotten to the point in my career where coding opportunities have nearly dried up. Which is unfortunate, as that's the part of the job I liked the most. However, I've found that I'm pretty good at a few of the other activities that pay much better, and enjoy those activities as well, though not quite as much as coding. Going into management, especially at this company, looks like an extreme negative for my happiness, though, so I've been avoiding that. Working from home gives me the advantage there: they're not likely to let me be a manager from this distance anyway. ;-)

Have a frank discussion with your manager about what you like, what you're good at, and what your employer needs. You may be able to find a solution right there that everyone can be excited about.

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Re^2: OT: Perl Programmer Career Path
by dsheroh (Monsignor) on Jun 21, 2006 at 15:59 UTC
    Good advice, but a word of warning as well: In my experience, bosses seem to have difficulty wrapping their heads around sets of duties which don't quite fit into one of the job title pigeonholes that they're familiar with. Depending on who you work for, just getting them to understand what you want to do could be a major undertaking.