Comment Have you thought about becoming a business analyst (Score 1) 165
I had been programming for around ten years and was looking for a new challenge, I initially did the logical thing and became a team leader, and like a lot of the posters here I found that you get battered by the management above and the programmers below, it can be really rewarding but it's really hard work and I didn't want to spend my career doing that job. I looked at technical lead and at project management but they didn't feel quite right.
Then by chance I was ask to lead a large tender (my boss was off at the time and no-one else had the skill set). I had to come up with a solution for the prospective customer that not only fitted the requirements but was better than the competitions and write the technical sales documentation and lead the presentations. It was a terrifying couple of weeks. But also an amazing adrenalin rush and from that I ended up becoming a business analyst. I don't programme any more but I get to design the U.I. and all the functional requirements of the software so that satisfies my creative side, and even more strangely the sales side is really great, becuase like a lot of the posters here, you really do know what you are talking about right down to the nuts and bolts of the product. (I'll always have a director with me to handle the commercial side, my job is to get the customers tech boys onside).
I would have never of thought of it as a career move until I got thrown in the deep end, but I get the same satisfaction with work as I did when I was a programmer and I enjoy my role, which is pretty much what you want out of life.
Then by chance I was ask to lead a large tender (my boss was off at the time and no-one else had the skill set). I had to come up with a solution for the prospective customer that not only fitted the requirements but was better than the competitions and write the technical sales documentation and lead the presentations. It was a terrifying couple of weeks. But also an amazing adrenalin rush and from that I ended up becoming a business analyst. I don't programme any more but I get to design the U.I. and all the functional requirements of the software so that satisfies my creative side, and even more strangely the sales side is really great, becuase like a lot of the posters here, you really do know what you are talking about right down to the nuts and bolts of the product. (I'll always have a director with me to handle the commercial side, my job is to get the customers tech boys onside).
I would have never of thought of it as a career move until I got thrown in the deep end, but I get the same satisfaction with work as I did when I was a programmer and I enjoy my role, which is pretty much what you want out of life.
