How has your specialty changed throughout your career?

#discuss #career

We're not all just "programmers" — over time we become web devs, lead devs, SREs, etc.

What's your story?

Top comments (26)

Alex Lohr • Apr 7 '22

Semi-professional musician (guitar, vocals) and songwriter
Part of an assembly demo crew
Voice actor
Martial arts trainer for kids
Furniture mover + part time IT support
Full stack + security + accessibility + UX design + networks + IT support freelancer
Specialized in front-end, employed

Sattwik Sahu • Apr 8 '22

Mr Incredible 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Alex Lohr • Apr 8 '22

Like my grand master used to say: "I'm not better than you, just longer at it."

Heather Williams • Apr 9 '22

Started off editing textbooks, then learnt to edit technical content (maths and science focused) before moving into software development.

In the software development field I have had experience at most aspects since I work for a small company. This means wearing many hats and getting to find what I really care about.

leob • Apr 8 '22

Not! Doing essentially the same thing as in the beginning, only better (I hope).

Jon Randy 🎖️ • Apr 7 '22 • Edited

Developer -> Developer

It's always been my speciality over 26 years. Dabbling a bit in other roles here and there as needs be, but still first and foremost a developer

Joe Mainwaring • Apr 7 '22

I talk about my technology career path in my post How Covid & Cancer Impacted My Career, but to summarize:

2000: Took an apprenticeship role at my local school district when I was a sophomore in High School.
2005: Took a lead role overseeing IT operations for a D1 Collegiate Athletics Program. 15 sports + a half dozen or so supporting departments.
2009: First true FTE role as an IT specialist. Very sysadmin focused.
2011: Started to burn out with IT, began to build engineering skills
2013: Delivered my first iOS app on a contract & took my first engineering role at a FinTech startup.
2014: Started working at HighGround as a mid-level engineer
2016: Promoted to Team Lead of HighGround's mobile product, began to manage both the delivery and the product roadmap.
2018: HighGround gets acquired, I switch from Mobile to Web Engineering with a focus on architecture for the merged product
2020: Promoted to Director of Infrastructure. A lot less coding, and more meetings with vendors and strategic planning.