What next after 15 years

in IT?
This article is for professionals who have completed more
than a decade in IT and thinking about "What Next?" Let
me first cover current market situation for senior technical
folks.

1. Very few takers for 15+ yrs experience- Interestingly

all the job offerings are for 3-12 yrs bracket and if you
have 15 or more years of experience then you will find
yourself in not so good situation. Possible reason of
this could be billing pressure from customers,
workforce aging, hyper automation, higher salary
expectation, lack of right skills etc.

2. High expectations from employer- Employer expect

bit of everything from senior folks. e.g. PreSales
experience, Team management experience, latest
technology knowledge, Expertise in given technology,
Leadership skills, Interpersonal skills, Industry level
expertise and 100 other skills. Employer wants
"Superman" and nothing less than that.

3. Rapid changes in technology landscape- Few years

ago, Cloud, Big data, Mobile apps were distant dream
but today it has become a reality and it is disrupting
 the IT landscape. Infrastructure space is going to be
changed upside down and most of the so called
Admins (Storage, Network,Compute, Database) will be
things of the past. You will be amazed to know the
ratio of Admin to number of servers managed by
Admins in GAFTA leauge of companies. Imagine that
happening everywhere.

After reading about this fearful situation, you must be

thinking what is the way forward? How can I remain
employable? Here are my 2 cents on this. I would love to
see your expert comments/suggestions.

1. Stay relevant- Not staying relevant or updated is one

of the common mistakes done by senior folks. It is very
important to make time and invest in yourself. In
today's connected world, staying updated is not very
difficult, we all are updated with latest
jokes/news/rumours/useless gyan via various social
media options. Why not use it for your own career's
benefit, like- Use email subscription for some top
notch journals, weekly news, blogs update. Use Twitter
for getting useful insights from experts around the
world, Use LinkedIn to stay connected with your
professional network and stay updated with latest
technical happenings. Attend industry events,
conferences, subscribe to magazines and newsletters.
2. Come out of your safe zone- Being in safe water
(same company, same project etc.) gives us false sense
of importance. To see your real worth give atleast 1
interview in every 6 months or so. Objective is not to
switch the job every 6 months but just to see where do
you stand from market demand perspective? Also this
might give you desired job break. If giving interview is
difficult then atleast switch project, technology so that
you get different exposure.

3. Be Jack of all, Master of one- For junior level,

becoming master of one is extremely important so IT
folks under 10 yrs of experience should strive to
become master in one technology area whereas for
senior folks you need to be Jack of all. Master of one
rarely helps after 15 yrs of experience. for example-
database professional should have expertise in 2-3 DB
technologies but after 15 yrs they need to broaden
their horizon to cover Cloud, Infrastructure, Big Data,
Solution design, Enterprise Architecture etc.

4. Create differentiation- Think about the ways that can

differentiate you from million other folks at your
experience level. Differentiation can come from top
level certifications (like- OCM in Oracle DB world),
Industry level recognition (like- Oracle ACE Director),
Papers, Patents, Books, Knowledge of niche technology
etc. Remember course/certification alone isn't
sufficient, you need to have on job experience.
 5. Think about your alternative option and long term
goal- Have you ever thought about getting pink slip
for no reason? What if such thing happens? How long
will it take to get another similar paying job? What
other things can I do if I don't get what I am looking
for? Do ask yourself question that is usually asked by
employer? Where do you see yourself 3 years or 5
years from now? It is an eye opener question.

"Disclaimer- These are my personal thoughts and are not

related to my employer or anyone else."

Published by

Abhinivesh Jain
AWS Ambassador | Chief Architect- AWS Business Unit | Director | 8x AWS Certified
Published • 7y