Pigeonholing by large company costing my career?

Post Reply New Topic

I've found myself in a rather nasty position at work.

I've been doing the same work for 6 years at a software firm and haven't been exposed to new technology. Now the industry is going into a slump and for various reasons I want to leave the company.

Except that when I interview, I'm being killed almost immediately by the fact that I don't know any new technology. But the reason I don't know any new technology is because I've been pigeonholed at my current company and am being told to do just one thing, without any real change! When I ask to join different groups and stuff like that, the other groups say you don't know our technology; when I ask my manager whether I can help the other groups at least (or intern), the manager laughs at me and says that's not your job -- keep doing what you're doing.

What this basically means is that I can't leave the company because no one else will take me, and I'm so exhausted when I get home and demoralized that I can't even study new technology on my own anymore -- and even if I did, other employers would be looking for experience, which I wouldn't have!

I'm seriously concerned that if I ever get laid off here -- which I wouldn't be surprised given the increased outsourcing to India of the people in my group and the demoralization and poor social skills I have -- I may have to leave the software engineering industry.

I consider myself having much more varied interests than the "drones" in my group, but the manager doesn't care. He just want me to be a nice, obedient drone.

Questions:

1. Should I tell my boss? Or will he just "abuse" me -- if I can't leave, might as well completely throw all the work on me knowing I can't run away -- "slavery", in a sense.

2. Are my feeling groundless? To be honest with you, I'm starting to get discouraged by all the software engineering fields completely now, except that I don't have training in anything else.

Thanks in advance,

ACG

In either case, the only way you are going to get training in newer technology is if you take it upon yourself. It sounds like it is not in your companies best interest to train you and so they will not do it. You have to do it yourself (be it through volunteer work, working on an open source project, or through a night course after work). The company does not have to offer training but they cannot stop you either.

Then again, there is something to be said about knowing old technology too. One of the biggest worries of business today is that most newer programmers do not know COBOL and once the baby boomers retire, there will be no one to support their legacy software.

You need to determine what is best for you and follow through with it. The company (and by extension, your boss) is not going to look after you. They are interested in their own bottom line. Besides, if the company realizes that you are going to advance your career regardless of what they do and they find you valuable, they may make it worth your while to stay. People with certain skills are not easy to replace, especially if the job pays below what the market is offering.

I would agree with that. I'm signing for whatever free programming courses my university offers so that I can broaden the list of skills on my resume.

ACG, check your PMs. I have a couple of questions about this statement you made:

There are a number of websites that have tutorials on various technologies. You can also pick up certifications. For many things, you can probably put up a demonstration on a website. It may not be jumping through the hoops that some might demand, but it can help to get a job.