Opportunity, or a bad idea

Dear Bob …

I am working for an IT Service Provider. I’m a technically focused person, and enjoy hands-on experience working as a support engineer one of the major names in the industry. Now, because of the limited resources in the company, I have been involved in pre-sales activites and some sales related activites. This takes a lot of my time, so now, instead of focusing on increasing my expertis as technical support engineer, I am getting a more diversified experience.

I’m confused as to whether this is right for my career. The positive aspect of doing pre-sales stuff (solution designs) and sales stuff (calculating costs, budgets) is, I think, that it will help me move more quickly toward becoming a manager. However the negative aspect of this is that as I am getting no time to concentrate on technical stuff, I’m losing my focus, which concerns me. I am still in the begining of my career with only four years of experience as Technical support engineer.

Sometimes I think this is still too early to get involved at this level. However there is another question — how long one can keep doing technical support stuff ?

– Confused Mind

Dear Confused …

Is it good for your career? Bad for your career? That depends a lot on what kind of career you want.

The traditional view of a career – the one I was raised in – is that it’s a progression. You choose a path and follow the path. If that’s how you view your career, it sounds like you should spend some time deciding whether you want to pursue a management career path or a technical career path. Or maybe even a sales career path.

All of these are valid. Which one you choose depends on what you think you’d (a) enjoy doing; and (b) succeed at doing. The only advice I can give is to help you focus on answering that question.

There’s a different perspective on career development, though, which is equally valid. This is that your career is a series of assignments. As you undertake these assignments and succeed (or don’t succeed) at one or another, both you and your management get a better idea of what you can do. In the end, this is a superior way to gain entry to the top ranks of a company. The downsides: It requires patience, and a willingness to forego the sense of security that accompanies job titles like “Senior Developer.”

One last comment: You say you’re losing your technical skills. I have a hard time accepting that. Out of practice perhaps, but if you’re telling me they’re gone, never to return again I’d contend you never had them in the first place.

Which is the same thing I tell hiring managers who insist on experience with a specific programming language: A competent programmer can learn a new language quickly. An incompetent programmer who knows a language will remain incompetent forever.

– Bob

——–