For me, the answer is an unequivocal “YES”. However, that’s only come from realizing I don’t want to be a Hell Desk grunt at 50, or a SysAdmin at 60. I’ll still be dealing with customers in some fashion, sure, and I’ll likely still be involved in the “grunt work” of backup rotations and Active Directory GPO troubleshooting in some form.
This question helped guide my career path from Help Desk, to Administrator, currently into Senior Engineering, and presently pursuing upward growth into Architecture. The question forced me to consider progression and growth, and what I want it to look like.
And so by the time I’m 50, or 60 with how slowly upward positions become available? I’d like to be a one-man show at a small firm, with a varied workload keeping me challenged and motivated yet under my direct control. Or maybe as an executive or leader at a mid-sized firm, mentoring younger colleagues into their own career paths and taking the role of a Captain rather than a deckhand.
But no matter what, I’ll still be the first to roll up their sleeves, dump the title, and help out in a crisis, because I love it. Just, y’know, not all the time.
This question helped guide my career path from Help Desk, to Administrator, currently into Senior Engineering, and presently pursuing upward growth into Architecture. The question forced me to consider progression and growth, and what I want it to look like.
And so by the time I’m 50, or 60 with how slowly upward positions become available? I’d like to be a one-man show at a small firm, with a varied workload keeping me challenged and motivated yet under my direct control. Or maybe as an executive or leader at a mid-sized firm, mentoring younger colleagues into their own career paths and taking the role of a Captain rather than a deckhand.
But no matter what, I’ll still be the first to roll up their sleeves, dump the title, and help out in a crisis, because I love it. Just, y’know, not all the time.