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Job Security of Developer

Ben on August 27, 2018

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jfrankcarr profile image
Frank Carr

It depends.

In my 30 years, the longest I've worked in one place was not quite 5 years. Most places were less. Most I left because of layoffs, shifts in direction by management, companies being sold, companies going out of business and so forth. For me, it has been a rather unstable career.

However, other people I know have been working for one company for quite a long time. For example, my current boss has been at the company for 20 years. A friend of mine who was a junior developer at the same company as me 30 years ago has been with the same company for 28 years and is still doing the same development job.

One of the keys to their longevity at their respective companies was becoming absolutely essential to the ongoing operation of the company. This made them worth keeping around. This made them almost invulnerable to layoffs and some other typical business craziness. Of course, when a "new broom sweeps clean" type boss comes in all bets are off. At a previous job, my boss, who had been with the company for 30 years, was forced out by a new management team who knew little about software development.

The downside is that their skills have not expanded as much as someone who has moved around a lot.

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imben1109 profile image
Ben

Would you find it difficult to find another job and keep increasing?

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jfrankcarr profile image
Frank Carr

At my age, finding new work has become more difficult but I have been able to find some kind of work.

Increasing in salary? The most I've ever earned was during the 1998 to 2000 dot-com-boom, well into 6 figures. I haven't come close to that since. I probably could have earned more if I had been willing to travel and relocate frequently but that wasn't something I wanted to do.

Increasing in skills? Yes. That is essential to maintaining a software development career.

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imben1109 profile image
Ben

Increasing in skills? Yes. That is essential to maintaining a software development career.

I have been working in IT for 6 six year. My main technical skills would be
Java, JavaScript, etc.

For increasing skill, I think soft skill should be more important than technical skill as development involve so many issue of people but not only technical. Sometimes, I found it difficult to study soft skill as no course or no correct answer.

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elmuerte profile image
Michiel Hendriks

Write hard to maintain code in vital parts of the system.

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imben1109 profile image
Ben

The prerequisite is that you could have the opportunity to maintain the core part.

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Kalaiarasan Pushpanathan

Job security is a myth. Technology change, people change and you too change.

  • Plan your financial life properly.
  • Don't get into loans that ties you hard to a job.
  • Have spare cash in which you can survive atleast a few months without a job. You won't be stressed incase you lose a job out of blue.
  • You can always control your expenses but not your income.
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elmuerte profile image
Michiel Hendriks

It is probably the worst way. It wasn't meant as serious advice. In fact, people who do this get higher on my list of people to get rid off.

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ducdev profile image
Duc Le • Edited

It depends on your experience and skillset.

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imben1109 profile image
Ben • Edited

Is that mean “High experience better job security ”

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ducdev profile image
Duc Le

It's obvious. Plus, if your skillset match the interest of the market, you will have higher opportunity.

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Ben

That mean depend on market. Haha