Reskilling yourself in such a fast moving industry

[evoke]

I work in web development and recently I've been overwhelmed with the amount of technologies required. I haven't had the chance to wipe my own ar$e recently, never mind reskill myself in Angular or React, in fact after 12 years I'm only just starting to get to grips with Javascript.

I went from backend dev to frontend dev, and vice versa and find myself chasing my tail a bit. I feel like a jack of all trades and wondering whether just to focus on one language/area and do it exceptionally well or keep going as Jack and wing it most of the time with my experience and problem solving abilities. It seems the older I get the harder it becomes.

Do any of you take timeout to retrain yourselves?

I am currently on the bench at the moment as well. I am feeling over whelmed by all the technologies on the job boards. I am a back end java developer. They just do not want that but there is another 20 different technologies they want.

I would usually keep up to date during a contract as well by doing other stuff with personnel projects. Also some times when i start a project I do not have some of the skills that i need so i have to learn those as well.

Applying for jobs has me over whelmed. Trying to pick up so many different technology is just crazy. I am trying to pick the one that will give me the most opportunity. I thought my problem solving skills would be enough to get me in the door and learn but they want some one that knows each technology inside out.

I feel your pain.

[stek]

I am currently on the bench at the moment as well. I am feeling over whelmed by all the technologies on the job boards. I am a back end java developer. They just do not want that but there is another 20 different technologies they want.

I would usually keep up to date during a contract as well by doing other stuff with personnel projects. Also some times when i start a project I do not have some of the skills that i need so i have to learn those as well.

Applying for jobs has me over whelmed. Trying to pick up so many different technology is just crazy. I am trying to pick the one that will give me the most opportunity. I thought my problem solving skills would be enough to get me in the door and learn but they want some one that knows each technology inside out.

I feel your pain.

Don't worry, as u get higher up the chain you just get talking in meetings and drawing in Visio jobs, been here two weeks on a silly rate and done toss all really apart from talk and drag shapes about.

[ChimpMaster]

Don't worry, as u get higher up the chain you just get talking in meetings and drawing in Visio jobs, been here two weeks on a silly rate and done toss all really apart from talk and drag shapes about.

This is a little truth in this, for those who can (or want to) elevate themselves beyond development. Keeping up with new tech is for the young, for those who don't have a family or have little in the way of other interests (). I gave up trying to do that many years ago - I still keep my hands in dev to some extent but sell myself better at an architect level, or a product specialist, or as a problem solver.... whatever brings in the better rates.

Devs can become experts within a few months if they're sharp, and they won't expect lofty rates compared with someone who has say 5 years experience.

Better to be a product specialist, be that SAP, Oracle, SQL Server, BizTalk, Salesforce, whatever.

Understand the technology and understand the business. Let the kids have their fun with the annual cycle of bleeding edge tech.

[The Only Way Is Keynsham]

The web dev arena has gotten ridiculous.

"Full Stack .NET Web Developer" now means you are the world leading expert in all these at the same time:

CoffeScript, TypeScript, JavaScript, JQuery, Bootstrap, Handlebars, Moustache, HTML5, CSS3, Less, Sass, Angular 2 and 3 (not backward compatible), Ember.JS, React.JS, Polymer.JS, BackBone.JS, Vue.JS, MVC, ASP.NET, Entity Framework, .NET, C#, Linq, SQL, etc, etc.

A long time contractor friend of mine by contrast, is a SQL Server DBA. Similar rates and he knows SQL Server inside out That's pretty much all he needs to be an expert in to get the money.

Time to get out of the web dev treadmill.

Well, I'd say you should be familiar with implementing MVVM with at least one JavaScript framework e.g. AngularJS, Knockout or Kendo UI.

[dwater]

I'm in the same boat. I'm a html5 app developer, so can do front end work too. I'm currently 'on the bench' too, looking for my first contract (well, first after about 20 years).

It's an interesting problem. I see three solutions :

1) One of the supposed advantages with contracting is that you (maybe*) get more opportunity to be selective about what you do, since you change projects quite often. So, be a bit more picky about which contracts you accept, and pick one that will give you the chance to learn that new tech. Perhaps it mentions that the project will be using it, or you're work will allow you to choose. You could accept a lower rate for such contracts (is this a good idea/practical?). If you're lucky, you could get a shorter contract that means you can bump your rate sooner.
Either way, once you have it on your CV, then you can use it for the next contract.

2) If you are working under a limited company, then perhaps you can actually build a product that uses that new technology, either in your own time (weekends/etc) or between contracts. You don't have to actually sell it, but you can certainly use it as an exhibit of your ability...even better if you make it open source so they can see how you did it. Of course, you could sell it too, but I'm not sure about the implications of that for the company - perhaps it helps in some ways (IR35 issues less likely, but adds another complication to the tax return?).

3) I've not found one that suits me, but you might look around for an open source product that uses the tech you want to learn, and start contributing, and refer to your contributions on your resume so clients can see. Depending on the product, that might even count as 'commercial'. Does work you do for your own limited company count as 'commercial'? I can't see how it wouldn't, but I know nothing I guess one might have to be careful about doing such work while engaged on a contract with a client, but I can't see a problem with doing that between contracts.

I'm trying to get into Angular.JS. Having said that, today I've been reading about the pros and cons of Angular.JS vs React, and it seems clear that React makes the developer's job much easier, while Angular.JS can cause quite a bit of pain, so I'm starting to reverse my preference for Angular.JS over React...it's odd how the prospect of contracting is changing my behaviour/opinions. I had previously disliked React because of its use of virtual dom - it's essentially anti-web browser and I see that as anti-web; but, at the end of the day, I want an easier life, and web development is difficult enough as it is. The job specs are quite insane these days - they seem to want everything. I'm starting to, essentially, not believe them, and apply even if I'm close (but missing some skills or other that are deemed 'must have') - they can always reject me, and I get to put my resume in front of an agent which is usually better than them having to search for it.

I suppose I could be wrong about some of this, but I'm eager to learn what the more seasoned people here have to say

* If you're lucky, then perhaps permanent jobs give you the chance to pick technologies when you switch from projects; this is particularly likely if you're a project leader or senior engineer.

[quackhandle]

The web dev arena has gotten ridiculous...

A long time contractor friend of mine by contrast, is a SQL Server DBA. Similar rates and he knows SQL Server inside out That's pretty much all he needs to be an expert in to get the money.

Even that market is pants now, but a few companies aremoving to THE CLOUD (Azure SQL Database) and wanting experience of this. I am also seeing a few roles wanting SQL & Dynamics AX so I was toying with idea of learning that. Anyone do Dynamics AX?

qh

[LondonManc]

Even that market is pants now, but a few companies aremoving to THE CLOUD (Azure SQL Database) and wanting experience of this. I am also seeing a few roles wanting SQL & Dynamics AX so I was toying with idea of learning that. Anyone do Dynamics AX?

qh

Dynamics used to be badged as Axapta. Think of it as SAP Lite on a SQL Server database. I regularly get calls/emails about it because I've taken it as a feed into a data warehouse in the past (I'm not familiar with the AX front end though and memory of the back end is fading fast!).

Straightforward enough once you get your head around it from what I remember.

[silverlight001]

Even that market is pants now, but a few companies aremoving to THE CLOUD (Azure SQL Database) and wanting experience of this. I am also seeing a few roles wanting SQL & Dynamics AX so I was toying with idea of learning that. Anyone do Dynamics AX?

Learn "R" and Python and call yourself a Data Scientist - the contracts will roll-in

My current gig at in big F/S company are throwing £m's at analytics (even though a lot of it is re-badged MI / Reporting)

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Learn "R" and Python and call yourself a Data Scientist - the contracts will roll-in

My current gig at in big F/S company are throwing £m's at analytics (even though a lot of it is re-badged MI / Reporting)

It's no good learning the skills unless there is a job on your CV where you can demonstrate commercial experiences of this skill.

I would never learn a skill and lie on my CV by saying for example, I have 6 months experience of SiteCore from client a and 3 more month experience with client B.

But I know people do this. Yes, learn something on an online course and wing it at the interview.

It make me mad I would never be fraudulent like this so I won't play by these rules but many people are at it and I've seen it happen.

I wish the clients would spend a bit more time poking around into the veracity of the skills claimed by a candidate on his CV and if they find out they've been lying then pursue these frauds with the full force of the law.

[LondonManc]

It's no good learning the skills unless there is a job on your CV where you can demonstrate commercial experiences of this skill.

I would never learn a skill and lie on my CV by saying for example, I have 6 months experience of SiteCore from client a and 3 more month experience with client B.

But I know people do this. Yes, learn something on an online course and wing it at the interview.

It make me mad I would never be fraudulent like this so I won't play by these rules but many people are at it and I've seen it happen.

I wish the clients would spend a bit more time poking around into the veracity of the skills claimed by a candidate on his CV and if they find out they've been lying then pursue these frauds with the full force of the law.

I know what you mean. We were interviewing years ago for someone (same series of interviews as the disastrous one I posted about earlier) who claimed expert level in a tool they had used for six months at the same time as using five other techs. Got him in for the hell of it; if he's going to waste my time with a CV like that, I'll waste his time and petrol money. Clueless.