Plans for getting back in the game

[fatJock]

You could always move into management...

Tongue in cheek I imagine but this is a genuine option to extend a career. I have a techie background [MCSE, CCNA/CCNP in the past and more recently a sprinkling of AWS Solution Architect certs] but I've made a career out of project management this last twenty years initially largely focussing on projects with infrastructure delivery.

Although maybe one step removed from layers of management that refer to networks as "pipes" or "bits of string" diversifying can open up more opportunities especially if projects you deliver focus on the area you came from. We all know techies like to give PMs the run around but that's harder to do when someone has that same background.

Additionally, although I used to have the PM Certs [PRINCE2 etc] these days its far more about getting the best out of people and interpersonal skills - definitely far easier than keeping up with multiple streams of tech. Just a thought.

[oliverson]

Been following the AI market for a while, and I would definitely say there are many more contract roles in AI now than even a year ago. However, its a tough area to get into I believe, and you've got competition from a younger crowd that are coming into the jobs market with the skills to do it.

Can't go wrong with learning more python, demand for that remains strong and likely will for the foreseable, and it is the way in to building stuff with AI.

AWS/Azure cloud architecture? They have qualifications that are not too hard to get and that are generally required. I was able to pass them just from reading study guides in the evening for a few weeks. Seems to be a good amount of work around for that kind of thing, and you probably know much of it already. AWS tech architect outside role is what I am currently doing.

....

I've got a few years of the latter under my belt and have been skilling up in the former during my downtime. I have to say, AI has totally blown my mind, and in the process of learning it, I've identified an opportunity for an app featuring AI that, wait for it, "doesn't appear to have been done yet"! My intention prior to this Eureka moment was to jettison a lot of my old, no longer in vogue skills, such as .NET and seek to unify both AI, cloud, Kubernetes, etc. I believe this is known as MLOPS. However, this new idea, well, the MLOPS will have to wait. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually excited about development again!

[willendure]

I've got a few years of the latter under my belt and have been skilling up in the former during my downtime. I have to say, AI has totally blown my mind, and in the process of learning it, I've identified an opportunity for an app featuring AI that, wait for it, "doesn't appear to have been done yet"! My intention prior to this Eureka moment was to jettison a lot of my old, no longer in vogue skills, such as .NET and seek to unify both AI, cloud, Kubernetes, etc. I believe this is known as MLOPS. However, this new idea, well, the MLOPS will have to wait. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually excited about development again!

Yeah, MLOps seems like worth getting into, there will be demand for that skill set. I think at the moment, every MLOps job looks so different to every other one, because we are in the middle of an explosion of new tooling and tech stacks. Hard to know what the essential systems and tools to learn are to maximize your employability.

[northernladuk]

My current client is about to undertake a fairly complex migration project of 50+ integrated applications.
The Programme Manager does not have a gantt chart; just Excel with milestones where delivery dates have been guessed.
Spent a few hours estimating the dependencies, uncertainties and timescales for my applications - bit of an eye-opener for those responsible for the transition.
How can big companies not know how to manage a project?

To be fair I wouldn't mind a pop at that. You can't really go wrong. Everyone knows is a complete clusterfk so missing deadlines, cutting corners, light on documentation etc will all be going on. If everyone is expecting a fail it becomes a steady norm. I'd happily float one of them without losing too much sleep.

What's bad is when you rock up and there is a highly competent programme lead with detailed plan, endless dependancy maps, plans on pages for managing slippage and tons of meetings in all aimed at trying to move something in a ridiculous time frame. They are the bloody tough gigs that, thinking back, were not fun to be on but for some reason I miss the most.

[Smartie]

To be fair I wouldn't mind a pop at that. You can't really go wrong. Everyone knows is a complete clusterfk so missing deadlines, cutting corners, light on documentation etc will all be going on. If everyone is expecting a fail it becomes a steady norm. I'd happily float one of them without losing too much sleep.

What's bad is when you rock up and there is a highly competent programme lead with detailed plan, endless dependancy maps, plans on pages for managing slippage and tons of meetings in all aimed at trying to move something in a ridiculous time frame. They are the bloody tough gigs that, thinking back, were not fun to be on but for some reason I miss the most.

When your contract extension is dependent on a guessed end date a couple of month hence, it's worth providing some evidence that it will take 6+ months ;-)

[WTFH]

What's bad is when you rock up and there is a highly competent programme lead with detailed plan...

I've only been doing this for the last 25+ years. Haven't come across one of those yet.

[Protagoras]

I've only been doing this for the last 25+ years. Haven't come across one of those yet.

Helmuth von Moltke, "No plan survives contact with the enemy".

In any case, my view is that a programme manager should not need to have a detailed plan; detailed plans are the domain of his / her subordinate managers.

[sadkingbilly]

I've only been doing this for the last 25+ years. Haven't come across one of those yet.

ah! - a rookie!

[SussexSeagull]

I have seen the ability to deliver to anything near a deadline date or budget almost disappear in the last decade, usually sacrificed at the altar of pseudo-Agile, or 'Wagile' as I once heard it called.

Which I think is part of the industries problem now. It has become the norm that large amounts of money get spent with little or no return.

[fatJock]

I've only been doing this for the last 25+ years. Haven't come across one of those yet.

There are a few of us about ... but not many granted