Ask HN: How to grow and become more employable when working with outdated tech?
4 hours ago
What can I legitimately do when my day job operates within legacy technologies and I have no interest getting another job within this space - think legacy .Net framework desktop application and monolithic Java application.
My goal is simple — to get or be in a position where I am employable. But to make myself employable, I don't have clear path which to take to leverage what I already know. I feel I can either start from scratch - say dive in Machine Learning path or say pick up React and begin to prototype React full stack app. But for both, I will have zero use in my day job since there isn't any 'real' growth happening in my company. Its mostly minor fixes and perhaps writing powershell script here and there.
A bit into my background, I started my career late - I got true programming job at 28. Since then, I’ve been with my current employer doing Java and legacy C# development for six years. Sure, first four years or so, I learned a lot. But now, I feel I'm not learning that much at all. I started to casually apply for job last year or so which, now looking back has been a wake up call to really be proactive and figure out where to go from here. I don't make that much which is a major motivation to get myself on the right track.
I refuse to believe, 'do a start-up' is the way to get myself out of my situation. There has to be something better I can do to leverage what I have done. I have done my best to upskill, e.g. got AWS practitioner certificate. Again, no real use in my day job. Also, I have done leetcode ~150 problems but I am not that gifted to crack FAANG interview. I'm okay with system design.
For more experience professional here who have navigated out of this situation, what can I realistically do right now? What should I prioritize as short-term and long-term goals? What kind of goals should I have for next month, second, month, third month, etc? Are my options the following?
1) go machine learning path or ML-OPS path? If so, how do I show potential employer, "hi, i know this but my day job has no use for this"
2) get comfortable with react - my gut feeling tells me perhaps I can use this to build full stack application to show employers of 'builder' personality?
3) pursue advance cloud certification? say AWS intermediate certificate?
Transferring within org is not an option right now since promo cycle starts in April.
> Java and legacy C# development
Functional Reactive Programming (2016) uses examples in Java 8. Manning Early Access Program (MEAP) recently announced Fabulous Adventures in Data Structures and Algorithms, which uses C#.
That is to say, within languages there is still plenty to learn.
There's the operating systems and hardware route, systems programming, low-level stuff. Maybe not immediately applicable to present work.
There's cloud and DevOps, observability and monitoring. Hard to start that unless there's already a "digital transformation" initiative.
But you could segue to an ML platform while working out a data-driven ML thing.
React (frontend) is fine, but how's the backend knowledge? Would you use Spring and Hibernate, .NET Core, or Node.js?
Maybe work on some side projects and develop a portfolio? Blog about issues you've solved, handy shortcuts, migration tips, or discuss YAML pipelines?
Don't know about certs. Spinning up from Terraform (Gitops) seems eminently more hands-on.
There's also formal reasoning and software validation. Provers, constraint solvers, and dynamic programming. Operations algorithms and management science, optimization and the like.
You can do a blog about retro programming to find clients which have your stack. I read about group of developers who were writing in Cobol in 2010s. Because this software were in use and still in use somewhere. The guy who wrote about it was a developer with decades of experience, but no one wanted hire him because of the age. Then he found other developers in the same situation and run a company to support software written in outdated languages
You can write old-styled software for those who have nostalgic feelings about good old times, or support solutions written for old platforms. Instead of been thinking about it as of trash, think about it as it is retro
Unpopular opinion: lie
First you learn the technology stack you want to go into really well on the side. Get to the point where you can explain the intricacies of how you “used the tech” (even though you didn’t) to the point where when someone ask you deep details of what you did on your job, what tradeoffs you made and what you like don’t like about the technology you can explain it.
I would have no ethical qualms about doing whatever is necessary to get a job in today’s environment.
Now is far certifications? They are meaningless and no one takes them seriously. They are multiple choice tests that any idiot can pass by memorizing a few concepts from ACloudGuru. Interviewers don’t take them seriously at all as far as having competence.
I have 7 active AWS Certs and at one point had 9 out of the then 11. I got my first one without ever logging into the AWS console and my next 4 within the first 6 months. They were never about getting a job. They served as a guided learning path to help me know what I didn’t know as I became the defacto cloud architect at a startup.
Not even AWS Professional Services (former employee) the internal cloud consulting arm at AWS cares about certification as a hiring criteria.
I now work as a staff cloud consultant specializing in app dev + cloud working full time at a 3rd party cloud consulting company. I got my start on AWS dealing with migrating from .Net Framework to .net Core on AWS at the startup.
No one is going to hire you because you studied MLOps on the side doing toy projects when there are plenty of people with real world experience looking for jobs.
Your other bet is working for a company that has a mixture of .Net framework and they are moving to .NET Core and other modern tech and then volunteer to work on more modern tech at your new job.
Thank you. I was afraid someone would end up saying employers don't give a damn about personal projects. I've came across this settlement before as employer only care what you did in your day job.
As for stack, I can definitely see demand for Python/node.js for early startup companies where I prefer to be in as of now and move away from enterprise.
On the certification side, my genuine reason is to have structured approach to learn some topic. What is your opinion on picking up Azure and learning the "admin" side of it, like managing group policies or enabling rbac? I might be impatient but this part of azure solution architect perquisites really makes me loose interest in cloud route. Like the fun stuff comes later.
On certification, I can also try to pursue machine learning route by Deeplearning ai or Google.
MLOps does sound something exciting to do since I enjoy tinkering with Linux and deployment.
I'll be honest, I don't want to get myself more onto .net framework. .net core is still fine but what I've seen, there is way more demand for Python/node.js