this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2024
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Is being a developer truly the most flexible job you can have in IT? Currently working in digital transformation (fedia.io)
submitted 1 month ago by Treedrake@fedia.io to c/cs_career_questions@programming.dev
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I have a degree in information systems which was a mix between business and IT. While I in my initial job search was really close on heading in the direction of becoming a developer, I instead landed a role as a business systems analyst as well as working with digital transformation. So basically I'm in the land between IT and the business. I do some super light programming for the platform I'm responsible for but I feel like it's the kind of stuff you could learn in a day. I know some basic Java, Python and C# but not really enough that I'd see me landing a job that isn't a trainee developer position or a job for newly-grads where the company doesn't expect you to know anything at first.

While I don't mind the social and more business-oriented aspects of the job, I'm kinda lamenting the fact that I didn't enter into some trainee/junior dev job to sharpen up my programming skills and become a fully-fledged developer. I'd love to work fully remote and to be more flexible, e.g., not as bound to meetings and stuff which I currently am, or become a freelancer. Has anyone made a similar transition from digital transformation/adjacent areas to becoming a developer? Or am I just thinking too narrowly on what my options in this field are? Maybe there are many opportunities for fully-remote work in digital transformation, business system analysis and what not that I'm not seeing...?

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[โ€“] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I do some super light programming for the platform I'm responsible for but I feel like it's the kind of stuff you could learn in a day.

I guarantee you, it's not. The typical person's first day programming ends in tears, and is also their last. If you open an editor to craft code, without a sense of dread, you are among the few with the rare gift*.

    • The 'rare gift' being "not giving up in rage after the first couple of attempts".

Maybe there are many opportunities...

You are recognizing that full time developers have a lot of leverage to negotiate their work conditions.

Any job that doesn't require hands on manual dexterity can be done better remotely, at an organization that puts in a minimal investment in modern tools.

Remote work is common among developers because developers got access to great remote tools early, and because developers frequently have a lot of negotiation power with their employer.

...digital transformation, business system analysis

From the perspective of a hiring manager, "Digital Transformation" is "Business Analyst" and both are quite valuable. Both are much more valuable when paired with some automation skills, which it sounds like you have.

In your shoes, I would reach out to technology recruiters and let them know I have that combination, and that I'm looking for a new fully remote role. Then see what comes your way.

There's going to be a rush of demand for your talents when folks currently betting heavily of AI reach the "find out" end of the equation.

[โ€“] Treedrake@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

Thanks for your insightful comment. I appreciate the advice! I'll definitely start looking for other roles more actively and see what comes up.