Does changing domain often affect my career?

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I started as a C# Developer a year before. Then after 6 months, I got a chance to work in web technologies like Javascript, jQuery, HTML and CSS, along with a C# project. I really enjoyed working in those projects.



3 months ago, I was totally shifted to MongoDB admin due to a shortage. For 1 and a half months I was totally submerged into it, as it was interesting. Then I moved back to web technologies. Now they have asked me to work in hybrid mobile development, which I was interested in.



A few days before, while chatting with my colleague, he raised, "don't change your domain like that. After a year, what will you add as the position in your resume? What kind of developer are you?"



This question really hurts me a lot. I'm nowhere know. Am I in a wrong path by often changing the domain? Does changing domain affect my career?







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    up vote
    6
    down vote

    favorite












    I started as a C# Developer a year before. Then after 6 months, I got a chance to work in web technologies like Javascript, jQuery, HTML and CSS, along with a C# project. I really enjoyed working in those projects.



    3 months ago, I was totally shifted to MongoDB admin due to a shortage. For 1 and a half months I was totally submerged into it, as it was interesting. Then I moved back to web technologies. Now they have asked me to work in hybrid mobile development, which I was interested in.



    A few days before, while chatting with my colleague, he raised, "don't change your domain like that. After a year, what will you add as the position in your resume? What kind of developer are you?"



    This question really hurts me a lot. I'm nowhere know. Am I in a wrong path by often changing the domain? Does changing domain affect my career?







    share|improve this question
























      up vote
      6
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      6
      down vote

      favorite











      I started as a C# Developer a year before. Then after 6 months, I got a chance to work in web technologies like Javascript, jQuery, HTML and CSS, along with a C# project. I really enjoyed working in those projects.



      3 months ago, I was totally shifted to MongoDB admin due to a shortage. For 1 and a half months I was totally submerged into it, as it was interesting. Then I moved back to web technologies. Now they have asked me to work in hybrid mobile development, which I was interested in.



      A few days before, while chatting with my colleague, he raised, "don't change your domain like that. After a year, what will you add as the position in your resume? What kind of developer are you?"



      This question really hurts me a lot. I'm nowhere know. Am I in a wrong path by often changing the domain? Does changing domain affect my career?







      share|improve this question














      I started as a C# Developer a year before. Then after 6 months, I got a chance to work in web technologies like Javascript, jQuery, HTML and CSS, along with a C# project. I really enjoyed working in those projects.



      3 months ago, I was totally shifted to MongoDB admin due to a shortage. For 1 and a half months I was totally submerged into it, as it was interesting. Then I moved back to web technologies. Now they have asked me to work in hybrid mobile development, which I was interested in.



      A few days before, while chatting with my colleague, he raised, "don't change your domain like that. After a year, what will you add as the position in your resume? What kind of developer are you?"



      This question really hurts me a lot. I'm nowhere know. Am I in a wrong path by often changing the domain? Does changing domain affect my career?









      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Feb 1 '14 at 21:31









      jmort253♦

      10.4k54376




      10.4k54376










      asked Feb 1 '14 at 20:11









      Gotcha

      1661210




      1661210




















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          The answer to this really depends on your career goals. If you're planning to move into bigger, more established enterprise-level environments where everyone has a title and everyone's role fits neatly into a little box, then it's possible that having moved around may negatively affect your ability to land a position in one of those companies.



          However, since you say you like learning new things and that you like moving around a lot, you may very well be building up a resume that would be more attractive to smaller, more agile companies and startups. If you work in a company like I do, one that has a smaller feel to it, they're likely going to want people who are smart, who can learn quickly, and who can do whatever is needed in order to get the job done. In smaller organizations, they can't always budget for a dedicated MongoDB admin and a "Java developer" who can only code Java and nothing else. In small companies where I've worked, the most valuable people are those who can do more than just one thing, and the work is interesting because there's always a new challenge to overcome.



          With the skills you've listed, it sounds like you're a well rounded person capable of learning quickly and who can fit wherever there is a need. So talk to people in your country who have worked in smaller businesses and find out what they're looking for.



          Lastly, consider why your current employer asked you to do all of these things. Ask yourself what would have happened to that employer if you weren't able to fit in where needed. Would they consider you valuable by being able to move around. Also, if the company ever needs to lay people off, are they going to fire the person who can only do 1 thing, or is it going to be the person who can be flexible and move into areas where there exists a need? In my experience, in places I've worked, the people who could do more than 1 job always seemed to have a place in the organization, while people who insisted on doing only 1 thing were the ones who were let go, thanked for their services, and walked out the door.






          share|improve this answer
















          • 5




            Well put. Specialization can be good to point your career in the direction of large companies; generalization can be good to point your career in the direction of small companies. Both have good and bad points.
            – Carson63000
            Feb 1 '14 at 21:49






          • 4




            I mostly agree with this with 1 caveat. Don't learn just the basics in everything, get some depth in one thing (and perhaps more than one thing). Once you get some depth, you will learn things and apply the learning differently. The guy who is making the same beginner mistakes in everything is not as valuable as the guy who knows how to learn and understands something thoroughly enough to not be a beginnner. When that guy picks up something new, he often learns more about it that others who may have been working in the field for years because he knows advanced concepts are important.
            – HLGEM
            Feb 3 '14 at 16:10

















          up vote
          1
          down vote













          When I'm hiring or interviewing someone their former titles mean very, very little to me – titles mean different things in different companies. I would be far more interested in a candidate who had a wide range of skills no matter what his or her title(s) were. A candidate with actual experience using both “traditional” databases like MSSQL/Oracle/DB2/MySQL/etc. as well as newer technology like MongoDB is more attractive than someone who only knows how to interact with a single type of database.



          As a matter of fact I often encourage people who are about to graduate from university to seriously consider working for smaller companies simply because they will likely be exposed to many more technologies than they will if they go to work for a very large company. I know people who have worked for large companies for years and they are responsible for a single program or even worse – for a part of a single program. They know their program (or their piece of a program) very, very well – but that's all they know.



          Someone who has a wide range of experience not only brings all that experience to the table they also make it very apparent they are willing and interested in learning new technologies – a very attractive trait in a software developer.






          share|improve this answer




















          • Titles can be extremely misleading. I was promoted from "SW Engineer" to "SW Engineer Lead", which sounds like a very senior position. But in most companies, this progression would be called "Junior Software Engineer" to "Software Engineer", which I also feel would be more realistic in terms of titles.
            – Juha Untinen
            Feb 18 '15 at 10:57










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          2 Answers
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          2 Answers
          2






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          oldest

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          active

          oldest

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          up vote
          20
          down vote



          accepted










          The answer to this really depends on your career goals. If you're planning to move into bigger, more established enterprise-level environments where everyone has a title and everyone's role fits neatly into a little box, then it's possible that having moved around may negatively affect your ability to land a position in one of those companies.



          However, since you say you like learning new things and that you like moving around a lot, you may very well be building up a resume that would be more attractive to smaller, more agile companies and startups. If you work in a company like I do, one that has a smaller feel to it, they're likely going to want people who are smart, who can learn quickly, and who can do whatever is needed in order to get the job done. In smaller organizations, they can't always budget for a dedicated MongoDB admin and a "Java developer" who can only code Java and nothing else. In small companies where I've worked, the most valuable people are those who can do more than just one thing, and the work is interesting because there's always a new challenge to overcome.



          With the skills you've listed, it sounds like you're a well rounded person capable of learning quickly and who can fit wherever there is a need. So talk to people in your country who have worked in smaller businesses and find out what they're looking for.



          Lastly, consider why your current employer asked you to do all of these things. Ask yourself what would have happened to that employer if you weren't able to fit in where needed. Would they consider you valuable by being able to move around. Also, if the company ever needs to lay people off, are they going to fire the person who can only do 1 thing, or is it going to be the person who can be flexible and move into areas where there exists a need? In my experience, in places I've worked, the people who could do more than 1 job always seemed to have a place in the organization, while people who insisted on doing only 1 thing were the ones who were let go, thanked for their services, and walked out the door.






          share|improve this answer
















          • 5




            Well put. Specialization can be good to point your career in the direction of large companies; generalization can be good to point your career in the direction of small companies. Both have good and bad points.
            – Carson63000
            Feb 1 '14 at 21:49






          • 4




            I mostly agree with this with 1 caveat. Don't learn just the basics in everything, get some depth in one thing (and perhaps more than one thing). Once you get some depth, you will learn things and apply the learning differently. The guy who is making the same beginner mistakes in everything is not as valuable as the guy who knows how to learn and understands something thoroughly enough to not be a beginnner. When that guy picks up something new, he often learns more about it that others who may have been working in the field for years because he knows advanced concepts are important.
            – HLGEM
            Feb 3 '14 at 16:10














          up vote
          20
          down vote



          accepted










          The answer to this really depends on your career goals. If you're planning to move into bigger, more established enterprise-level environments where everyone has a title and everyone's role fits neatly into a little box, then it's possible that having moved around may negatively affect your ability to land a position in one of those companies.



          However, since you say you like learning new things and that you like moving around a lot, you may very well be building up a resume that would be more attractive to smaller, more agile companies and startups. If you work in a company like I do, one that has a smaller feel to it, they're likely going to want people who are smart, who can learn quickly, and who can do whatever is needed in order to get the job done. In smaller organizations, they can't always budget for a dedicated MongoDB admin and a "Java developer" who can only code Java and nothing else. In small companies where I've worked, the most valuable people are those who can do more than just one thing, and the work is interesting because there's always a new challenge to overcome.



          With the skills you've listed, it sounds like you're a well rounded person capable of learning quickly and who can fit wherever there is a need. So talk to people in your country who have worked in smaller businesses and find out what they're looking for.



          Lastly, consider why your current employer asked you to do all of these things. Ask yourself what would have happened to that employer if you weren't able to fit in where needed. Would they consider you valuable by being able to move around. Also, if the company ever needs to lay people off, are they going to fire the person who can only do 1 thing, or is it going to be the person who can be flexible and move into areas where there exists a need? In my experience, in places I've worked, the people who could do more than 1 job always seemed to have a place in the organization, while people who insisted on doing only 1 thing were the ones who were let go, thanked for their services, and walked out the door.






          share|improve this answer
















          • 5




            Well put. Specialization can be good to point your career in the direction of large companies; generalization can be good to point your career in the direction of small companies. Both have good and bad points.
            – Carson63000
            Feb 1 '14 at 21:49






          • 4




            I mostly agree with this with 1 caveat. Don't learn just the basics in everything, get some depth in one thing (and perhaps more than one thing). Once you get some depth, you will learn things and apply the learning differently. The guy who is making the same beginner mistakes in everything is not as valuable as the guy who knows how to learn and understands something thoroughly enough to not be a beginnner. When that guy picks up something new, he often learns more about it that others who may have been working in the field for years because he knows advanced concepts are important.
            – HLGEM
            Feb 3 '14 at 16:10












          up vote
          20
          down vote



          accepted







          up vote
          20
          down vote



          accepted






          The answer to this really depends on your career goals. If you're planning to move into bigger, more established enterprise-level environments where everyone has a title and everyone's role fits neatly into a little box, then it's possible that having moved around may negatively affect your ability to land a position in one of those companies.



          However, since you say you like learning new things and that you like moving around a lot, you may very well be building up a resume that would be more attractive to smaller, more agile companies and startups. If you work in a company like I do, one that has a smaller feel to it, they're likely going to want people who are smart, who can learn quickly, and who can do whatever is needed in order to get the job done. In smaller organizations, they can't always budget for a dedicated MongoDB admin and a "Java developer" who can only code Java and nothing else. In small companies where I've worked, the most valuable people are those who can do more than just one thing, and the work is interesting because there's always a new challenge to overcome.



          With the skills you've listed, it sounds like you're a well rounded person capable of learning quickly and who can fit wherever there is a need. So talk to people in your country who have worked in smaller businesses and find out what they're looking for.



          Lastly, consider why your current employer asked you to do all of these things. Ask yourself what would have happened to that employer if you weren't able to fit in where needed. Would they consider you valuable by being able to move around. Also, if the company ever needs to lay people off, are they going to fire the person who can only do 1 thing, or is it going to be the person who can be flexible and move into areas where there exists a need? In my experience, in places I've worked, the people who could do more than 1 job always seemed to have a place in the organization, while people who insisted on doing only 1 thing were the ones who were let go, thanked for their services, and walked out the door.






          share|improve this answer












          The answer to this really depends on your career goals. If you're planning to move into bigger, more established enterprise-level environments where everyone has a title and everyone's role fits neatly into a little box, then it's possible that having moved around may negatively affect your ability to land a position in one of those companies.



          However, since you say you like learning new things and that you like moving around a lot, you may very well be building up a resume that would be more attractive to smaller, more agile companies and startups. If you work in a company like I do, one that has a smaller feel to it, they're likely going to want people who are smart, who can learn quickly, and who can do whatever is needed in order to get the job done. In smaller organizations, they can't always budget for a dedicated MongoDB admin and a "Java developer" who can only code Java and nothing else. In small companies where I've worked, the most valuable people are those who can do more than just one thing, and the work is interesting because there's always a new challenge to overcome.



          With the skills you've listed, it sounds like you're a well rounded person capable of learning quickly and who can fit wherever there is a need. So talk to people in your country who have worked in smaller businesses and find out what they're looking for.



          Lastly, consider why your current employer asked you to do all of these things. Ask yourself what would have happened to that employer if you weren't able to fit in where needed. Would they consider you valuable by being able to move around. Also, if the company ever needs to lay people off, are they going to fire the person who can only do 1 thing, or is it going to be the person who can be flexible and move into areas where there exists a need? In my experience, in places I've worked, the people who could do more than 1 job always seemed to have a place in the organization, while people who insisted on doing only 1 thing were the ones who were let go, thanked for their services, and walked out the door.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered Feb 1 '14 at 21:42









          jmort253♦

          10.4k54376




          10.4k54376







          • 5




            Well put. Specialization can be good to point your career in the direction of large companies; generalization can be good to point your career in the direction of small companies. Both have good and bad points.
            – Carson63000
            Feb 1 '14 at 21:49






          • 4




            I mostly agree with this with 1 caveat. Don't learn just the basics in everything, get some depth in one thing (and perhaps more than one thing). Once you get some depth, you will learn things and apply the learning differently. The guy who is making the same beginner mistakes in everything is not as valuable as the guy who knows how to learn and understands something thoroughly enough to not be a beginnner. When that guy picks up something new, he often learns more about it that others who may have been working in the field for years because he knows advanced concepts are important.
            – HLGEM
            Feb 3 '14 at 16:10












          • 5




            Well put. Specialization can be good to point your career in the direction of large companies; generalization can be good to point your career in the direction of small companies. Both have good and bad points.
            – Carson63000
            Feb 1 '14 at 21:49






          • 4




            I mostly agree with this with 1 caveat. Don't learn just the basics in everything, get some depth in one thing (and perhaps more than one thing). Once you get some depth, you will learn things and apply the learning differently. The guy who is making the same beginner mistakes in everything is not as valuable as the guy who knows how to learn and understands something thoroughly enough to not be a beginnner. When that guy picks up something new, he often learns more about it that others who may have been working in the field for years because he knows advanced concepts are important.
            – HLGEM
            Feb 3 '14 at 16:10







          5




          5




          Well put. Specialization can be good to point your career in the direction of large companies; generalization can be good to point your career in the direction of small companies. Both have good and bad points.
          – Carson63000
          Feb 1 '14 at 21:49




          Well put. Specialization can be good to point your career in the direction of large companies; generalization can be good to point your career in the direction of small companies. Both have good and bad points.
          – Carson63000
          Feb 1 '14 at 21:49




          4




          4




          I mostly agree with this with 1 caveat. Don't learn just the basics in everything, get some depth in one thing (and perhaps more than one thing). Once you get some depth, you will learn things and apply the learning differently. The guy who is making the same beginner mistakes in everything is not as valuable as the guy who knows how to learn and understands something thoroughly enough to not be a beginnner. When that guy picks up something new, he often learns more about it that others who may have been working in the field for years because he knows advanced concepts are important.
          – HLGEM
          Feb 3 '14 at 16:10




          I mostly agree with this with 1 caveat. Don't learn just the basics in everything, get some depth in one thing (and perhaps more than one thing). Once you get some depth, you will learn things and apply the learning differently. The guy who is making the same beginner mistakes in everything is not as valuable as the guy who knows how to learn and understands something thoroughly enough to not be a beginnner. When that guy picks up something new, he often learns more about it that others who may have been working in the field for years because he knows advanced concepts are important.
          – HLGEM
          Feb 3 '14 at 16:10












          up vote
          1
          down vote













          When I'm hiring or interviewing someone their former titles mean very, very little to me – titles mean different things in different companies. I would be far more interested in a candidate who had a wide range of skills no matter what his or her title(s) were. A candidate with actual experience using both “traditional” databases like MSSQL/Oracle/DB2/MySQL/etc. as well as newer technology like MongoDB is more attractive than someone who only knows how to interact with a single type of database.



          As a matter of fact I often encourage people who are about to graduate from university to seriously consider working for smaller companies simply because they will likely be exposed to many more technologies than they will if they go to work for a very large company. I know people who have worked for large companies for years and they are responsible for a single program or even worse – for a part of a single program. They know their program (or their piece of a program) very, very well – but that's all they know.



          Someone who has a wide range of experience not only brings all that experience to the table they also make it very apparent they are willing and interested in learning new technologies – a very attractive trait in a software developer.






          share|improve this answer




















          • Titles can be extremely misleading. I was promoted from "SW Engineer" to "SW Engineer Lead", which sounds like a very senior position. But in most companies, this progression would be called "Junior Software Engineer" to "Software Engineer", which I also feel would be more realistic in terms of titles.
            – Juha Untinen
            Feb 18 '15 at 10:57














          up vote
          1
          down vote













          When I'm hiring or interviewing someone their former titles mean very, very little to me – titles mean different things in different companies. I would be far more interested in a candidate who had a wide range of skills no matter what his or her title(s) were. A candidate with actual experience using both “traditional” databases like MSSQL/Oracle/DB2/MySQL/etc. as well as newer technology like MongoDB is more attractive than someone who only knows how to interact with a single type of database.



          As a matter of fact I often encourage people who are about to graduate from university to seriously consider working for smaller companies simply because they will likely be exposed to many more technologies than they will if they go to work for a very large company. I know people who have worked for large companies for years and they are responsible for a single program or even worse – for a part of a single program. They know their program (or their piece of a program) very, very well – but that's all they know.



          Someone who has a wide range of experience not only brings all that experience to the table they also make it very apparent they are willing and interested in learning new technologies – a very attractive trait in a software developer.






          share|improve this answer




















          • Titles can be extremely misleading. I was promoted from "SW Engineer" to "SW Engineer Lead", which sounds like a very senior position. But in most companies, this progression would be called "Junior Software Engineer" to "Software Engineer", which I also feel would be more realistic in terms of titles.
            – Juha Untinen
            Feb 18 '15 at 10:57












          up vote
          1
          down vote










          up vote
          1
          down vote









          When I'm hiring or interviewing someone their former titles mean very, very little to me – titles mean different things in different companies. I would be far more interested in a candidate who had a wide range of skills no matter what his or her title(s) were. A candidate with actual experience using both “traditional” databases like MSSQL/Oracle/DB2/MySQL/etc. as well as newer technology like MongoDB is more attractive than someone who only knows how to interact with a single type of database.



          As a matter of fact I often encourage people who are about to graduate from university to seriously consider working for smaller companies simply because they will likely be exposed to many more technologies than they will if they go to work for a very large company. I know people who have worked for large companies for years and they are responsible for a single program or even worse – for a part of a single program. They know their program (or their piece of a program) very, very well – but that's all they know.



          Someone who has a wide range of experience not only brings all that experience to the table they also make it very apparent they are willing and interested in learning new technologies – a very attractive trait in a software developer.






          share|improve this answer












          When I'm hiring or interviewing someone their former titles mean very, very little to me – titles mean different things in different companies. I would be far more interested in a candidate who had a wide range of skills no matter what his or her title(s) were. A candidate with actual experience using both “traditional” databases like MSSQL/Oracle/DB2/MySQL/etc. as well as newer technology like MongoDB is more attractive than someone who only knows how to interact with a single type of database.



          As a matter of fact I often encourage people who are about to graduate from university to seriously consider working for smaller companies simply because they will likely be exposed to many more technologies than they will if they go to work for a very large company. I know people who have worked for large companies for years and they are responsible for a single program or even worse – for a part of a single program. They know their program (or their piece of a program) very, very well – but that's all they know.



          Someone who has a wide range of experience not only brings all that experience to the table they also make it very apparent they are willing and interested in learning new technologies – a very attractive trait in a software developer.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered Feb 2 '14 at 15:27









          Benny Hill

          11116




          11116











          • Titles can be extremely misleading. I was promoted from "SW Engineer" to "SW Engineer Lead", which sounds like a very senior position. But in most companies, this progression would be called "Junior Software Engineer" to "Software Engineer", which I also feel would be more realistic in terms of titles.
            – Juha Untinen
            Feb 18 '15 at 10:57
















          • Titles can be extremely misleading. I was promoted from "SW Engineer" to "SW Engineer Lead", which sounds like a very senior position. But in most companies, this progression would be called "Junior Software Engineer" to "Software Engineer", which I also feel would be more realistic in terms of titles.
            – Juha Untinen
            Feb 18 '15 at 10:57















          Titles can be extremely misleading. I was promoted from "SW Engineer" to "SW Engineer Lead", which sounds like a very senior position. But in most companies, this progression would be called "Junior Software Engineer" to "Software Engineer", which I also feel would be more realistic in terms of titles.
          – Juha Untinen
          Feb 18 '15 at 10:57




          Titles can be extremely misleading. I was promoted from "SW Engineer" to "SW Engineer Lead", which sounds like a very senior position. But in most companies, this progression would be called "Junior Software Engineer" to "Software Engineer", which I also feel would be more realistic in terms of titles.
          – Juha Untinen
          Feb 18 '15 at 10:57












           

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