Hello,
I am a 5 yrs experienced asp.net professional. I'm from BTech EC background, but i have a passion towards Microsoft technologies. All through my career I was into asp.net application support. I have done some .net development as well. I am good at communicating with client, troubleshooting, crisis management and ITIL. The client was mostly having .net 1.1 and 2.0 applications and Sharepoint administration activities. I dont have an exp of wcf,wpf, silverlight,linq etc yet and the interviews make me feel that a fetching a new job requires me to have hands-on and not just theoretical knowledge on it.
Now I am about to look for a job change but i see almost all calls/mails i get are for .net developers.
I happened to go through http://www.dotnetfunda.com/articles/article1604-production-support-does-it-hold-any-value-.aspx but now I am at a point where i face this risk, not able to get through another job, the market makes me feel there are no openings for .net support engineers. Can you guide me on the skills i need to gain or polish so that I have a career growth?
Thank you in advance.
Sainath's Advice on Sunday, January 15, 2012 :
Hi,
Firstly, you need to be sure if your lean towards development is indeed a passion or it is just an interest.If it is indeed a passion in the true sense, developing strong skills which come from regular, daily practice will not be a challenge for you. If indeed you wish to move into development the 1st thing to do is to move into a support project which has plenty of CRs (change requests) to work on. Simultaneously, you can also work on raising your skills, clearing certifications. Once this foundation is in place, you can then speak to your superiors in your current organization and look for a chance to make a lateral movement. Sometimes, the prejudice that people have towards maintenance staff may prove to be a major roadblock. Nevertheless, a full-fledged attempt has to be made in this direction. If this does not work, by the time you have completed all these activities, you will be in pretty good shape to bid for openings outside your organization as well.
Regards,
Sainath Sherigar,
www.ugain.info
Aiswarya said on Monday, January 16, 2012
Hello Sainath,
Thank you very much for your kind response!
I am actually into a project with lots of CRs and I am able to handle them independently, and receive awards as well for the same, the only problem being the apps in .net 1.1 or 2.0 versions. But like you advised, I'd have to work on raising skills and get certified on latest versions. Your advice is a motivating one, I'd try in the said direction.
Thank you,
Aishwarya