As an IT developer, what is your current situation? Let's talk about our career paths

Foreword: The Internet, a rapidly developing emerging industry, is destined to be a world for young people who dare to think, dare to do, dare to innovate, and are hardworking and tolerant?

In our Internet industry, new companies are constantly emerging, new business models are taking shape, and new product forms are affecting everyone’s daily lives. Internet companies continue to disappear. In such a working environment, how should Internet users over the age of 30 find their own margin of safety in the workplace? Before starting this topic, let’s take a look at the following information:

• In the second half of 2016, Baofeng Mirror CEO Huang Xiaojie issued an open letter stating that through splits and layoffs, The Storm Mirror team has been reduced from 500 to 300.

• On March 1, 2017, all employees of Perfect Fantasy, a VR panoramic camera company in which Intel invested, received layoff emails, except for the CEO, sales director, marketing director and software director. Except for people, all employees were laid off.

• From the end of 2016 to the beginning of 2017, well-known Internet companies such as Didi and LeTV successively exposed news of layoffs.

• It is rumored that Huawei will begin to internally eliminate employees over 34 years old after the Spring Festival this year, in order to free up space to recruit more young blood into Huawei. After the incident fermented for a few days, Huawei officials issued a message to refute the rumors.

• "Actually, you did nothing wrong. The only fault is that you are too old." Two years ago, Ma Huateng talked about the Internet when he participated in the "DreamCatchers" Entrepreneurship Forum of the University of Hong Kong. The difference between the first generation entrepreneurs and young people is the first sentence they say at the beginning.

• Media reports in 2014 pointed out that the average age of the Alibaba Group is around 27 years old. Based on precise calculations, the current average age should not exceed 30 years old.

• In 2015, in Shenzhen, where Internet talents gather, the average age of the population was 33.6 years old.

Before going any further, I have collected 7 cases. We can first take a look at the living conditions of the Internet people around us.

• I no longer care whether I feel good or not, the key is to let the team achieve results

Brother Y is from Hunan, He graduated with a major in computer science and started working in research and development. He loves football and likes to comment on the Three Kingdoms. He seems to be smiling but not unassuming, but he is often the core of the crowd. I do my work with ease and rarely have to worry. Within ten years, we replaced well-known companies in the industry.

Jindie, Huawei, Cisco, China Mobile, Minsheng Bank, and two or three less well-known companies have made career transitions. His most recent position was as the head of an emerging Internet financial company, which marked a career jump. Recently I asked him if he was happy at work? He said that he had passed the stage where he was not happy, and the key was to let the team make some achievements. Otherwise, you may not have such a position in the next stage of your career.

It will be too comfortable to stay in a foreign company for a long time. Starting a business is a matter of course

#L joined Huawei (look, it’s Huawei again) after graduating from graduate school. After staying at Huawei for two years, he switched jobs to a foreign company. I stayed there for five years. There was no clocking in at a foreign company, the work was easy, and there were plenty of annual leaves. In these five years, I bought a house, a car, and had a baby. But Mr. L never relaxes, and his pursuit of new technologies keeps him sensitive to the most cutting-edge technologies.

With the popularity of 3D printing, Mr. L started the research and development of open source 3D machines while working. First, we cooperated with others in the form of technical shares, but there were many obstacles in the cooperation. When the time came, I started my own business. I started with a crowdfunding fund from my friends. After working for more than two years, I got a considerable amount of investment. He said that if you stay in a foreign company for a long time, you will feel too comfortable. Starting a business is a matter of course.

It would be fine if I were laid off, or I would be compensated with N+3.

C is finally the second generation, he came here when he was very young Shenzhen. He worked in IT for about 2 years in a start-up company. He then moved to a foreign company and worked there for 8 years. He went through four general managers of the Shenzhen branch and many personnel changes, but he remained unchanged. Every time the general manager comes, he has to pay homage to him first.

I usually work from home and go to the office once or twice a week. It's OK to handle the Ticket request at home. They know everything about the people and things in the company. He said, it would be great if I were laid off, and I would be compensated N+3, which would be great. As for the future, he said, working is just for making ends meet; if you really want to make money, you have to do it in other ways. Such as buying a house or something like that.

I can’t do technology anymore, and there is no business to start a business, so I’m worried

Mr. Q previously did technical work in a factory. After a few years, he participated in software development training and worked in an Internet business subsidiary of a banking system. From an ordinary developer to a team leader and then to a project manager, every year The airline miles accumulated in China are enough for the family to travel to and from Hainan several times.

He stayed there for 8 years. After 8 years, relying on the contacts of the original company, he started his own business and established an outsourcing company to take over the business of the original unit. It was booming in the first two years, but in the last two years, the original company's business has shrunk, and the outsourcing industry as a whole is not doing well. He said that if he went back to work, he would not be able to do technical work; if he continued to start a business, there would be no business to do, which would be a worry.

Small companies have low income, big companies can’t get into it, and they are plagued by anxiety

J has always been an active-thinking and hard-working person. He has worked in sales and also started businesses. After graduation, I worked in several companies, each of which lasted no more than two years.

When he was 33 years old, he suddenly discovered that there was an embarrassment in the job search process: start-up companies wanted him to go, but the income was not high, and he could only make up for it through future options; large companies could not get in, I feel that he changes jobs too frequently, stability is a problem, and of course professional depth is also a problem.

He said that there seemed to be no better way out than starting a business. But what can you do if you start a business? I was in a state of great anxiety all day long.

Seeing the entrepreneurship boom but lacking confidence

Mr. A graduated from a 985 university in China. After graduation, the school recruited an Internet company and worked there for 7 years. Over a long period of time, I went from being a front-line employee to a middle-level manager of a team of nearly 60 people. Although the income is less than the previous level, it is more than the lower level. Every day is busy, but also very fulfilling. But seeing the boom in Internet entrepreneurship outside, I was eager to get started but lacked the confidence. I dare not give up my current career and income, let alone leave my familiar environment rashly.

If there is a good entrepreneurial opportunity, I will still consider it

Brother Z is the most troublesome. After working on products at Tencent for several years, he was poached by Alibaba. The family moved to Hangzhou. When he bought a house and had a baby in Hangzhou, his 996 work schedule caused his weight to skyrocket. He said that he is still debating whether to have a child or not because he is afraid that he will be too busy at work and not have time to take care of his family. He said that the salary was indeed good, but he basically didn’t have much time for himself. If there are good entrepreneurial opportunities outside, he will consider them.

Talking to them about the mid-life crisis in the workplace, their basic reply is, what is the crisis? They are as busy as dogs every day and have no time to think about this issue!

Let’s talk about it in more detail. In fact, the four categories of personnel, design, product, operation, and market, have a greater sense of crisis, while R&D personnel have a lighter sense of crisis. Especially after jumping around some unknown Internet companies, I am most confused.

Around 30 years old, usually with nearly 8 years of work experience, fully qualified for general positions, and with a certain network of contacts. My experience and income have enabled me to have a small family. If my luck and strength are good, I have basically achieved the four states of having a house, a car, a wife and children.

Of course, pressure also comes: there is no way to avoid car loans and house payments, the cost of children's education continues to increase, parents are getting older, and they will have to pay more and more for childcare. . Of course, what is more worrying is the pressure on career.

In the Internet industry, the difference in income between those who have worked for 1-3 years and those who have worked for about 10 years is not proportional to their working years. In other words, the salary of someone who has worked for 10 years is not 10 times that of someone who has worked for about one year. The difference is not big.

Take software development as an example. An Android development engineer with 1-2 years of work experience can earn a salary of about 10,000, but a technical director with more than 6 years of work experience may earn a salary of around 30,000. It will be even lower.

What is the career path for Internet people aged 30+?

With this question in mind, I consulted several HR personnel who have worked at BAT for many years. They gave us three development paths:

Entrepreneurship

In the field that you are familiar with or good at, form a team to start a business based on the connections and resources accumulated in the previous ten years of work. The premise is that your mortgage loan is not particularly large, you have some savings, and your family can fully understand and support you. You can reserve basic living expenses for about 2 years. Entrepreneurship has a near-death life, and more than 90% of startups will eventually fail, sooner or later.

Find a start-up company with promising development prospects

Participate in the work of the start-up company as a core staff, with a small monthly income, but through options and dividends Bundle and share your own interests with those of the startup. It is suitable for professional managers who still want to make a career. The risk also lies in the startup's likelihood of success.

Look for a stable company and stay for a long time

At the same time, make additional investments, such as financial management, real estate investment, etc., to earn basic income while ensuring Additional income returns.

Many HRs have a second career when planning their careers. They either become psychological counselors or become career planners. More and more people teach through knowledge sharing platforms to earn extra income while also developing their second careers.

Today, the division of labor is becoming more and more detailed, and the safety margin of the profession is getting smaller and smaller. Maybe one day the position you are doing will disappear in the next few years; maybe, your position , was replaced by some robots; or, someone offered your job one-third of your salary and was willing to do it. When the time comes, what will you do?

Like many HRs, many people begin to try to have a second career, mainly in consulting, and earn income other than work by selling their work experience. , although not much at the beginning, it also opened another career window. There are also some people who, at this age, are slowly transitioning into positions such as consultants. It is also a direction for career development. I also saw a post on the PMCAFF website about a product manager working as a wedding emcee in his spare time. It’s amazing!

At present, a series of knowledge and experience realization platforms represented by answer points and actions have attracted a large number of senior industry personnel to register. Overall, the people who settled in the early stage are all industry leaders, and they have a certain degree of popularity, so attracting fans will naturally be no problem. It is precisely this that also gives some niche players a window of opportunity to enter the platform. At least in different niches, there are still some opportunities if there are no absolute giants yet.

At thirty, what do you want to capture most?

As the saying goes, we stand at thirty, what do we Internet people rely on to stand up? Let’s talk about how you are doing now, what is your career and family situation like, and what are your thoughts on turning 30 in the Internet industry? Those who are over 30 years old can also come and talk about their experiences and lessons learned.

What are you worrying about when you want to break through but can't? What are you worried about when you want to catch but can't? Welcome to leave your thoughts and chat with everyone.

[Related recommendations]

1. What are the IT programming languages? Which programming language should I learn better?

2. 2017 PHP development trends and ten suggestions for the development direction of PHP programmers

3. What is the future development prospect of PHP ? Is there any future for learning PHP?

4. phper chicken soup: How programmers should manage themselves

5. Avoid detours, an old programmer talks about PHP career development planning