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Survey Results

What is your career goal?   [Edit]

Survey period: 5 Jul 2004 to 11 Jul 2004

Do you want to rise out of development and into management? Or keep doing what you are best at?

OptionVotes% 
To own and run my own IT company45747.31
Chief Technology Officer15816.36
Lead architect25125.98
Lead developer27828.78
To manage a team of developers17718.32
To manage the systems / Infrastructure363.73
Business development444.55
Sales and Marketing90.93
To leave the IT world entirely12012.42
Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer; totals may not add up to 100%

View optional text answers (57 answers)


 
GeneralGood topic to poll Pin
Vihar Patel8-Jul-04 19:37
professionalVihar Patel8-Jul-04 19:37 
GeneralRe: Good topic to poll Pin
pumi15-Jul-04 23:06
pumi15-Jul-04 23:06 
GeneralLead Developer & TPL Pin
James R. Twine7-Jul-04 6:10
James R. Twine7-Jul-04 6:10 
GeneralRe: Lead Developer & TPL Pin
Michael P Butler7-Jul-04 8:53
Michael P Butler7-Jul-04 8:53 
GeneralText Answers Pin
Corinna John7-Jul-04 1:06
Corinna John7-Jul-04 1:06 
GeneralRe: Text Answers Pin
peterchen7-Jul-04 1:55
peterchen7-Jul-04 1:55 
GeneralRe: Text Answers Pin
Nick Seng7-Jul-04 15:13
Nick Seng7-Jul-04 15:13 
GeneralRe: Text Answers Pin
Joel Holdsworth10-Jul-04 9:24
Joel Holdsworth10-Jul-04 9:24 
GeneralRe: Text Answers Pin
Daniel Turini11-Jul-04 11:03
Daniel Turini11-Jul-04 11:03 
GeneralEventually.... Pin
Anonymous6-Jul-04 7:49
Anonymous6-Jul-04 7:49 
GeneralMiddle management Pin
Navin6-Jul-04 3:07
Navin6-Jul-04 3:07 
GeneralNot Important Pin
Corinna John6-Jul-04 1:37
Corinna John6-Jul-04 1:37 
GeneralRe: Not Important Pin
dandy726-Jul-04 2:25
dandy726-Jul-04 2:25 
GeneralRe: Not Important Pin
HairiDog10-Jul-04 7:24
HairiDog10-Jul-04 7:24 
GeneralRe: Not Important Pin
Michael P Butler6-Jul-04 2:38
Michael P Butler6-Jul-04 2:38 
GeneralArrrh the Ostrich method, Pin
NormDroid6-Jul-04 2:46
professionalNormDroid6-Jul-04 2:46 
GeneralFor the less-young Pin
Paul Watson6-Jul-04 0:40
sitebuilderPaul Watson6-Jul-04 0:40 
GeneralRe: For the less-young Pin
Michael P Butler6-Jul-04 2:59
Michael P Butler6-Jul-04 2:59 
GeneralRe: For the less-young Pin
Michael A. Barnhart6-Jul-04 13:42
Michael A. Barnhart6-Jul-04 13:42 
Paul Watson wrote:
And for those who set goals when I was still in nappies, how has it gone?

Over all pretty good. I hate all of the politics in life but the joy in seeing the evolution of technology and it's integation (successes, skip the other) has been worthwhile.

Paul Watson wrote:
Is the IT industry stable and structured enough for these kind of goals to be practical or too unpredictable to plan much beyond a year or two?

Paul, Your question can be answered a thousand different ways. If your goals are general and adaptable than yes it is stable and predictable. If your goals are very specific then a year or two is the most you can shoot for. My goal comming out of school (Structural Engineer) was to lead a new project in developing capability that had not been done before. I had that chance in the mid 80's and my company did win a multi-million dollar contract with my work specifically mentioned as a factor in the award. Had I been specific to that kind of work back in school I would probably never dreamed of the path it took me along.

So you need to base your goals on what is needed both for your personal satisfaction and what is a realistic need of business or mankind (unless you are wealthy someone else does have to pay for it.) So saying you want to create the best relational database is likely to leave you disapointed. To say you wish to lead your team in the integration of the next major technology innovation to supply information for this or that is very achievable.

For myself I can say I have two children I am proud of and most of my neighbors and associates feel I have been a good contributor to our world.

I do not mind getting old. It beats all the other options that can think of.
GeneralRise out of development? Pin
Ravi Bhavnani5-Jul-04 11:27
professionalRavi Bhavnani5-Jul-04 11:27 
GeneralRe: Rise out of development? Pin
Michael Dunn5-Jul-04 19:43
sitebuilderMichael Dunn5-Jul-04 19:43 
GeneralBored now Pin
Michael P Butler5-Jul-04 8:20
Michael P Butler5-Jul-04 8:20 
GeneralRe: Bored now Pin
John R. Shaw8-Jul-04 13:38
John R. Shaw8-Jul-04 13:38 
GeneralRe: Bored now Pin
Okeno Palmer9-Jul-04 11:03
Okeno Palmer9-Jul-04 11:03 
GeneralRe: Bored now Pin
Phil Harding9-Jul-04 13:20
Phil Harding9-Jul-04 13:20 

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