Opinions wanted on career-limiting moves (<g>)
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From: larwe on 14 Apr 2010 10:53 On Apr 14, 10:45 am, Grant Edwards <inva...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > > if it succeeds, you'll have something else on your resume. > > But will it be something _good_ on his resume? Will it help or hurt > if he decides he wants to get back into design? Exactly so. The long and short of it is that whatever path I pick for the short term, the road ahead ends at a T-junction not far ahead. I'm trying to decide if the choice I mentioned in the OP is putting a big gate across one of the branches of that junction.
From: larwe on 14 Apr 2010 10:54 On Apr 14, 10:42 am, Tim Watts <t...(a)dionic.net> wrote: > Having read the other replies, I'm inclined to suggest that you ask for > the title to be amended to Product Engineering Manager or somesuch. That's a good idea. Since the posting hasn't been publicized yet, I don't know what they are officially calling it - I also don't know what the menu of options in BigCorp's title buffet contains. But I can certainly bring it up.
From: whygee on 14 Apr 2010 10:24 larwe wrote: > On Apr 14, 9:56 am, whygee <y...(a)yg.yg> wrote: > >> if it fails, you can get back to HW-only work, right ? > > That's kinda what I'm asking. I am wondering if a year or whatever in > marketing will look, on an engineer's resume, much like a couple of > years in jail for a felony. I believe that the outcome will depend on what you achieve (and how you word it). If you say "I managed the successful introduction of products G and H to the market, which boosted our company", you can still spin the phrase for the audience, give technical details (or see that you backed the technicians by defending their PoV) or marketspeech (give percent of income, months of spec-to-delivery etc.) There used to be a time when the "commercial guys" was often my choice target when I wanted to pick on someone on a trade show, but now some of my ex-colleagues have this role now, and I respect them more... So it depends on what you want to achieve, particularly in the light of your long-term plans. keep us informed :-) yg -- http://ygdes.com / http://yasep.org
From: whygee on 14 Apr 2010 10:31 larwe wrote: > On Apr 14, 10:42 am, Tim Watts <t...(a)dionic.net> wrote: > >> Having read the other replies, I'm inclined to suggest that you ask for >> the title to be amended to Product Engineering Manager or somesuch. > > That's a good idea. Since the posting hasn't been publicized yet, I > don't know what they are officially calling it - I also don't know > what the menu of options in BigCorp's title buffet contains. But I can > certainly bring it up. sure, go forward. what could you lose, except an opportunity ? If you don't try, you'll regret later, because you won't know when the next opportunity will show up and if it will be better. Now, if you have an 'agenda', make sure that the corp understands it in a way that pleases it. Say that you want to develop products, or whatever you can spin, so they won't be afraid and tied you to the closest ejection seat. yg -- http://ygdes.com / http://yasep.org
From: larwe on 14 Apr 2010 11:34
On Apr 14, 10:31 am, whygee <y...(a)yg.yg> wrote: > what could you lose, except an opportunity ? Isn't that the principle behind that TV show with the briefcases full of money, where you get to take some certain payout or pick to open a briefcase of your choice :) > pleases it. Say that you want to develop products, > or whatever you can spin, so they won't be That groundwork is already laid. The truth, without any agenda (besides "not wanting to be bored") is that I have a lot of skills that are not being used at all where I am - I estimated recently to senior management that I'm putting out about 20% of what I could be doing, not to mention that I'm never called upon to operate outside my comfort zone. Those issues can't be fixed in the context of BigCorp's engineering department. The reason for my thread posting is that I wanted a feel for how poisonous (if at all) other engineers think this will be on my resume. |