Please give me a moment - How Employable am I?

[GeekDrool]

I hope there are some team leaders/managers (or insightful grunts) out
there that can give this post a little time, as this topic is a heavy
weight on me.

I owned a software company for about 6 years. I sold it about 5 years
ago, did almost nothing for about 2 years, and have been employed as
the sole developer in a .COM for the past two years by a former client
of my software company.

I manage the web site, web services, and Windows Development, SQL
Server, and Windows 2003 Server (dangerously).

While I have managed a development team, (and support/Service Team)
that was done so in my own company in my own style, perhaps not
correctly, I don't know as I have no I have nothing to compare it to.
In essence, I have never worked in conventional corporate
environment.

I am not satisfied with my current job as it is stagnant, I am going
nowhere. To boot, I am burnt out on Entrepreneurshi p, while new
product ideas are vast, the idea of going back to "business
management" makes me cringe. I don't want to go back to that level of
stress.

I have no college degree, I am self taught, I am 36 and am considering
becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#) What can I expect in the
workforce at that point?

Am I employable? At what position? What Salary?

"Any" Comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Moty Michaely]

GeekDrool wrote:

I hope there are some team leaders/managers (or insightful grunts) out
there that can give this post a little time, as this topic is a heavy
weight on me.

I owned a software company for about 6 years. I sold it about 5 years
ago, did almost nothing for about 2 years, and have been employed as
the sole developer in a .COM for the past two years by a former client
of my software company.

I manage the web site, web services, and Windows Development, SQL
Server, and Windows 2003 Server (dangerously).

While I have managed a development team, (and support/Service Team)
that was done so in my own company in my own style, perhaps not
correctly, I don't know as I have no I have nothing to compare it to.
In essence, I have never worked in conventional corporate
environment.

I am not satisfied with my current job as it is stagnant, I am going
nowhere. To boot, I am burnt out on Entrepreneurshi p, while new
product ideas are vast, the idea of going back to "business
management" makes me cringe. I don't want to go back to that level of
stress.

I have no college degree, I am self taught, I am 36 and am considering
becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#) What can I expect in the
workforce at that point?

Am I employable? At what position? What Salary?

"Any" Comments would be greatly appreciated.

Dear GeekDrool,

I think that your question depends on various of things, such as your
dwelling place (Country etc...) and your motivation for job position.

In my opinion, the the market is growing and all you have to do is
believe in your self and you your personal skills.
Don't give-up on your self or be with low self-confidence.

I really think that whether you are 'employable' or really depends on
you.

Proper disclosure: I am 26 years old, so maybe it's easy for me to
say..

Sincerely,
Moty

[Egghead]

Hi GeekDrool,

Frist of all, where you want to go?
sigh :( I am 37, working in a MSV and going nowhere;
Degree is not a must landing another developer job for you. However, it is
hard for you moving up the ladder without a degree. May be you can do that
in a small company but not those conventional corporate. In small company,
where can you go?
At the end, there is no right way or wrong way in IT, only better way :)

BTW, just wonder how hard in running a small software company?
--
cheers,
RL
"Moty Michaely" <Mo*****@gmail. comwrote in message
news:11******** **************@ q75g2000hsh.goo glegroups.com.. .

>
GeekDrool wrote:

>I hope there are some team leaders/managers (or insightful grunts) out
there that can give this post a little time, as this topic is a heavy
weight on me.

I owned a software company for about 6 years. I sold it about 5 years
ago, did almost nothing for about 2 years, and have been employed as
the sole developer in a .COM for the past two years by a former client
of my software company.

I manage the web site, web services, and Windows Development, SQL
Server, and Windows 2003 Server (dangerously).

While I have managed a development team, (and support/Service Team)
that was done so in my own company in my own style, perhaps not
correctly, I don't know as I have no I have nothing to compare it to.
In essence, I have never worked in conventional corporate
environment.

I am not satisfied with my current job as it is stagnant, I am going
nowhere. To boot, I am burnt out on Entrepreneurshi p, while new
product ideas are vast, the idea of going back to "business
management" makes me cringe. I don't want to go back to that level of
stress.

I have no college degree, I am self taught, I am 36 and am considering
becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#) What can I expect in the
workforce at that point?

Am I employable? At what position? What Salary?

"Any" Comments would be greatly appreciated.

Dear GeekDrool,

I think that your question depends on various of things, such as your
dwelling place (Country etc...) and your motivation for job position.

In my opinion, the the market is growing and all you have to do is
believe in your self and you your personal skills.
Don't give-up on your self or be with low self-confidence.

I really think that whether you are 'employable' or really depends on
you.

Proper disclosure: I am 26 years old, so maybe it's easy for me to
say..

Sincerely,
Moty

[Brian Schwartz]

I'm not a team leader or manager, but I have been consulting for 13 years,
so maybe I qualify as an insightful grunt.

Whether your leadership was in someone else's company or your own, it's
still leadership experience. You've managed people; you've owned projects; I
assume you've executed successful deliveries to customers. Spell it out on
your resume. List and quantify your accomplishments . For example, don't just
say, "I delivered several projects on time and within budget. Say, "I
delivered 18 projects on time and within budget." (18--a number I pulled out
of the air--you get the idea).

In my experience, the lack of a college degree has not been a hindrance. In
almost all cases, companies are willing to substitute years of experience
for years in college. You being able to list six years in the past, plue
more now gives you a significant total number of years.

Besides highlighting your past business experiences, your main challenge
will be to show ample current experience. I have found that getting out of
the loop of new technologies for even a year can be a significant setback to
me. I left programming in 2003, and when I came back in 2004 with no .NET
experience yet, it took quite a while to find work. But you are currently
employed using what sounds like current technologies, so this shouldn't be
too difficult for you.

My general impression of Microsoft certifications is that they are only
marginally useful, if at all, in terms of landing a contract.
(Full-time/permanent employment may be different.) Others in this newsgroup
who have them may bristle at that. :) No offense--that's just my
experience. There was a time a couple years ago when my technical recruiter
was urging me to get one because the employment market was very tight and
sometimes, when a company was deciding between two otherwise equally
qualified candidates, the one with the certification got the job. But that
hasn't been the case recently.

As for salary, it varies by region and industry, contract or permanent,
benefits or no benefits. I hesitate to even throw out numbers. But I have
typically found the consulting recruiters I've worked with to be honest
about what kind of wages the market can support for my given skillset. You
might want to consider going the consulting route for a period of time,
because it takes some of the burden off--they do a lot of the hard work in
finding companies looking to hire someone with your skillset and in
negotiating the wage.

YES. You are definitely employable. Keep your chin up and your chest out.
Put as many accomplishments , tools, languages, etc. as you can on your
resume and go for it. Interviewing is always hard work, even when you're
feeling good about yourself. Don't let your current discouragement make you
think you're not worthwhile.

--
Brian Schwartz
FishNet Components
http://www.fishnetcomponents.com
Fish Grid .NET Light: Powerful Layouts for Small Datasets
"GeekDrool" <Ge*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:11******** **************@ h2g2000hsg.goog legroups.com...

>I hope there are some team leaders/managers (or insightful grunts) out
there that can give this post a little time, as this topic is a heavy
weight on me.

I owned a software company for about 6 years. I sold it about 5 years
ago, did almost nothing for about 2 years, and have been employed as
the sole developer in a .COM for the past two years by a former client
of my software company.

I manage the web site, web services, and Windows Development, SQL
Server, and Windows 2003 Server (dangerously).

While I have managed a development team, (and support/Service Team)
that was done so in my own company in my own style, perhaps not
correctly, I don't know as I have no I have nothing to compare it to.
In essence, I have never worked in conventional corporate
environment.

I am not satisfied with my current job as it is stagnant, I am going
nowhere. To boot, I am burnt out on Entrepreneurshi p, while new
product ideas are vast, the idea of going back to "business
management" makes me cringe. I don't want to go back to that level of
stress.

I have no college degree, I am self taught, I am 36 and am considering
becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#) What can I expect in the
workforce at that point?

Am I employable? At what position? What Salary?

"Any" Comments would be greatly appreciated.

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?=]

GeekDrool wrote:

I hope there are some team leaders/managers (or insightful grunts) out
there that can give this post a little time, as this topic is a heavy
weight on me.

I owned a software company for about 6 years. I sold it about 5 years
ago, did almost nothing for about 2 years, and have been employed as
the sole developer in a .COM for the past two years by a former client
of my software company.

I manage the web site, web services, and Windows Development, SQL
Server, and Windows 2003 Server (dangerously).

While I have managed a development team, (and support/Service Team)
that was done so in my own company in my own style, perhaps not
correctly, I don't know as I have no I have nothing to compare it to.
In essence, I have never worked in conventional corporate
environment.

I am not satisfied with my current job as it is stagnant, I am going
nowhere. To boot, I am burnt out on Entrepreneurshi p, while new
product ideas are vast, the idea of going back to "business
management" makes me cringe. I don't want to go back to that level of
stress.

I have no college degree, I am self taught, I am 36 and am considering
becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#) What can I expect in the
workforce at that point?

Am I employable? At what position? What Salary?

Employable as a manager ? If somebody within the company
know you from your own business days, then absolutely
possible, else I would not be too optimistic. Anything is
possible but possible and likely are two different things.

If you know C#, have basic understanding of software development
process and have an IQ 100, then you will certainly be able to find a
programming job. You should realize that you will start side
by side with people 10-15 years younger than you. How quickly you
will find it and salary depends a bit on where you will be
looking for the job.

Arne

[Mark Rae]

"GeekDrool" <Ge*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:11******** **************@ h2g2000hsg.goog legroups.com...

I am not satisfied with my current job as it is stagnant, I am going
nowhere. To boot, I am burnt out on Entrepreneurshi p, while new
product ideas are vast, the idea of going back to "business
management" makes me cringe. I don't want to go back to that level of
stress.

Depending on where you are, I'd suggest becoming a contractor. I did that
nearly 15 years ago, and have never regretted it...

I have no college degree,

Irrelevant - experience is what counts.

I am 36 and am considering becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#)

A total and utter waste of time...
--
http://www.markrae.net

[=?Utf-8?B?S2lyYW4gQmFuZ2Fsb3Jl?=]

Can anyone tell me hows the structure of 70-551 exam paper..?
and also let me know which r the books I need to refer for the same.. Please
waitin for ur reply....

Rgards,
Kiran T V
MCP MCAD MCSD Bangalore

"Moty Michaely" wrote:

>
GeekDrool wrote:

I hope there are some team leaders/managers (or insightful grunts) out
there that can give this post a little time, as this topic is a heavy
weight on me.

I owned a software company for about 6 years. I sold it about 5 years
ago, did almost nothing for about 2 years, and have been employed as
the sole developer in a .COM for the past two years by a former client
of my software company.

I manage the web site, web services, and Windows Development, SQL
Server, and Windows 2003 Server (dangerously).

While I have managed a development team, (and support/Service Team)
that was done so in my own company in my own style, perhaps not
correctly, I don't know as I have no I have nothing to compare it to.
In essence, I have never worked in conventional corporate
environment.

I am not satisfied with my current job as it is stagnant, I am going
nowhere. To boot, I am burnt out on Entrepreneurshi p, while new
product ideas are vast, the idea of going back to "business
management" makes me cringe. I don't want to go back to that level of
stress.

I have no college degree, I am self taught, I am 36 and am considering
becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#) What can I expect in the
workforce at that point?

Am I employable? At what position? What Salary?

"Any" Comments would be greatly appreciated.

Dear GeekDrool,

I think that your question depends on various of things, such as your
dwelling place (Country etc...) and your motivation for job position.

In my opinion, the the market is growing and all you have to do is
believe in your self and you your personal skills.
Don't give-up on your self or be with low self-confidence.

I really think that whether you are 'employable' or really depends on
you.

Proper disclosure: I am 26 years old, so maybe it's easy for me to
say..

Sincerely,
Moty

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

"Kiran Bangalore" <Kiran Ba*******@discu ssions.microsof t.comwrote in
message news:D4******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com...

Can anyone tell me hows the structure of 70-551 exam paper..?
and also let me know which r the books I need to refer for the same..

You can buy the whole thing here: http://www.examcheets.com/

It will cost you 16 US dollars...

Complete waste of time...
--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

"GeekDrool" <Ge*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:11******** **************@ h2g2000hsg.goog legroups.com...

I have no college degree,

Irrelevant.

I am self taught,

OK.

I am considering becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#)

A total and utter waste of time. For a few dollars you can download the
entire set of questions and and answers for any MCP from any number of
websites - here's one: http://www.examcheets.com/

All that counts is your experience...

Am I employable?

Yes.

At what position?

Have you consdered contracting / freelancing...?

What salary?

Where are you based...?
--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?S=F8ren_Reinke?=]

Mark Rae [MVP] wrote:

"GeekDrool" <Ge*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:11******** **************@ h2g2000hsg.goog legroups.com...

>I have no college degree,

Irrelevant.

>I am self taught,

OK.

>I am considering becoming a MCPD (Enterprise Developer / C#)

A total and utter waste of time. For a few dollars you can download the
entire set of questions and and answers for any MCP from any number of
websites - here's one: http://www.examcheets.com/

Where is the examples of what you get for your money ?

p.s.
The certificat's might not give you any knowledge, but at least here in
Europe the people hiring you, love them (for some weird reason).

/Søren