Getting typecasted due to product specific knowledge

[Satyapal Bhargav]

Hello All,
I am an engineering graduate with 2 years experience in Networking and Product Ananlysis
These were majorly support sort of jobs


I cleared my scjp certification and did a small java based project

With this much I got some offers from companies to work as Developer on Java platform
The offer that I accepted was a less paying option compared to my earlier salary.They said that I dont have relevant experience.

Here because of my earlier Product Analyst experience , I was put in a team which worked on Content Management Software called Documentum(a product by EMC corporation)which is entirely java based.

I initally did some installation and configuration work and then got to work on developing web applications that communicate with the Documentum Content Server.

worked on Product Specific framwork called Web Development kit(WDK) which can be considered as implementation of MVC architecure and has close remeblence to Struts framework.
I have been doing this for around 1 year


After giving u this background,now if I wish to change my job,should I show my resume as a Java Developer with Documentum experience or as a Documentum product specialist .


Also what reactions can I expect from employers
Will I get only documentum jobs? and miss out on other purely java based jobs?

[Theodore Casser]

How you present yourself specifically should probably be more a matter of the position you're applying for rather than what you've worked with - if you've mostly used Java with Documentum, I'd present as a Java programmer with Documentum experience if you're going for a general job, and emphasize the product-specific experience if you're applying to a company using the same or similar platform. It honestly sounds like you've had plenty of Java experience that just happens to be tied to the platform, but it's likely to be applicable to plenty of other situations.

It's like working with any other platform - having experience with, say, WebSphere or WebLogic does certainly mean that you have some level of familiarity with one specific product, but the general skills (servlets, JSPs, web application design, MVC architecture work) can be applied in many other situations. These are the kinds of things that you need to bear in mind when you're looking for another job, and the kinds of things you're going to want to get potential employers to consider when they're looking at your skills.

Good luck!

[Satyapal Bhargav]

Thanks for the reply

If I have understood correctly, can I kind of assume that I will not necessarily be typecast.

I mean Documentum is some product that has ben developed using java afterall

and at the end of the day I have still been writing java classes and methods, only thing is that it is bound to the framework used by the product

Would like to be sure that I have understood this correctly

Satya