Hi Everyone,
I've always found JavaRancher responses very helpful. Hopefully, some will be able to help me find my way.
I did not come from CS background. I've been in web development for approximately 9 years. Began coding in
Java about 4 years ago. I have been a lead developer for most of my career, due mostly to great work ethics, egarness to learn, and positive attitude, as I am not mega technical. However, now most of that spark has burned out when it comes to coding or leading developers (which requires a lead to mentor on coding). Although, working with a team, since starting Java, as a lead, I made some bad decisions which caused some grief for us.
The biggest bad decisions were:
1 - being too enthusiastic & re-inventing the wheel by writing a content management system from scratch for a firm that only used the system to present pretty much brochure ware. It was not the company's business product.
2 - this was done without knowing who or when to ask for help from more experienced people regarding what to use to make it a simpler job. No one on team was experienced enough to implement Java design, so I did the best I could in leading a collabrative design with a team of unexperienced Java developers.
Later after initial design implementation, some more experienced developers joined team, but some times I felt that others on team knew better, and allowed me to make wrong decision anyway by not speaking out. Other times, the recommendations that I made, that were correct, were ignored, even by managers. Projects work, but was not implemented in the best way so causes lots of problems.
Now, fingers are pointing ONLY at me, and managers have no faith in my skills anymore. People in my team have made it very clear that they think the whole project was one big mistaken mess.
Now, I am looking for another job. But,
#1 I am too afraid to look for a Senior/Lead position. I don't want to experience this again.
#2 I don't think anyone at my current company will give me a decent recommendation.
#3 I'm beginning to feel that "implementation" may not be my best skill. So, I have considered
>> Project Management, but don't think I would enjoy it much because I do not like budget handing or personnel management in terms of performance reviews/hiring/firing.
>> Business Systems Analysis (the more technical positions), but everyone wants experience, and I know I require some training for some things. But for many of the positions I find, I truely believe that I can be successful at this given my technical background. It requires understanding technical concepts, but I would not have to know how to implement anything.
Has anyone experienced anything similar? If yes, what did you do?If anyone has suddenly changed paths, what is the best way to go about doing so?What can I do if I cannot obtain a decent recommendation? I am absolutely positive that I am NOT that bad, I've seen worse on my team, but they weren't the leads. Besides, who ever thinks of themselves as bad employees. That's why hiring managers ask for references. Please help, I am at a loss here. I feel the career I worked so hard to obtain & maintain is slipping away from me.
Thanks in advance for any responses.