InformationWeek

September 8, 1998

I have a masters degree in computer science and almost 10 years of work experience. I work for a major information services company in the Midwest, where my customer is a major automobile manufacturer. In the past 10 years, I have done various kinds of jobs, including programming, Unix system administration, and development of data standards (data modeling). For the past few years, I've been involved with data exchange between various CAD systems using international standards. Currently I am the project/team leader for production and testing activities for data exchange. My experience seems to be more on the engineering data-exchange side. When I look for job opportunities outside, it seems like everyone is looking for Oracle or Java experience. Should I make a switch from engineering application to business application? If I make a switch, will my previous experience be counted or I will have to start all over again in that area? Will my current experience help in enhancing my career?

Your current experience is relatively narrow and of interest only to other companies that are doing CAD data exchange. You'll definitely want to broaden your application-support experience beyond just engineering. The reason you're hearing requests for the mainstream Java and Oracle are because they're driving so many business applications and will continue to do so. You'll want to start migrating towards some of these technologies to broaden your exposure. As for starting over, your experiences are pretty sophisticated and most people will recognize your ability to grasp complex issues, but you'll need to compromise to gain the skills you need.

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