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Working for service company VS product company - career advice

 
Greenhorn
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Dear All,

I have close to 14 yrs of experience and currently working for a Service Company (base location India and current location USA) and in technical stream. Eventually going towards a midlife crisis I think as I am unable to clearly decide what is better to go forward.

Like ,

1) Continue with service company and take up new challenges for example I am in Java - j2ee all along but my interest is to learn C, C++. So not sure whether I can learn now and take up any role in embedded software iwithin service company at this time and grow.
2) Switch to product company as they pay more and also we might get an opportunity to learn better than a service company (this we are not sure until we are assigned to a group in product company)
3) Soon I will be dispensable (my thinking) in service company because I will be adding upon my experience going fwd and the same can be done by less experienced engineers ? Because in service companies, we tend to get locked in a project and moving out to explore more is not that easy .
4) I might be placed in group in product company where we just need to maintain the product by fixing defects and eventually it will be the same like service company here but the only difference is pay.

I am sorry if I am confusing you too much but your advice on these points will really help me to think better

Thanks.
 
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Hi Shankara,
First things first; C/C++ suck, Java rules.

You've got to do whatever excites you and keeps you interested. If you're bored at work or you don't think you're learning then you need to change something. I'd advise talking to your current manager and explaining your long term interests and the areas you're keen to grow in. You're clearly valued if you've been there so long and it's in their interest to help you. They want their employees to grow and become even better.

However, I think moving is a great idea. In my area people tend to stay in roles for a maximum of 5 years. This ensure the highest pay (as generally you'll get a 10-30% pay bump each time) and the most experience. Different companies do different things in different ways and being exposed to those things is a great way to enhance your knowledge.

When you apply for jobs, just make sure to stay away from maintenance and make sure to discuss your aspirations in the interview. If you're dreaming big they're not going to put you in a dead end role because they'd know you would leave quickly.
 
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Sam Atkinson wrote:Hi Shankara,
First things first; C/C++ suck, Java rules. . . . .



Unless you have to maintain old code in C/C++, or update operating systems or write DBMSs or ...
 
Shankar Ramanathan
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Thanks Sam for the thoughts.I tried in a product company through a reference and they said it will be a maintenance and enhancement project... So I think then eventually it is same like service company and they do not have opening for any development.So in these kind of cases, it would be good to give a try in product company or wait in service company until we really want the one we like (not sure when I will get it).
 
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