The three stages of a tech career

Stage one - You don’t know much

You are in awe of all the other techs. You make a lot of dumb mistakes. You feel like you are swamped all the time. You have to read a lot before you dare try anything for fear of breaking something. Everybody dumps on you because you are the new kid. Things take longer for you to accomplish. You work a lot of overtime, often without pay. You don’t get paid a lot. You wonder if you’ll ever get a break. You realize that school didn’t quite prepare you for the real world. Work hard. You’ll make it.

Stage two - You know a lot of stuff

You’re good and you know it. So does everyone else around you. They can see that you are good. You don’t have to tell them. Things get done quickly. You even amaze yourself sometimes. You are valuable and can command a good salary. The managers and business owners want to keep you on board. They want you to be happy and offer perks to entice you to stay. You get calls from headhunters all the time. It is very flattering and a nice position to be in. Life is good. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Stage three - You don’t know much again

Technology is passing you by. The young techs seem to know so much more than you. It takes longer to figure things out again. You are probably in a position where you can delegate so you do. You are most likely in a management role and spend more time with people issues than tech issues. You are looked on as wise and experienced. You seek input from other techs before making big decisions. It’s not a big deal that you don’t know all the details anymore. You’ve got the big picture. Let others work out the details.