[mosjeff]

Great advice. Similar to you, the main vexation has been "what comes next". Being a developer, you can scale your knowledge vertically and horizontally, constantly improving yourself and growing. Being a "shit umbrella", though, doesn't seem to lend itself to such growth opportunities.

[cek]

I wrote a post the other day about how to think about career trajectory/growth. In my experience people generally think about it wrong.

TL;DR: Don't think about your career as a ballistic trajectory, but more as a series of interplanetary missions.

http://ceklog.kindel.com/2012/04/08/you-are-thinking-of-your...

[mosjeff]

Thanks for sharing. I really like your perspective (not to mention the analogy). Would you agree, though, that part of the problem is with company's views on their own employee's trajectories?

[cek]

I was fortunate enough to work at one company for 21 years (MS) that supported this model. I suspect, given my personality, passions, and style, if MS had not supported me in this way I would have just done it across many companies.

So, at my core, I believe it is up to the employee. If you are stuck, GET OUT.