| I'm nearing the end of my career, so take this with a pinch of salt. What I find so interesting in posts like this, is the mindset that "someone has to give me a job, else I can't work in IT". By contrast, when I started, there were jobs sure, but the whole IT industry was so new that most people just found ways to "add value". Our (future) customers didn't know what they needed, we just built it for them. Today we'd call this a 'startup' (although we were bootstraped, no investment. ) There's still a strong "build it" approach to IT , but mostly it now attracts those "looking for a job". With hindsight I get that most people (in all industries) are workers, not creators. I used to think IT was mostly creators, but I'm not sure that was ever true. (More likely just the circles I frequented.) And yes, it's harder to be a creator now. Marketing matters more than coding (it always has) but there is more competition now. So to answer your question, the time to quit is when you can't add value. If you can see past the "get job" part, and see the "add value" part, your options are still open. So my advice is; help people. Spot the pain, ease the pain. Maybe it's helping folk at a nearby old-age-community with their cell phones. Maybe it's helping a local corner shop get on the web. Maybe it's simplifying a tedious process. By helping real people you get to meet more people. And ultimately it's people that get you hired. Good luck. |
Most people even then were doing boring work in banks, government etc. They weren’t hanging out the shingles or on the street selling software on floppies like artists trying to make it big. It was even harder back then to market yourself.
The time to quit is when no one will pay you to exchange labor for money. That labor can be hands on keyboard, sales or something more strategic.