Time for a career switch?

By Staff, ZDNet Asia
Thursday, May 03, 2007 09:00 AM

Looking for IT career advice? Post your question here, and we'll get our experts to answer.

Q. I have been working in a government ministry as an application engineer for two-and-a-half years, specializing in satellite and GSM technologies. I am planning to cross over to a telco where the job is to manage the bidding and tendering process.

It will require me to write proposals for the processes, etc. How much salary should I be looking at if I decide to make a career switch? My current job is pretty technical, and I am doing programming. Although my current job has some relevance to the switch, the switch would require my employer to train me.

Career advice from Andrew Sansom, director of DP Search:
Any career switch can be costly in terms of salary and position. You are climbing up a new ladder so you may need to go down a few rungs, or at least not expect to go up so quickly in the short term. Your salary also depends on the relevance which your new employer sees in your experience and crucially in your attitude, and potential for the role. It sounds as if your new job would be more focused on sales and business development than purely technical, and as such (if you are successful) it opens a whole new career dimension. If you feel that this suits your personality and personal aspirations then this is probably a good move for you. No one can tell you the salary to ask for without knowing more details. Just bear in mind that they are investing in you, and that you may also have to do the same.

Career advice from Vivien Teng, a consultant with I Search Worldwide:
An engineer in a telco company should have more than four years of working experience in network protocols and telephony protocols. Primary responsibilities are: system installation, operation and maintenance, technical consultation and application development. Possibly Tier 2/Tier 3 support on core product functionality, protocol functionality, fault resilience. The telco industry is a generally fast-paced, high-pressure environment, and someone who is dynamic, independent, a multi-tasker and has good organizational skills will thrive in a telco company. A software engineer working in a telco company can expect to earn between S$4,500 (US$2,949) and S$6,000 (US$4,260), depending on the experience of the individual as well as the job nature and requirements set by the company.

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Talkback 6 comments

hi i am doing gniit(software)in niit from india and my b.com last year exam in may 2007 so after graduation i will study mscit. so please tell me its better option for me& how can i go in software industry.
Posted by rahul saini on Sunday, May 20 2007 03:08 AM

Hi, I've been in IT for 12 years as an IT Manager of a Bank's System's Development Group. Recently I made the big move to be pirated by a large Telco company as an Data Operations Manager. The salary is pretty good, its way above the average salary for this country. I had this job for almost three months now but I still long for managing System development tasks than the routinary world of Data Operations supporting our marketing group. Have I made a mistake ? Should I Go back to IT ? There is an opening for a manager position in IT, do you think I should grab it ? Or Should I give this job a chance before I move back to programming again. Most of my colleagues are still on the Systems Development side and I think they will retire as programmers. Some say that being in Operations is actually simpler, but personally I think its a more dangerous job since you take control of production systems. Compared to programming where you test applications before they are launched to production. I don't want to be deemed as a failure, so should I give this new job a chance, for how long ? Please send you unsolicited advice. Thanks
Posted by anonymous on Monday, September 10 2007 07:09 PM

Thanks for your questions. I'll get our career advisors to answer.
Posted by Isabelle Chan, ZDNet Asia on Thursday, September 13 2007 12:27 PM

Hi Anonymous, below is the advice from Miko Matsumura, Software AG's deputy CTO:

"As you may have discovered, the operations side of the house can really be a more dangerous place to work! The operational team is the one that gets the blame when systems fail and that response has to be 24 hours, so you end up with a pager that buzzes in the wee hours of the morning. That said, the business places a clear value on operational IT, and that it's an important stage of the software service lifecycle. This may be why the salary is above average. Therefore, you are playing with fire: if you are held responsible for a major outage, you could be fired, or your reputation could be tarnished. I think the answer depends heavily on your situation and how long you can stand it! Having operational experience will make you a much better development person overall, and will position your resume better for a "service-oriented" world where there is no artificial distinction between design time and run time, so a service is the total of all things that go into providing capabilities for business users and customers. So my advice to you would be to watch out for any looming catastrophes and be sure you are not going to be blamed for any service outages. If it looks inevitable, try to get a job back on the development side to dodge the bullet, but experience gained in the operations side will make you a better developer and a more mature candidate for the future of software as a service (Saas) as well as SOA.
Posted by Isabelle Chan, ZDNet Asia on Friday, September 21 2007 11:13 AM

We welcome all reader queries and will strive to get your questions answered. However, some questions may not be answered due to insufficient information. We would also love to hear from anyone who is keen to become a ZDNet Asia career advisor.
Posted by Isabelle Chan, ZDNet Asia on Friday, September 21 2007 11:22 AM

Hi Rahul, here is Miko's advice:

"Once you have your degrees, you are well on your way. Many large companies do active recruiting on campus. There are also many job boards. If you're willing to travel, this adds even more opportunity to your plate. Employers would be excited to have someone like you with a graduate degree in an IT field. You just have to be persistent and try to secure a position. I would recommend either a large IT consulting firm or a large Software provider such as Microsoft or IBM.
Posted by Isabelle Chan, ZDNet Asia on Friday, September 21 2007 11:25 AM