Dug myself into a career hole?

[roogi]

I wouldn't normally ask strangers on the internet for help, but I've seen some really good advice on here before and I'm starting to feel stuck.

In a nutshell I volunteered to assist with a SharePoint/Intranet project based on previous exp, but now the external consultant leading the project has gone I am in an ambiguous role that covers most of their responsibilities and some elements of business change that are associated with it.

My problem lies in that I'm now getting itchy feet and I have funnelled myself into a SharePoint career path, but I have a few issues with this...

- nearly all the roles out there are developer jobs and I am far from a dev. Sitting at a PC all day coding definitely isn't for me.
- I don't want to be tied into SharePoint for the rest of my career, but...
- I don't know what else my skills and experience could be applied to.

I'm sure there is a way out of this with time and planning and I'm thankful to be in a fairly secure job, but I'm starting to find an ambition I previously never had and it's making the situation very frustrating. I've seen What Colour is Your Parachute recommended on here a few times before, is that worth a read?

[zaphod42]

Yes, it's worth a read, although it is a little American for my tastes, some good general coaching stuff in there. Certainly nothing to lose.

You mentioned "project" - does that extend to project management? Probably one of the most re-usable skill sets around - might you use that as a springboard? IT project skills can be applied to many other sectors.

Good project managers can become good programme managers...

[roogi]

zaphod42 said:

Yes, it's worth a read, although it is a little American for my tastes, some good general coaching stuff in there. Certainly nothing to lose.

You mentioned "project" - does that extend to project management? Probably one of the most re-usable skill sets around - might you use that as a springboard? IT project skills can be applied to many other sectors.

Good project managers can become good programme managers...

Thanks, will give it a try.

I am pretty much the only person on the "project", but the role is more hands on (requirements gathering, demoes, configuration, training etc) than management. A few people have suggested project management to me, but I get the impression that it mainly involves getting other people to do the hands on bit and having to spend hours writing documentation, but I honestly don't know enough about project management to know if that's true or what it actually entails.

[zaphod42]

Also research Business Analyst or a pre-sales analyst/specialist might suit you well with those skills/experiences.

Both are quite client facing and pay reasonably well. Not a route to mega bucks, but with the right experience can command a decent chunk of change.

[72EuropaTC]

roogi said:

In a nutshell I volunteered to assist with a SharePoint/Intranet project based on previous exp,

Remember back to the (transferable) skills & experience which enabled you to take that job/work on. IMO those are what you need to concentrate on, plus whatever you learned from the sharepoint work which complements that, when you put your CV together and look for something.

[Crafty_]

If you take the sharepoint specifics out, whats left ?

As said above there are business analysis functions that you are performing as well as training and documentation (yes, technical writing is a skill!) skills there as well as others like information management (i.e. where to put information and how to present it). I would guess there is a certain amount of usability/user experience skills too. These skills are independent of sharepoint and could be applied regardless of the technology.

What bits of the job do you like ? I'd start there and then look at what roles you could use those skills in.
Meantime is there any scope for your current role to be changed to reflect what you actually do - i.e. taking over some of the responsibilities from the guy that left?

[davepoth]

Write out your CV, and then delete the word Sharepoint from it. You've just made the sharepoint specific skills transferrable.

Seriously though that's about the long and the short of it. If you don't specifically code, all of the concepts and skills will carry across to other projects.

[roogi]

Thanks all, some great advice here as I expected.

The experience that got me into the current role was working with SharePoint previously and specifically in a knowledge management capacity. Since starting on the project I have gained a lot of other skills and have pushed myself to learn more about information architecture and user experience/interface as Crafty has suggested.

I enjoy using these skills as they often involve working with people, problem solving and the design and implementation of a solution. Ideally my next step would be working for a company with people of a similar skillset so that I can learn from them, which is something I'm not getting at the moment. Now all I need to do is find that job

[72EuropaTC]

roogi said:

Thanks all, some great advice here as I expected.

The experience that got me into the current role was working with SharePoint previously and specifically in a knowledge management capacity. Since starting on the project I have gained a lot of other skills and have pushed myself to learn more about information architecture and user experience/interface as Crafty has suggested.

I enjoy using these skills as they often involve working with people, problem solving and the design and implementation of a solution. Ideally my next step would be working for a company with people of a similar skillset so that I can learn from them, which is something I'm not getting at the moment. Now all I need to do is find that job

So scrub out the reference to sharepoint; drop the last sentence; modify the penultimate sentence and you've pretty much got your summary/elevator pitch at the top your CV?

[koolchris99]

nothing to add other than share point is rubbish and I hate it

[Crafty_]

roogi said:

Thanks all, some great advice here as I expected.

The experience that got me into the current role was working with SharePoint previously and specifically in a knowledge management capacity. Since starting on the project I have gained a lot of other skills and have pushed myself to learn more about information architecture and user experience/interface as Crafty has suggested.

I enjoy using these skills as they often involve working with people, problem solving and the design and implementation of a solution. Ideally my next step would be working for a company with people of a similar skillset so that I can learn from them, which is something I'm not getting at the moment. Now all I need to do is find that job

Start looking at agencies? I have a mate that works for Sapient Nitro doing what you describe - I think his job title has changed now but it was something like "Design Producer", basically he took requirements, laid everything out and then threw it at code monkeys to write. Before that he was a code monkey who got bored with writing code and has an aptitude for understanding how to control information. He's doing quite nicely.