career path advice sought

[aglio412]

man, i'm hating my job. and i'm not sure what to look for next. here's the skinny if you want to listen.

i graduated from the university of pittsburgh 2 years ago with an Information Science BS and a Psychology BS (not based on counseling, purely research, scientific method style). i took a job as a student webmaster where i built a site using mysql and php, did some linux admin stuff, started a project using perl cgi pages, did some NT admin (mostly IIS) and did webtrends reporting stuff. now, i wasn't making much and i had no benefits and i wanted the hell out of pittsburgh so i started looking for other jobs. my ideal career path at the time was move into a more analytical/less developmental role and work my way to project management...which i think i'm very well suited for..have the technical know how and people skills to bring it all together. so anyway, i took a job in alexandria va as a web reporting specialist. i was under the impression that it would be a pretty technical position with me being in charge of automating the current reporting system, migrating from webtrends to netgenesis, and doing some oracle work...as well as maintaining the analytical aspect where i could suggest site changes, work with the developers, etc... well, never judge a book by its cover right? i'm basically taking over old reports that are done manually...and i have no time or support to automate anything. so here i am basically doing data retrieval and data entry. it's killing me.

so it's resume posting time...during a dead job market. and i'm not sure what approach i should take. project management appeals to me...but only if it's rooted in the techie side. meaning, i want to be able to dig into some code and work closely with the developers. however, i'm not sure if i have the experience..about 2 years of post college experience and a year of solid internship experience during college...is that enough? if not, what should i look for. i mean i miss developing but my protfolio isn't that stellar and i've been out of the game for a while.

so if anyone has some advice or direction for me...reply. or if anyone in the dc area knows of a decent job opening, let me know...at this point, i'm open to development, db work, project management, network management (not one of my stronger areas...but i can hold my own)...

thanks for hearing me out

[ironchef]

i'd think that at this point in your career, it's a little early to enter into the project management position. that's typically a place for the folks that have had several years of experience.

continuing your development pursuits would be a worthwhile effort. as a project manager, you're going to have be pretty knowledgeable about every aspect of the project, so having firm roots in development can't hurt. further, your writing is great -- it's coherent and you even understand syntax! if you're as good a developer as you are a writer, start pursuing some freelance projects. the freelance work i do really challenges my personal management skills, and if you can wrap the talents of a designer/developer/writer into one person, you can get some decent clients and get the experience to land yourself a nice job as a team lead further down the road. plus, being in alexandria, you've got hundreds of non-profits and associations as potential clients (have you seen these web sites?!). come on man, i can't service them all!

and as for the resume posting, i would suggest Flipdog and Washingtonjobs. take it easy, and good luck.

[aglio412]

yo chef-

my writing is great? that post was a mess...you've been reading daily dwayne? haven't posted anything lately...dsl's been down...therefore the server is offline.

man, whatever happened to reliable ISP service?

ok ok back to the topic...this boy needs a new job!

any thoughts out there on consulting...give me the variety i so desire. got an email from pennypinch concerning a consulting firm...and i'm definitely thinking about it.

later, thanks in advance

[Y2J]

Originally posted by aglio412
yo chef-

my writing is great? that post was a mess...you've been reading daily dwayne? haven't posted anything lately...dsl's been down...therefore the server is offline.

man, whatever happened to reliable ISP service?

ok ok back to the topic...this boy needs a new job!

any thoughts out there on consulting...give me the variety i so desire. got an email from pennypinch concerning a consulting firm...and i'm definitely thinking about it.

later, thanks in advance

Consulting is decent if you can get clients. Ive tried to rum up clients (door to door soliciting) and no luck so far. If there's a firm that'll hire you, thats a good start, then once you get clients and contacts, break off and do it on your own