There is a problem that arises when someone pivots in technology to a new platform, new language, new coding standard, etc.
They expect to jump into that same level of position, but with only junior experience behind them.
It’s a hard pivot – you’ve spent 10 years doing Oracle Databases and now you are a PHP programmer for 6 months? Some of these pivots are complimentary where the skills carry over but sometimes they are not – i.e., going from Google Apps to SharePoint App Development. The only thing you’re really leveraging is your ability to learn and try something new. But if you were hoping to win that Senior SharePoint Developer job position at a new company with all the benefits you have now it’s probably not going to happen.
So how do you really pivot into something new where you are the new guy plain and simple?
You need a plan, reading books or blogs are great, but you need to have created something from nothing, installed it, broken it, built it back up, etc, etc. Once you’ve done that you’ve then started to understand the innards of how it works and what it does.
So then what?
Find a niche, every new technology is a world unto itself, so instead of grazing over everything, focus on a few core pieces and own them, take them, learn everything about them before moving onto the next one.
The generalist knows a little bit about everything, but never gets hired when taking a leap. The specialist, shows they can go deep, not give up, and understand a focussed area of work, before moving onto the next item.
Senior Years with Junior experience as a generalist has a harder road of convincing those of their skills then the specialist who owns different niches – especially when it comes to those oh so important technical questions on an interview.
