to quit my graduate program to take a leap of faith?

[MyLadyDior]

Cross-posting for traffic.

I need a career advice.

I am in a graduate program in an enterprise. I came from a different industry and retrained in IT. My career trajectory now is in the BA/data analysis space. While I like data analysis, I find BA a bit, well, boring. If I were to go into data analysis, my previous plan was to study masters in analytics part-time while working so I can do data analytics. However, I am also interested in software development. I know a bit of programming, but I know it is not enough to secure a job as a programmer so I might have to go to a bootcamp if I want to become a programmer.

However, I found out that there is an opportunity for me to move overseas using my previous qualification. But I need to resign from my job and go back to my previous industry in order to push through with this. This is not a 100% sure thing, but there is a good chance.

If this pushes through, I will be moving with my partner, whose career will more likely improve in the new country. His career where we are is going well, but he might be in the ceiling, unless he goes into management, which he is not interested in. Eventually, I may be able to shift back to IT if I still want to.

Pros:

My partner will be with me. His career will most likely get a boost as his skills are very transferable and he is very good in what he does.

There will be more doors open to me, as I can choose which qualification I want to pursue (after the first two years of paying my dues.)

Cons:

I will lose my salary. However, my partner's salary is more than enough for the two of us. So it really is probably not an issue, but I have gotten used to earning money again after a long time of not earning money.

I am not young. I am afraid that if it does not work out, i will not get another job in IT again.

Thoughts?

Is this a sponsored PR visa to Australia?

Does a completed grad program stand you in better stead to do the bootcamp/masters?

No. Independent. I already have an offer for MS Data Analytics that I deferred to later this year. Bootcamp is independent too.

Could you still do masters part time or coding in your spare time if you did scenario 1?

Planning to do software dev self-study while waiting.

unwell relatives, kids education

None.

Ps - I found hacker rank quite useful, particularly for coding tests. Just keep looking for roles - last year I saw a couple of rare ones which advertised for people who didn’t have computer science degree.

Otherwise you could try applying for junior dev roles as they may take a chance - particularly if you have projects you can talk about. I was lucky DH was already in the industry so I had done some jointly with him.

There are also some junior test roles and/or manual test. I don’t know how easy it would be to transfer from manual to automation testing or to dev. But testing is a good skill to have as a developer and you might get experience of things like jira and agile which might help further on. I self-studied for istqb test cert (just buy book and practice q’s) - which the company didn’t particularly ask about but gave me more confidence In my CV. It is also in the ‘desirable’ section in test jobs.

Well, speaking as a software developer (and manager of development teams) and interviewer/hirer/mentor to our female engineers... I don't understand what you're doing here. Or why you've made such pivotal decisions career-wise.

Data science, analysis, programming all have overlapping skills. It's not an either/or and developing your skills in one area will benefit many roles. It's quite unusual these days to have "pure" positions where e.g. developers aren't expected to flex into (say) assisting testers, or supporting the early analysis, or writing code to understand data insights etc.

I'm concerned that:

1. you don't seem to have a coherent, clear story that someone like me could understand in terms of your journey... You seem fickle and frankly don't seem to see that developing a solid computing "base"/fundamentals from real world project experience (which then leads to narrow down the type of role you like) is key... You need to hone it over time. Not bounce around! You're just jumping from one thing to another but don't even show you understand how roles in modern IT teams work!

2. on a personal level, relying on a partner for financial security isn't a decision to take lightly, fortunately other posters have covered it already.

Honestly, if you think that you're going to move then have an option to get back into IT, you need to really think more about how you frame your decisions in a better light!

P.s. I work for a global company that hires grad Devs and has a specific push for women /returners so I genuinely speak from insight. If you applied at my employer, I'm the one sifting your application. So I tell you to think about your story with kindness.

Data science, analysis, programming all have overlapping skills. It's not an either/or and developing your skills in one area will benefit many roles.

I was speaking in terms of job prospects. I understand that they have overlapping skills. For example, I know how to code in Python, but not enough to land a job as a programmer. I don't think programmers need to know data science in order to do their job. I have done some data analysis, I don't think programmers need to be proficient in data analysis in order to do their programming jobs.

writing code to understand data insights etc.

Developers can do that, but that's not their core skills. They need to be instructed by the data specialists on what to do. And this is mainly if they're working on data projects.

Now, if they're developing software products, which is the bulk of jobs for developers, then they don't need to be proficient in data analysis/science.

2) on a personal level, relying on a partner for financial security isn't a decision to take lightly, fortunately other posters have covered it already.

Yes, I understand that's why this is one of the reasons for my hesitation and why this is a risk. I have saved most of my salary from my grad program though, and we have some savings on top of this, plus when we move, I'm the one who will have the sure job first.

You obviously want to go, so go.

I am still puzzled that you disliked your old industry so much that it led you to retrain for a new one, but now, it's suddenly the right idea to go back and "pay your dues" again - but crack on.

Unless it's being an actress in Hollywood. In that case, stick with the graduate programme.

Also - it's not at all clear (as you've never answered anyone who has asked) why going back to pay your dues again in your old career means that you have to leave your scheme now whilst waiting a year for your visa, but as you clearly aren't going to need the computer stuff as a back up, it probably won't actually matter that your cv is in danger of making you look like a flakey fool who never finishes things.

Good luck with your new/old role - and enjoy life in the new country: remember that you need to grit your teeth and stick out the bit when everything new/exciting becomes really infuriating and alienating (usually starts around 3-6 months and lasts til 6-12 months) - it does go away in the end!

You seem fickle and frankly don't seem to see that developing a solid computing "base"/fundamentals from real world project experience (which then leads to narrow down the type of role you like) is key... You need to hone it over time. Not bounce around! You're just jumping from one thing to another but don't even show you understand how roles in modern IT teams work!

Just to clarify, I do not have the "base/fundamentals" to be a programmer or a data scientist - all I know is bits and pieces. I know a bit of Python, I have done a bit of data analysis (not data science). Noone will give me real-world experience where I am if I do not have the qualifications for it. I have tried to get a software development rotation and was unable to get one because I lack the prerequisite skills. The grads in the software development rotations are the ones with CS/SE backgrounds.

If I could develop it on the job then of course, sure I'll do it. But in my current graduate program, with my qualifications and current trajectory, it is not going to happen.

I am still puzzled that you disliked your old industry so much that it led you to retrain for a new one, but now, it's suddenly the right idea to go back and "pay your dues" again - but crack on.

I did not dislike it. It's a long story. I don't want to get into it but the important thing to note is I did not dislike it. The reason why I retrained is (trust me) irrelevant to this discussion.

it's not at all clear (as you've never answered anyone who has asked) why going back to pay your dues again in your old career means that you have to leave your scheme now whilst waiting a year for your visa,

I answered it several times. I need to undergo training while waiting for the visa.

it's suddenly the right idea to go back and "pay your dues" again

Because of the visa - it's the means to an end.

.s. I work for a global company that hires grad Devs and has a specific push for women /returners so I genuinely speak from insight.

I am not a grad dev. I'm a grad BA.

A big difference between the options is moving overseas- do you want to live in this other country and potentially settle there? Or long term do you see your future in the UK?

Your employer sounds awful. The lack of specialism in 1 role is precisely what you're supposed to get out of a rotating grad scheme. Not permitting a competent BA or data grad into a software development chunk is unheard of. In my grad scheme it's exactly that breadth of skill and being able to state with conviction that you want to develop in A, B or C role (once you've done your first two years on the general grad programme), well that's the good thing!

I recently worked with a physics/geography joint honours grad who did an IT masters. Joined on our general grad scheme as a BA but is currently Lead software engineer for one of our key security components (partly supplied by an external vendor but we also do bespoke work on it). Her background benefits the role and she could have ended up in anything from product management to cyber security to internal project roles from the grad scheme...

I guess what I'm saying is that you seem to think your lack of full skill in 1 area is holding you back. That's not how it works. Your employer is meant to give you the opportunity to specialise further after you've finished the scheme.

They sound very, usually restrictive.

A big difference between the options is moving overseas- do you want to live in this other country and potentially settle there? Or long term do you see your future in the UK?

I want us both to have the work experience overseas, as it will help both of our resume. Eventually, after years of working, we will go back (unless our minds change once we're there).

Your employer is meant to give you the opportunity to specialise further after you've finished the scheme.

I also thought as a grad, we can try different things during our graduate program because that's what happens in an ideal world. So I looked for a software engineering rotation. But the options listed programming proficiency (plus cloud, etc) as a required skill! I got interviewed by one software dev manager, and I didn't get the rotation, as the manager said to the HR I'd need a lot of training since I am not a CS/SE grad, and I guess they don't have the resources for that. So I know that if I stay, my trajectory is BA, unless I retrain by myself.