Either through a review of my CV or chatting about my work experience, people quickly notice that I have a blend of technical and business experience spanning my career. Unlike the traditional, linear progress from developer to manager, it is evident that I've split my time between the two. Thus, I often get questioned by those who are either confused or interested, "So, are you a techie or not?"……. so, I thought, maybe I'd address.
As was the case with so many in the 1980s, my first computer came with no games. Necessity created the desire; thus, at 12, I started learning to code and write my own games. For the record, programming at the age of 12 in the 1980s confirmed my social status as a nerd instead of a rockstar (as it is for today's kids).
I took to programming to the point that my grades suffered as I invested more time in learning C rather than Modern History. All I ever wanted to be was a programmer. My teenage years, 4years in completing a Computer Science degree and the first few years of my career in a fantastic software company called Atmosphera saw me lock in on what I saw as the only future I wanted.
However, two things started to change in the first few years of my career:
I began to realise that, like many others who do this, my hobby had become my career, and I was missing the joy of my hobby and
My reputation as a technical person that could work well with business grew
I started leaning into the Consulting side of technology by request and desire. As opposed to grinding my hobby into my primary income stream, consulting provided the opportunity to utilise my technical skills at a level that meant I could still keep coding as something of a side hustle. Additionally, consulting and the broader engagement around technology management allowed me to service my two joys: Working with Technology to "build stuff" and working with people to help them with technology.
Over my career, I've enjoyed a blend of working in and managing software companies and consulting businesses. As with most people, there are good and not-so-good experiences within each type of role, but each change has contributed to my overall skills in the industry that I love.
Each change has been made based on the available opportunities, primarily based on the skill area of interest or the chance to work with specific technologies or people. I need to believe in what I'm working on and be around passionate people from whom I can learn in equal quantities to the skills I can share.
For the past decade, I have spent more time in Consulting Services. I always strive to keep my technical side up to date by:
Developing applications to address issues I find day to day e.g. Over the recent Christmas break, I developed a WPF application and service (C#) supporting Dataverse Document Management
I take every opportunity to roll up my sleeves and lend a hand. For example, in my current Project Management role, I've delivered a set of Power BI reports and Power Apps to support the PMO and troubleshoot the odd SQL statement.
I'm publishing this blog in February 2025, having spent the past two years managing a large Digital Transformation Program, including an ERP rollout, and people are asking me, "So what's next?" something to which I say, "I'm not sure". Ultimately, that's part of keeping your skills relevant and broad. Contract, FTE or if any parts of my side hustles explode (don't we all wish), my primary drivers are keeping busy and working on something that makes me want to get out of bed every morning knowing with a great group of people.
Returning to the question of whether "I'm a techie or not" my response is proudly "yes, and so much more."
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