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What is a good IT career path?

What kind of career path would be suitable for someone with good design skills as well as coding?

  • I am a CS student in my final year. I have got a job as a software engineer in one of the renowned  company. I like algorithms and coding when they are used in a project which gives some output. Solving topcoder questions for a good rank doesn't appeal me much. I also like designing. I think am the only one in my whole batch who has got this weird combination. I draw cartoons, make sketches, make digital art, good at video making, like photography, good at photoshop, illustrator and all those things which an artist does. While at the same time, I also like coding and have knowledge of C++/java/python . People suggested me to go in web development so I learned HTML, CSS, javascript and contributed a little bit in FOSS. Coding is my skill but design is something I like since my childhood. I want to know which career path should I choose so as to fulfill my thirst of design as well as of coding. Web development is "ok", but there also boundaries are defined . You could be a UX/UI designer , you could be a web developer, you could be a front-end engineer etc . But I don't think something is there which requires both skills in an equal ratio. I know finding this kind of work in big companies is very hard because they hire for a specific skill set not as a combo pack. What career path is most suitable to a candidate like me. I find no one who has same condition like me. I don't bother about company but I do bother about the work. EDIT: Based on the answers of and It's nice to hear that there are so many people out there who posses both skills.  So one thing I'm going to do is to wait till I finishes my college. I  think companies like Instagram, Pinterest, Adobe will be suitable for me  as they are directly dealing with both the issues. So would it be a nice idea to start focusing in getting a job there ?

  • Answer:

    I agree with that a small company might be a better fit.  When there are fewer people involved, roles tend to be more fluid.  Team members all just do whatever needs doing, without there being a strong boundary between developers and designers. Also, you'll also discover there are a lot of factors involved in creating a career. Some will be by conscious choice. Others will be by accident. Maybe you'll end up working as a freelance web developer, that handles all aspects of site creation for clients.  Maybe you'll find you thrive in small teams, rather than big companies.  Maybe you'll stick to small teams for several years, and then find a huge company that has such a great culture, you'll surprise yourself by joining it and loving it.  Heck, maybe 10 years from now you'll be a photographer, or a florist, or a lion tamer. Find a first job that seems to blend creativity and code in some way.  You'll learn from that.  You'll figure out your next step from there.

Jon Moter at Quora Visit the source

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You're not so "special". I'm like this and some of developers in my team are also like this. You can build great stuff in design or development, but you can't be that good for both, especially because both tasks capitalize on experience. You have to choose wich direction you want to grow in and you're the only one that can do it. If you really want to use both skills, create a one man startup, but at some point you'll see that you'll have the same decision to make.

Alain Mevellec

"I find no one who has same condition like me." That is why you have this dilemma. There are at least a million others with the same "condition." My advice: Take the job you got now and let your manager know that you have good design skills and would like to contribute in that area as well.

John Varghese

I'm adding this to note upon a few "philosophical" points... I think as far as practical advice goes, what's been given is about as good as it can get, without knowing the details. As for the edited part of the question: why not go for those companies? It shouldn't stop you from aiming else where, too. Worry about which one to work for when you've been offered a job in more than one of them. That brings me to my first "philosophical" point: there is no hurry to decide about the rest of your life. You are taking your first steps on the career path, not tying yourself to a definite end point. Set goals and targets, by all means, but remember that they can always change. Either by you (switching jobs), or for you (getting fired). Also, you might die. We all will eventually. Base decisions on whether you would be happy with your life if you died tomorrow. Do the things you need to do to make you a better person and give joy to people around you. About the career path, one possible target role for a person like you is "design technologist" or "creative technologist". There is a role like that. But you need to be BOTH a competent software engineer and a competent designer, with work years behind you in both fields, to get there. Life might be short, or it might be long, take the opportunities you get to work in different fields and position, and learn from them. If you do both well, you will get to a role in the end, that combines both. You might also decide to grow in just one path. You can still use your knowledge of "the other side" in your daily work. So yes, there are many people like you in the world. When you get into your first real jobs, you can learn and grow. It's OK to have career aspirations outside of "I want to keep on doing what I'm doing" or "I want to be a boss" in most companies. They will be happy to support you in your efforts to grow, because it is good for them to have people that understand many sides of a question.

Emma Oivio

There isn't necessarily one set career path open to you. My advice would be to look for opportunities within smaller companies where there's potentially more chance to be hands on as the structure is likely not as rigid compared to many larger companies. Personally, I am a designer first and foremost but I also code. My duties are not split equally between design and coding during my working day though. I would assume someone in a similar position is also employing one skill more than the other even though they may utilise both. In my opinion, this is likely down to what they are strongest in, where their expertise are needed most in the company at the time and/or what they were initially hired as.

Temi Adeniyi

You're more a Thinker + Artist type.You like working with ideas that require an extensive amount of thinking. You prefer searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.Yet you also like working with designs and patterns. You prefer activities that require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.Does this fit somewhat fit your personality?If yes, here are 5 careers that might fit your personality type well: Aerospace engineers Architects Landscape architects Film editors Marine architects There are 3 architects on the list and that's because architects tend to fit people who are more analytical yet creative.Software developers on the other hand are more analytical. They don't really need to be creative / artistic to do they job.

Stanley Tan

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