I was recently made redundant and have used my accumulated leave to study for certification along with some overdue R&R. It has not been all play as I have done a few, short problem-solving jobs for various companies as well, mainly via contacts who know I now have spare time.
As time as gone by I find myself really enjoying telecommuting and am getting more reluctant to chase after a typical 40hr job in an office. I am also enjoying playing around with Java, html and other types of coding, which is really going back to my initial technical expertise.
I started programming back in the early 70’s, yep – before it was even acknowledged as a profession. But I very quickly moved into systems then management and the past decade I have been doing project management. In fact the certification I am after is a very long delayed PMP.
The more I play with coding the more I remember how much I enjoyed programming in the past. In fact, even as a manager I used to reserve some macro (VBA) jobs for myself when I needed to de-stress. Mind you, the last serious coding I did was in either assembler or cobol!
However I currently have the funds, time and opportunity to gain java certification (SCWCD) and wonder if it would be worth it.
With my depth of experience I know I could write good quality usable code, but given my age and that I live so far from the programming powerhouses of the US, Asia and Europe I wonder if I am dreaming.
So my question is;
should my future work concentrate on my recent PM skills and leave coding as a hobby,
or
should I seriously consider revitalizing my coding skills
All comments appreciated.
p.s. for those mystified by the title. In my part of the world hens are called chooks. Young women are sometimes called “chicks” and older women, especially mothers, “chooks”. Both terms are somewhat derogatory but women can use them in humour.
