I signed a two year contract at this company expecting a developer role. However, something happened and now they need many configurations (SQL entries) to be done and I now am essentially doing data entry. It also doesn't look like this is going to change anytime soon since these configurations are "critical".
My question is, what can I do part time in order to be hire-able as a software developer once my contract is finished. I was thinking of pursuing an online masters degree in comp-sci but I don't know if there are any reputable online masters degrees out there or if it's even a good idea.
Additional information:
1.) This is my first job as a "developer", previously I worked in numerical computations in academia. 2.) I have a science degree not a computer science degree (which is why I think I may have been pushed to this data entry work).
Update
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Based on the comments and answers my plan is to
- Automate the manual configurations as much as possible
- In six months, depending on how things go, look into if there is a breach of contract (consulting a lawyer) which allows me to look for another job.
- Contribute to open source projects in my spare time.