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I am looking for new jobs but feel not good enough to take a job in another company. Simply because I am hanging between roles and therefore do not really know who I am, in professional terms.

  • I did my Master's in Business and also worked there in research part-time as a Data Scientist (Python Coding of Neural Network Implementation).
  • After graduation, I briefly worked in IT Security for a global corporation, which I also enjoyed, but unfortunately the corporate culture was toxic.
  • I switched to a consulting firm. I have been working there for two years and I am actually in charge of the entire development (three developers). I take care of DevOps, security, do development myself, but also know the entire business processes of the clients and am in meetings with them to gather the technical requirements for features. It's just too much and also a reason why I'm switching.

However, I don't feel like a developer and I don't know if I want to go back there:

  • I don't write good code myself. It works productively, but I rarely use dependency injections, interfaces and such classic patterns, because I never really learned them.
  • On paper I am just a technical consultant. So it will be hard to communicate these skills
  • At the same time, I don't like to be in deadlines all the time, so a project management role is probably not the right thing for me either
  • I just have two years of experience (+ one year in research and two year as full-stack freelancer as a part-time)

Most of the companies near me are classic financial sector companies. That's why I'm a bit worried that they have a conservative mindset regarding resume and skills.

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  • No, there isn't one.
    – BittermanAndy
    Jul 30, 2021 at 11:40
  • Sounds like a good setup for project management or engr leadership. Take on roles that put you as customer and management facing middle person. If you don't like that, don't do it, but beware you'll likely be frustrated going back to line level tech work, if you see someone doing what you know did how to do (pm), maybe not the way you like to see it done - and at the sane time competing with specialized 100% focused devs. IMO.
    – Pete W
    Jul 30, 2021 at 19:21
  • Perhaps an edit such as "What type of companies would be looking for this background?" or "What would be a good strategy to find companies where a wide experience would be valuable?"
    – David R
    Jul 30, 2021 at 20:15

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It's OK not to not know who you are a couple of years into your working career. It could take 10 years or so until that becomes clear. Each role is an opportunity to discover what you do like, what you don't like, what you're good at and what you're not.

It sounds as though you are delivering value in your current role, if you've been given additional responsibility, then even more so. There are many different roles out there, just treat it like the next step on the journey to figuring out your strengths, get out there and try something new.

A good approach may be to open a discussion with people already in your network who might be hiring managers. Have a chat to them about their work and the roles they're hiring for. If you don't have any within your network, that's OK, do a bit of a search for managers on LinkedIn in roles or companies you might be interested in and hit them up for a conversation.

It's probably not a great approach to go through the usual hiring process where HR or a recruitment team may filter you on paper. Unless you can obviously show a "tick the box" outcome for the particular role they need filled they may just put you in the "no" pile.

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For me your resume reads quite impressive. Having seen and done a lot of different things is nothing to be ashamed about.

What you need the most right now is to get clear with yourself what you want to do. It's not about what your role was called in the past, it's about what you are passionate about, and where you consider yourself good.

For me, I'm a jack of all trades. Done software development most of my job life, from embedded C code up to Java and server coding, but have a degree in electrical engineering. If you ask me if I'm an expert at anything? - No. Not specialized enough. But If you need someone to build a new electric device from scratch, shure. I'll do it all. That's my strength.

Identify what you want to do in the future, and present your CV in a way that highlights that. Don't linger on your shortcomings, everyone has something he is not good at. Highlight where you excel.

What worked for me: Initiative applications. Don't apply to a posted job, apply generally to a company. This works better with smaller companies, you won't have luck with that approach at big corporations. There you can emphasize your "between professions" value, that you understand the different departements and will excel at the junction between development and management.

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  • I think it was not that much job hopping. Maybe I described it wrong. I studied and while I was in university, I worked as a full-stack freelancer and in research. After that I got a "real" job at the IT security and then I switched after 3 months to my current employer and I'm there since two years. So technically, I just switched jobs once because it makes sense that you quit your student job after finishing university.
    – user120107
    Jul 30, 2021 at 6:41
  • @0x30 that's ok. no criticism intended. I'll edit the answer.
    – jwsc
    Jul 30, 2021 at 6:55
  • No worries, I'm not a native english speaker, so I just thought that I have to reformulate my track record, that also others can better understand it
    – user120107
    Jul 30, 2021 at 6:57