Stability in titles requires stability in human labor. But our whole job is automation, meaning turning stable labor over to machines. So much of our work is defined by our current perspectives, our current constructed tools; those naturally change too. I think it will be quite a while before things in our field settle down, if they ever do.
My dad made software for decades until he retired. My brother and I have been working in tech now for decades ourselves. The taxonomy of job titles keeps changing. If tech people had allowed ourselves to be pigeonholed by some older taxonomy, then a) we'd mostly be unemployed, and b) there wouldn't be many people around to do the new class of jobs.
So at least for the rest of my career, I expect hiring will be not about getting an off-the-rack person who fills a highly specific title, but by finding somebody whose past experience is a good match for the current challenges.
I agree with all that. I think it's already happening, too. You can be a "test engineer" or work in "quality assurance" and get pigeonholed easily. But one person's pigeonhole is another person's dream 9-5 job. I don't see a harm in labelling the expectations that are already there.
I think there's wisdom in waiting for established roles before defining them. "Container engineer" is too specific or at least too early. But "Relational database administrator" (or something) has been around for decades and will be around for some time to come. Maybe the DB vendors and tools will change, but experience in data migrations and transactional thinking is valuable regardless.
If something seems stable enough to try to make a career around, sure, nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying there's very little for which that is true. 40 years ago was 1977. You can find the help wanted ads here:
The ads I can find there include Computer Console Operator ("must be able to operate 370/145 and 370/418 under DOS/VS with power"), Network Control Analyst ("3 yrs exp troubleshooting lines, modems, and multiplexors"), Keypunch Operator. Programmer and Programmer Analyst positions requiring COBOL, RPG II, Fortran IV, and a lot of assembler. And IBM was its own job category.
And relational DBA is a great example. That used to be a serious job, one with prestige and promise. People were even specific about vendors; one was an Oracle DBA or a Sybase DBA. But now that's in decline. These days programmers are supposed to understand data migrations and transactional thinking. The notion of submitting requests to the DBA department worked in the days of 6-18 month release cycles, but not today. Relational databases themselves are commoditized, going from a central technology to a peripheral one. Does Google even have a relational database running anywhere these days?
Basically the only job title that has lasted is programmer, and even that has changed almost beyond recognition. Maybe we've now plateaued, and jobs will be stable for the next 40 years. But I doubt it. "Virtual server" is a phrase like "radio with pictures" or "horseless carriage". Its a sign that we know things are changing, but we don't know where they're going yet.
>People were even specific about vendors; one was an Oracle DBA or a Sybase DBA.
I can confirm it, anecdotally. I knew a guy who several years ago went to the US on H1-B as an Oracle DBA. And I've heard of and seen ads for other such cases - earlier.
Similarly for PowerBuilder or VB developer earlier, and of course you still see ads for Python / C++ / Haskell / whatever developer.
My dad made software for decades until he retired. My brother and I have been working in tech now for decades ourselves. The taxonomy of job titles keeps changing. If tech people had allowed ourselves to be pigeonholed by some older taxonomy, then a) we'd mostly be unemployed, and b) there wouldn't be many people around to do the new class of jobs.
So at least for the rest of my career, I expect hiring will be not about getting an off-the-rack person who fills a highly specific title, but by finding somebody whose past experience is a good match for the current challenges.