Been there done that....time to move on

I totally agree with Jay Fields in that I too prefer jobs that allow me to learn new things. Exhibit A - My Career:

1. Started working on as a analyst on a mainframe GL package
2. Moved to PeopleSoft HR implementations (PeopleSoft HR was THE HR application at that time)
3. From there moved on to BI/Reporting with Essbase (before Hyperion and Oracle)
   
4. My next stop was an internet company building a custom Java based billing application (not sure why we didn't leverage the companies existing Oracle Financials for this but that is for a different post)
5. When it came time to move on I went back to HR systems and then from there back to Finance applications....each time I focused on a different technology and functional area within the broader spectrum of Finance and HR

Some people might view this approach to my career as being a "jack of all trades, master of none" since I did not stick around long enough in any one of the areas to become a true expert in any one of the technologies or functional areas. I beg to differ. I believe that I gained two valuable things from this career track:

1. A broad range of experiences and skills that I can draw on when moving into new areas
2. The ability to learn new things quickly, figure out how much I need to learn in that area to be effective and then move on to the next thing I needed to learn

I also totally agree with Jay when he says:

Think of it as job security -- I shouldn't ever be out-of-date when it comes to technology experience. Think of it as an investment -- everything I learn creates a broader range of experience that I can leverage for future projects or jobs. Think of it as experimenting -- by trying many different solutions I may find ways to combine them and innovate.

I also think this type of career keeps it interesting. I can't imagine how unhappy I would be if I was still focusing on the same stuff I did at the start of my career. I've done that stuff, learned a lot and moved on. I've got that tool in my tool belt now and it's time to get some more tools. If I ever need to come back to that tool, sure it may need some honing but a hammer is still a hammer and I should be able to get the job done, even if the hammer is an old model.