My job, software engineer who does no coding?

[kbomb987]

I've been with this company for 9 months now, hired as a Software Engineer, yet I have not written one single line of code. I've been doing what I like to call Microsoft Word Document Engineering. This is crazy, I am a hardcore vc++ coder, I know perl, cgi, html, asp, all that stuff like the back of my hand. Yet they haven't even been taking advantage of this?

Do any of you guys have the same problem? I really think I should leave here, but they're paying me so much **** money its hard to leave. It's hurting my career.. I already will have to lie when I write my job description on my resume or future employers will think I lost my coding experience from being here.

Why did they hire me as a software guy with these skills and not take advantage of them?

[billfor]

I really don't know what your companies agenda is. It almost sounds like you are in a big company where people can get lost. If I were you, I would ask your supervisor for a coding assingment. Or come up with a good idea for a utility that can be written in C++. Suggest to your supervisor that you would like to design and develop it.

I on the other hand am in a shop where I am maintaining a lot of code. We put in many, many hours. My life is out of balance actually. The economy is pretty bad right now, so our choices seem to be limited.
My oppinion.

[dbowler]

I don't think you can afford to continue like this. If you can't get them to give you some real coding work, you need to find another job. The economy is real sucky right now, so you probably can't afford to just quit, but I would definitely be getting my feelers out there if I were you.

[proxima centaur]

I totally understand what you feel.
I've been many time living the same situation in the company I currently work for.

You should ask yourself the question: Why are they doing this?

It can happen that:

- The company is in trouble and is trying to occupy you doing something so that you don't have suspicion. If it is the case, run!

- The company doesn't know you are a programmer. Or at least your supervisor was always under the impression you were just good with writing good papers. If it is the case, talk to your supervisor, they tend to be human too.

- The company really needs the papers you are producing because it is key to the development. If it is the case, well, you have to understand sometime jobs can be dull. But still, talk to your supervisor about the fact you are unhappy doing the writing and would like to move on to something else.

- The company doesn't know how to run a business and is taking anybody to do any kind of job out of despair. Run or duck for cover.

I've been doing project development time evaluation and resource needed and all that kind of stuff for the past month. I understand it was necessary that somebody does that so that we know where we're going from a programmer's point of view, and since we're a small company, somebody has to do the job.
I'm just starting to code again, finally.

But I've seen a colleague, with a lot of motivation coming in the company with the best intentions and be given user documentation work... for six months. Needless to say, his expectations were not met and he left the company. The rationale behind it? He's young, he's not gonna complain, we can abuse him. Well, that doesn't always pay the way the boss wishes, eh?

Anyway, the key is like with a couple, communication. Tell your boss how you feel. What's the worst that could happen?

[dbowler]

FWIW

I have been a professional developer for almost 30 years. For 20 of those years, I have been working on commercial software packages. I have done every job on the development side including coder, architect, project leader, engineering manager, and I am now a Vice President of Engineering, responsible for the entire development effort of a commercial software company. The following statements are based on my own experience; your mileage may vary.

I believe you said you are working on Word applications. I assume this means Word forms and such. If that is the case, I don't think you are being given a dirty job for the short term, but are rather pidgeonholed as the "Word Forms" guy. The fact is that to write good forms in Word you need much of the same aptitude and talent that you do to write more conventional programs. If you are an entry level programmer (right out of school) your salary may be low enough that your company considers this a good use of your skill set.

You must remember that nobody is going to be nearly as concerned about your professional growth as you are. In my own career I have held positions with over 10 companies. I have moved on (quit) for the following reasons:

1. I was given work in technology areas that were too out of date to enhance my professional growth. (Read DOS work in the age of Windows.) Not only was I using technology that I would rarely if ever be called upon to use again, but I was missing the opportunity to be growing technically. Though I loved the company and my compatriots there, I quit and found a more relevent job. Many who stayed ended up professionally sidelined and are stuggling to this day.

2. I quit because I couldn't get "what I was worth" salary-wise.

3. I quit because I was just plain tired of the projects/products we were working on. Project burnout is real, and can seriously take its toll on a programmer.

4. I quit because my employer made terrible design decisions on the products we were creating.

5. I quit because I wanted to relocate to a different part of the country.

6. I quit because I wanted to work on commercial software instead of internal "data processing" software. (Boy that term dates me huh.)

Of all the reasons to quit a software job, number 1 is the most important. You cannot afford to let your technology skills get rusty in this profession. Unless you want to write Word forms for the rest of your career, lose this job. Your only reasonable alternative is to make your dissatisfaction known. If the company has real coding work, and if they value you as a team player and a smart worker, they may be willing to change your duties to avoid losing you. It is always worth a try.

By the way, on a side note, our profession is unlike most others in that a fairly high turnover rate is normal. We are highly creative people, and, at least until the dot-bomb hit on the economy, finding another job has never been particularly difficult. I wouldn't want a resume with a bunch of less-than-one-year jobs on it, but one or two, here and there, is not a big deal.