[NTLUG:Discuss] Re: Discuss Digest, Vol 30, Issue 30

[tr_data1]

I request that replies be kept off the NTLUG list as I'm sure the list admin
would appreciate that. I hope to receive constructive ideas on career
paths that I might not have considered and don't wish to waste time 
dwelling on the sellout of corporate America topic.

I am weeks away from my contract ending and have not much luck finding
full-time (ideally) or a new contract. I routinely hear people claiming that 
things are picking up but what I see is continued feverish pace of the
outsourcing trend. IMO, accounting and even medical fields are next.
What is stopping an over-sea's Radiologist viewing X-Rays? Nothing,
thanks to high-speed 'net. I have twenty years of s/w dev (c/c++, 
java, solaris/linux/unix) yet find future employment hard to come by. 
I am quite worried about me being able to support my family of six.

I am seeking ideas on how to make it to retirement without severely
lowering my standard of living (which is bare-min, at least $70k+benefits,
not factoring in sending 4 kids to college). That min is quite a bit lower
than what I've made during the past decade annually! S/W Engineering is
my passion. Obviously, I desire to continue in that field. What industries
do you forsee stand a reasonable chance of s/w dev not being outsourced?
What type of companies?

I sometimes ponder "if not S/W dev, what else?". Keeping in mind the
bare-min (above) what successes have you come across of people that
bailed out of s/w engineering to another field? What related fields can
you think of? I really don't want to consider another field but might
need to face that reality some day.

Again, please keep the list admin happy by not sending your reply to 
the list.
=TR=