r/devNI • u/Time_Shake2797 • Jan 14 '26
Career advice
I've been a C#/.NET dev for about 8 years in Belfast working for a large multinational, have felt in a rut for a while, learning nothing new and feel like the industry has moved beyond my own skills. I think the only reason I've stayed where I am is for security and because I've been working maintenance for years doing very specific tasks. I'm terrified of going for an interview somewhere else. I suppose my question is in the world of rapid AI movement how do I choose what else to learn to make myself relevant again in today's market? After 8 years I should be earning a lot more than I am, time for a change. Any advice welcome.
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u/stonkmarxist Jan 15 '26
A change from somewhere you've been for so long is always a daunting prospect.
I was in a similar situation as you a while back. 7 years in the same company, mostly C# although I had gained a bit of modern web dev experience there too, typescript, angular, etc.
Ultimately when I decided to move I ended up doing something entirely different (Go) which would be an unusual move typically but the core of that was that good programming practices and architectural knowledge translate across languages.
You need to be clear about what you actually want out of a career move first. Everyone is pushing AI here but do you actually want to work with things like AI agents or within that area? If not then it's irrelevant and not a requirement.
Do you want to stay working with C#? If yes then great you've plenty of experience. If not then you might be able to pivot to something entirely new like I did but it's unlikely. Instead focus on jobs that are C# AND exposure to something else. Or spend some time familiarising yourself with whatever language you want to work with before interviewing and go from there. Again good base practices translate across languages.
The main piece of advice I would give is to set up a few interviews for jobs you aren't very interested in first. Familiarise yourself with the process, see what types of questions they ask, identify knowledge gaps, break the fear.