Data Warehousing a good career?

[dom99]

Hi guys, feel free to say if ive posted this in the wrong section.

I dont really know who else to ask and so thought I would turn to the good people here.

I am a maths graduate (2012) in the UK and just completed my first week in my first job since graduating as an SQL data warehouse developer (SQL Server) for an insurance company (offical job title Analyst Programmer).

The thing is I dont know much about the sector, and was wondering if anyone could advise where to go from here in regards to career progression. For example in 5 years time what are the possibilities? Also is it regarded as a good job?

I admit its a strange thing to ask but I just have no idea and its not really the sort of thing I can ask people at work in my first week.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Kreij]

A good career is one in which you can wake up in the morning and be excited about what you will be doing that day.
One in which there is enough variety that you will not get insanely bored by repetition day after day.
Money is secondary. If you love what you do, and strive to be the best you can be, the money will come.

I've worked in the IT industry for over 25 years now and I consider it an excellent choice.
I love working on, and building, computers and networks and all that is involved with them.
(Try integrating a old CNC machine running proprietary software on top of Windows 95 into a Windows Server Domain so it can communicate with a Windows 7 workstation at the domain level. I loved the challenge.)

It's rare that I am doing the same thing two days in a row, unless I choose to do so.
I taught myself programming in many languages so when things get slow I can always be creative in my work environment.
It's really pretty amazing how much code I've written to make things happen in the shop where I work ... and I'm not officially a programmer. lol

As for your question about what are the possibilities in 5 years? It's completely up to you.
It's your life and your career ... take it where ever you want it to go.

Just a little advice from yer ol' Uncle Kreij.

 

[adulaamin]

A good career is one in which you can wake up in the morning and be excited about what you will be doing that day.
One in which there is enough variety that you will not get insanely bored by repetition day after day.
Money is secondary. If you love what you do, and strive to be the best you can be, the money will come.

Very good advice right there... Couldn't agree more... If you love your job it won't feel like it's really a "job"... It would be more like a hobby... You'd be getting paid for something you enjoy doing...

 

[dom99]

Thanks for the great advise guys, very good input and I'm enjoying it so far so looks like a good place.

Cheers

 

[Kreij]

You are brand new at your job, Dom. Give it a chance.

You may find that you really like working in data mangement (in your case in the insurance sector) and you will find that your skills are used in many, many different sectors other than insurance.
... or you might think it sucks. In that case you will move one, but you will have gained experience and insight in the field which will make you a more valuable employee in a variety of fields.