> The larger issue is, they dont see the technology work on as a good stair-step on their career progression
The web and mobile dev stuff is "comfortable" and "safe" because they (we?) see how ubiquitous it is. Maybe the companies themselves are not, but everyone needs web developers right now.
I recently took a job that is in web development, but is focused on front-end (and I've spent 13 years as a very versatile full-stack dev) and is a much more focused tool (data visualization tool versus an operations management system for everything government public works, including simple data visualization) and even that made me mildly hesitant.
I do dream of some day pivoting entirely into something more low-level and hardware focused. I've done a lot of hobbyist audio production and that's always seemed like a fun niche to build in. Maybe when I'm old :P
Some of my job is UI/UX design, some of it is old fashioned unix system administration and shell scripting, some of it is windows administration, I also have to understand telecommunications generally, and networking - at least well enough to design a redundant reliable network.
I get to work on the whole enchilada, not just some narrow part of it, its wonderful.
The web and mobile dev stuff is "comfortable" and "safe" because they (we?) see how ubiquitous it is. Maybe the companies themselves are not, but everyone needs web developers right now.
I recently took a job that is in web development, but is focused on front-end (and I've spent 13 years as a very versatile full-stack dev) and is a much more focused tool (data visualization tool versus an operations management system for everything government public works, including simple data visualization) and even that made me mildly hesitant.
I do dream of some day pivoting entirely into something more low-level and hardware focused. I've done a lot of hobbyist audio production and that's always seemed like a fun niche to build in. Maybe when I'm old :P