Help! About my career

[roy1983]

I am a three years Java programmer in China,
now I really need your suggestions on my career development.

China's IT industry now is not well developed and software development in China is more labor-intensive than intellectual-intensive,
so it is common that programmers older than 30 switch to other jobs not in IT industry, because they do not gain many advantages over young programmers.

I like to do something in IT industry for my lifetime, but not low-end programming any more.
I studied SAP programming and Linux kernel programming, the complete two ends of programming: the nearest to end users and the lowest platform constructing.
China will need more and more ERP softwares as economy speeds up, now SAP consultants are said to be well paid,
but I doubt whether SAP consultants are also low-end just like what I do as a Java programmer.
I like SAP consultant because it has more interactions with human than just sitting before computer.
Linux kernel programming may be the most intellectual programming I can see, if there is any high-end programming in China,
I think learning Linux kernel programming is a good starting point to make myself qualified.

I think before devoting to my work, I should choose a work carefully,
but my vision is very limited, and more and more I see how important intesets are to do work well.
I am a fast learning person and graduated from a famous college in China, but now I do not have enough leadership to be a PL or PM,
can you give me some suggestions on my career?

Thanks!

Best Regards
Roy

[WingedPanther]

If I recall correctly, China is embracing Linux and working on a custom version for people in China to use. Getting into Linux development seems like a useful enterprise, given that. Since SAP is a commercial product, I can see potential issues with it, depending on how much value it is perceived to offer.

[Sionofdarkness]

It seems that to get to the position where you want to be, all you need is experience. I suggest staying on the lower-end of things, and when you get more experience, move on up.

[pashmina]

Is that so? I suggest you really have to look for the best company that would satisfy you. It is hard to work inside where you are not improving in terms of skills. I'm not from china but i'm sure there are lots of companies offering such job. Check them out.Hope you can get off from this.

[roy1983]

To pashmina,
I noticed that in China people who work in big company like Microsoft are very young, usually not older than 35, so even that I can improve my skills continuously, I doubt whether I will gain any competitive strengths that my company evalues much comparing with colleagues when I am older than 30, it is what I worry about.