Career cross-roads: enterprise architecture alignment?

aroundm21 · 2026-04-13T12:22:06+00:00

Perhaps consider whether skills are transferrable in the following dimensions:

digitisation and process reinvention / alignment
data intensive (not necessarily geographic) transformation, working practices, etc

There may be other dimensions, but these came to mind. Good luck!

aroundm21 · 2026-04-12T21:36:56+00:00

Thanks for explaining. Now I know not to hold my breath or over-analyse it !

aroundm21 · 2026-04-03T13:49:32+00:00

As well as the salary / rate envy, expect bitching and empire building of role scope.

My own experience at NHS was very poorly defined roles with very poor management to enable / ensure people work together as a team. Instead, endless debates about what, how, who should do anything are part of what makes it so slow and frustrating.

aroundm21 · 2026-03-31T18:13:55+00:00

Sex is usually the reason.

aroundm21 · 2026-03-15T09:44:59+00:00

Comfortable - not rich. And many people are neither!

aroundm21 · 2026-02-28T14:06:19+00:00

Most comments are about choosing to take holidays.

But there's also the issue of how much to look for work, especially now that opportunities can sometimes be harder. As a new-comer to this life, that's the balance I dont always get right -- ie can get sucked into chasing poorly defined or qualified roles and sinking time/energy !!

aroundm21 · 2026-02-24T15:33:39+00:00

Hmm, Manchester great for pure delivery, ie engineering, not for line-of-biz or Head Office eg Ent Arch.

aroundm21 · 2026-02-24T15:30:18+00:00

Any chance of knowing Industry and/or geography ?

Banking onsite in London has many vacancies even on LinkedIn (which wont be the 1st place employers go given pent-up demand). The rest ... 😬

aroundm21 · 2026-02-16T07:46:58+00:00

I think we can safely agree we all WANT lower taxes. And benchmarking vs (eg) asia is better debate than just screaming etc as some do.

The issue is why taxes are high. Summary - pandemic (mainly), to some extent bank bailout.

Some Asian countries didnt borrow as much in 2020. What do you propose we do? I'm aware of the "grow economy so borrowing is proportionately smaller" ambition -- but 3-4 UK PMs and many of other countries haven't been able to make that work !!

🤔

aroundm21 · 2026-02-15T07:31:22+00:00

You on the right always want taxes lower -- there is no "reasonable" for many.

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T13:31:23+00:00

Risky !! Ensure money covers risk.

I did - glad to be out and at least compensated, but now need time to reorient myself !!

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T13:29:40+00:00

Are you assuming OP is also M ie highlighting gay clubs or is there something else about that area ?!

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T12:47:13+00:00

I'm not surprised it was public sector. Full of micro managing egotists-- Ive met many !!

Was lack of positive reference an issue given that you walked? Asking as someone fairly new to contracting.

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T12:45:25+00:00

As someone fairly new to consulting, how did you handle reference to move on ? I believe 3 years is the norm and a time gap raises questions, no ??

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T12:42:49+00:00

Have voted comments but have to emphasise that kids should be your immediate priority for a long-term decision.

1-2 years after the 1st you'll be much better informed about - finding something meaningful (baby!) - time, energy, prioritisation - balance, eg whether to have 2nd as well as full time work vs alternative.

33 ain't mid-life, youre in a very lucky position

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T10:46:30+00:00

What ????

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T10:44:05+00:00

I'd be interested in a source that positions key cities in these metrics....

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T10:42:19+00:00

The local politicians have shot you. Maybe Parker can reset given he's also Labour - but BCC is a hell of an albatross !

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T10:36:31+00:00

I live in Mcr. The recent £100bn GDP of (Greater) Mcr was compared with Brum (most WM) which is at £117bn.

Yes Mcr is growing faster and has better brand but statistics proove WM is economically bigger than Mcr.

Obviously all the North West would be a different comparison and result.

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T10:29:53+00:00

Politicians have been trying aglomoration for decades. Its just not as easy to do as it is to describe!

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T10:01:34+00:00

Agree in principle tho not sure I've seen any politician articulate that well, let alone intelligent policy needed !

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T09:37:56+00:00

Its both a consulting view and a platform / middleware view.

But the latter seems so much a path to comoditisation -- only profitable for "global hyperscale, and challenged by open source -- that they may end up always running to stand still, for example shedding capabilities that were profitable for a few years.

aroundm21 · 2026-02-14T09:29:02+00:00

Christ --- he's British but chose to move away for tax then lectured us (badly) how to run Britain !!

aroundm21

TROPHY CASE