Is it wise to accept for a backend developer to work only on the Front end part of the application only because you even know it well?

Question

I am a python developer , i have experience in developing web applications using python. Since i deal with web , i have to know some knowledge about the front end part , hence i even learned HTML, CSS & JS. I have chosen python as my career domain. I recently moved onto a new R & D company , they hired me as a python developer with a huge package and gave me a web application to develop. They doesn't had any designer to work on the front end part , so in my first few weeks i developed its design and i started developing the application by myself doing the front end and the back end. Everyone were very much impressed about the design and the flow of the application on the front end part. In two months i almost finished 30% of the work. So far everything was good. Suddenly they hired a new guy who have experience in Perl for another project and since the manager wanted to finish off my project soon he asked the perl guy to work temporarily on the back end part of my app ( Python ) and asked me to do the only the Front end part.

Now i feel like this will degrade my profile. Since i have not given any python work as of now. They hired me as a python developer and since i took initiative and did the front end of app , so that i wanted my product to look good. And now since they all liked the way i did its design they now made me a full time front end developer.

Few Details About Me:

Before getting in this company i had got 5 offers for python job including some of the giant companies but i chose this since this was only the R & D company and even the highest package. And this company had conducted around 4 rounds for python and after selecting me they had said that they were waiting for a guy like me for the past six months. All of the people who interviewed me for python were from other team. Then once i started developing the project i came to know python work is somewhat less compared to the front end js part , since it is a whole SPI application with fully ajax driven. And in my previous company i used to do even the JS and the back end python for my projects. Since i am doing the python part , i felt good working in that way. Then in the new company also am working in the same way , but since now the manager came to know that python has less work , he asked a less experienced guy to take care of it. So that the project will get finished soon. The manager is thinking only about finishing the project , he is not caring about we employees and our main domain.

The Reason to choose python:

I think i can say in confidence that i am already expert in the front end side , but i feel like python is a huge side , and i may require many more years experience to get expert in it. And python is the domain which has given me a rapid boost in my career , when i compare with my friends in other web technologies like php. What my heart says is become expert in python in its every field.

Please any one suggest me how will i deal with this?

Do i need to inform manager anything of how i feel?

Do these product companies work in this way?

Should i switch my job?

Answer 1

Since you say you finished 30% of the project in two months, the project should, with the help of the new guy, not last much more than may four months. So for now just concentrate on finishing the job. You will need the JavaScript and other front end knowledge anyway.

But you should speak with the manager and tell him, that you prefer the back end work with Python to make sure that in future projects you get to do the kind of work you like. After all, they should be interested to let you work where you have the most experience.

Answer 2

My advice is to go with it. Don't "choose" something as small as a single language as your career domain, unless you are planning on a short career. If you want to specialize in something, it should be an application area, like UI design, not a particular language or framework. You are gaining valuable experience in technology that is used in almost all web applications. My advice is to become a Javascript expert. It's just as much fun as Python.

Answer 3

If you feel like you cannot do the frontend part or it is a waste of your talents talk to your manager. Explain how you are very inefficient compared to a person with java-script experience but you are much faster then the perl employee doing python.

But they may simply have no one who can do the front end. Its an opportunity to expand you horizons. Take advantage of it.