To get the really fun work, it helps to be technically ahead of the pack. This is where the hobbies come in. I try to make my hobby as different from my work as possible, and yet it seems like almost everything I learn as a hobby eventually gets used on the job.

When I spend more than 50% of my time doing 'real work', I fell that I am doing very well. I have a really cool job now which involves writing perl, often more than a few hours a day. I sharpened my perl skills here, strictly as a hobby.

Make your career wishes known. This needs to be done in a way that emphasizes the long term and fits into the overall business plan of your company. Be realistic and figure out a role that almost everyone agrees is valuable and is a good match for your skills.

If you propose a new project, propose something that you really think you want to do! Some people are disappointed when they finally get their way and find out that fulfilling their vision is less fun than they thought it would be.

Going into management too early in your career can be a big mistake. It can harm your technical development. You should feel your mind getting much stronger as you do the heavy-lifting of intense intellectual work. This can be done as a hobby, but it is time-consuming. Management roles are also time-consuming and interfere with hobbies.

It helps to work in a department that is relatively well-managed, so you don't end up taking over the defacto management responsibility just to prevent a disaster.