5 ms·

You don't want to be a manager, but you want to move up from Senior Developer? Directors and CTOs generally are (largely) managers. A big part of their job is

You don't want to be a manager, but you want to move up from Senior Developer? Directors and CTOs generally are (largely) managers. A big part of their job is sales (selling product vision to the engineering team, selling engineering realities to executives, selling jobs to prospective hires, etc). Do you want that role? The organizational pyramid is just that. Not every senior dev moves up (or should move up if happiness is a priority). You shouldn't look to your peers to tell you what's next for your career. How do you want to spend your time at work compared to how you're spending it now? Do you want harder technical problems? More product design work? Something else? You've already expressed that you don't want to manage folks, which closes off a lot of paths.

throwaway_boy 16y ago
In my mind a manager is not necessarily a leader or the leader. And certainly not a technical leader. Agreed though that a director/CTO is more of a management position, but I've seen coding CTO's, especially in the startup world. I don't know what I want career-wise, vertically speaking, and that would be proprietary to every employer anyway. What I'm getting at is that I feel like I should be able to contribute more at this point, most simply expressed as helping the team and company make better technical decisions. How do I leverage myself better? I'm kind of at this point where I feel like I've maxed out whatever my job title is now (NOT just speaking about my current employer - just speaking about my career in general), and feeling bored and stagnant. I don't really know where I want to go, because I'm not sure where I CAN go. I know there's a path to management which I've turned down repeatedly (I'm not interested in managing people, in having one on ones, as operating as an extension of HR in ranking employees, etc). And I see people who have made a quantum leap somehow to something well beyond a Sr. Engineer - say, Architect (kind of an out-moded term in my mind), or "Principal" which is a kind of nebulous guru-like position. Is there a third choice beyond just staying in place? It's just really nagging me to feel like I'm not growing. I've done so many things - desktop applications, web, e-commerce, mobile, client, server, frontend, backend, enterprise, yada yada. I've run out of room to grow in that dimension, because I've been around the block and back.
- mikeryan 16y ago
  I've pretty much only seen coding CTOs in the startup world (or small < 30 people tech services companies). Go start a company if you want to grow. You sound skilled. Quit your job, start consulting and start a product on the side as a technical founder.
  - yesno 16y ago
    Here, let me give more "less painful" advise: 1) Don't quit your job, start consulting on the side 2) Don't quit your job, start a product on the side Both options won't cut paycheck. Take calculated risk. OP is no longer a 24 years old super smart developer.
    - mikeryan 16y ago
      So I can't speak to his particular situation. But in general I disagree with this. I think quitting the job is the most important part. Consulting is the safety. "Leap and the net will appear" - John Burroughs
      - manish 16y ago
        Agreed. We can some how manage to make our living on consulting and cutting expenses, but if you are still in day job, it will take up major part of your time and energy. Also, some companies will have employment agreement that you will not work for any other thing
      - yesno 16y ago
        That is assuming everything will go well: this person will get a few customers ASAP, within 1 week or 2, to stay a float for at least 1 - 1.5 years. Consulting requires networks and connections. If the person stick too long as a "Senior Software Developer" and rarely meet non-geek human being (potential customers), it'll be a while before the person can get a well-paying less-stressful consulting offers.
        16y ago

throwaway_boy 16y ago

In my mind a manager is not necessarily a leader or the leader. And certainly not a technical leader. Agreed though that a director/CTO is more of a management position, but I've seen coding CTO's, especially in the startup world. I don't know what I want career-wise, vertically speaking, and that would be proprietary to every employer anyway. What I'm getting at is that I feel like I should be able to contribute more at this point, most simply expressed as helping the team and company make better technical decisions. How do I leverage myself better? I'm kind of at this point where I feel like I've maxed out whatever my job title is now (NOT just speaking about my current employer - just speaking about my career in general), and feeling bored and stagnant. I don't really know where I want to go, because I'm not sure where I CAN go. I know there's a path to management which I've turned down repeatedly (I'm not interested in managing people, in having one on ones, as operating as an extension of HR in ranking employees, etc). And I see people who have made a quantum leap somehow to something well beyond a Sr. Engineer - say, Architect (kind of an out-moded term in my mind), or "Principal" which is a kind of nebulous guru-like position. Is there a third choice beyond just staying in place? It's just really nagging me to feel like I'm not growing. I've done so many things - desktop applications, web, e-commerce, mobile, client, server, frontend, backend, enterprise, yada yada. I've run out of room to grow in that dimension, because I've been around the block and back.

mikeryan 16y ago
I've pretty much only seen coding CTOs in the startup world (or small < 30 people tech services companies). Go start a company if you want to grow. You sound skilled. Quit your job, start consulting and start a product on the side as a technical founder.
- yesno 16y ago
  Here, let me give more "less painful" advise: 1) Don't quit your job, start consulting on the side 2) Don't quit your job, start a product on the side Both options won't cut paycheck. Take calculated risk. OP is no longer a 24 years old super smart developer.
  - mikeryan 16y ago
    So I can't speak to his particular situation. But in general I disagree with this. I think quitting the job is the most important part. Consulting is the safety. "Leap and the net will appear" - John Burroughs
    - manish 16y ago
      Agreed. We can some how manage to make our living on consulting and cutting expenses, but if you are still in day job, it will take up major part of your time and energy. Also, some companies will have employment agreement that you will not work for any other thing
    - yesno 16y ago
      That is assuming everything will go well: this person will get a few customers ASAP, within 1 week or 2, to stay a float for at least 1 - 1.5 years. Consulting requires networks and connections. If the person stick too long as a "Senior Software Developer" and rarely meet non-geek human being (potential customers), it'll be a while before the person can get a well-paying less-stressful consulting offers.
      - 16y ago