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>It's worth remembering this article seems to come from a rather clichéd and narrow frame of reference - overly driven by money and perceived status - one which

>It's worth remembering this article seems to come from a rather clichéd and narrow frame of reference - overly driven by money and perceived status - one which seems to drive a lot of very similar advisory posts. That was exactly my reaction. I was a lead for three years and recently decided to go back to a purely technical role. I just didn't like the work, and the prospect of spending the rest of my career in middle management was not appealing. I currently received an offer from a FAANG(M) company. This was a real offer from someone I had worked with in the past which would have required a very thin interview process. I declined because I very much enjoy the work I'm doing today. It may turn out to be a bad idea down the road if all I consider is money and that nice company name on my resume. I decided I don't care. I'd rather be a big fish in a small pond and work on truly interesting tech than be another cog in the wheel. I'm well past the "live to work" phase of my life, I just want to be happy, and I can't complain at all about my salary and benefits.

nine_k 6y ago
Fortunately, many companies have individual contributor engineering ladder all the way up. My personal ideal endgame is a position like a principal / staff engineer. While I can't compare to people like John Carmack or Rob Pike or Greg Kroah-Hartman, but they show what can be achieved. (Founding a company is another possible route, much more risky, though.)
- EpicEng 6y ago
  Yep, I'm currently Principal and am enjoying it very much.
- jjav 6y ago
  I wish, but haven't really seen any company with IC ladder "all the way up". The other problem is that high level IC roles are very rare whereas the equivalent management roles are plentiful. At a previous company I was the one and only Principal engineer in a division with enough Sr.Directors (equivalent level there) to fill a school bus. Currently I'm at a Distinguished engineer level which is even more limited, but it is still less than a VP. But we have hundreds of VPs of this and that on the management ladder. The fact that you bring up celebrity engineers as examples pretty much showcases the problem. There are very, very few of them.

nine_k 6y ago

Fortunately, many companies have individual contributor engineering ladder all the way up. My personal ideal endgame is a position like a principal / staff engineer. While I can't compare to people like John Carmack or Rob Pike or Greg Kroah-Hartman, but they show what can be achieved. (Founding a company is another possible route, much more risky, though.)

EpicEng 6y ago
Yep, I'm currently Principal and am enjoying it very much.
jjav 6y ago
I wish, but haven't really seen any company with IC ladder "all the way up". The other problem is that high level IC roles are very rare whereas the equivalent management roles are plentiful. At a previous company I was the one and only Principal engineer in a division with enough Sr.Directors (equivalent level there) to fill a school bus. Currently I'm at a Distinguished engineer level which is even more limited, but it is still less than a VP. But we have hundreds of VPs of this and that on the management ladder. The fact that you bring up celebrity engineers as examples pretty much showcases the problem. There are very, very few of them.