It's all about what you want. You can be successful as an EM with your current skillset, but IMHO, the best eng managers and directors I've known and respect ha

It's all about what you want. You can be successful as an EM with your current skillset, but IMHO, the best eng managers and directors I've known and respect have spent much more time as engineers themselves. Having more engineering experience will also open more doors. I know I probably would not have hired someone with less then 5-6 solid years of IC experience in some EM roles. It's a common 'mistake' to 'promote' into an EM role some individuals quickly when they are good engineers early in their careers and show leadership skills and/or ambition and they have a need for an EM. As you're starting to notice, if you don't gain more IC experience some roles will pass you on. You can still find success, but your profile will be somewhat less attractive in some companies and roles that will want to see that deeper IC experience. I've gone from IC -> EM -> Director twice in my career, but admittedly I always kept doing some programming on the side, even if a little (either consulting or open source). I did not transition from Director back to IC because of career concerns though. I did it because I wanted to enjoy coding again and worry less about my calendar. Feel free to reach out if you want to chat more about career development.