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I think having this position is actually a tacit partial compromise (a perk) for people like the OP (or myself, I'm in a similar situation and have similar feel

by sershe 4y ago

I think having this position is actually a tacit partial compromise (a perk) for people like the OP (or myself, I'm in a similar situation and have similar feelings about it). I've seen people willingly jump from being a senior dev to being a manager, and either cease or limit actual dev work; however myself and many others don't want to be a manager, full stop. So, I end up doing the tech lead work (planning, design, divvying up work, interacting with other teams a lot esp. on high level, making sure it all comes together), and some of the more technical mentorship/etc. stuff, while the actual manager, who is also my manager, does most of the latter, including most of the motivation and all the HR/promo stuff. If I had to do all the latter I'd likely switch jobs, my manager might suspect as much.

pg_1234 4y ago
That seems like a pretty good compromise ... in your case. For most people in this position the sane advice is GET OUT. The company plans to leech as much of the value of your experience as possible, and pass it on to cheaper juniors. Furthermore they will pay you nothing for this (it's an opportunity to "give back"), but they will use you to hook naive juniors for lower pay (an opportunity to "learn from the best"). Basically the company is exploiting you to scam your replacements.
- sershe 4y ago
  Hmm, so if there are a lot of junior developers - inevitable as more people are getting STEM degrees - I should not help them grow, so that they are not able to do my job? Sounds pretty bleak. Continuing this to its logical conclusion, should I try to sabotage them too? :) By the time cheaper juniors are able to do what I do they might demand the same salary I demand, or whatever salary I might be able to demand at the time. Frankly even from a cynical perspective, this doesn't check out. Juniors usually don't try to own the same thing - I'm already there and at any given point could do it better, shared component ownership is rare, plus they'd rather own something new so they can get promoted. Plus juniors move around more. Moreover, while new juniors are relatively easy to replace or outsource, someone with tons of expertise in the area and experience of owning it and working thru others is harder. So, being a large area lead seems more secure than being a junior.
  - Viliam1234 4y ago
    > Continuing this to its logical conclusion, should I try to sabotage them too? Similarly, if you are not donating blood, the logical conclusion is to become a vampire. :) If you want to help junior developers, there are many other ways to do that. For example, you could teach a programming course, make a paid video at Udemy, or write a book. If your goal is to help junior developers, skip the intermediary, be more efficient, own the copyright, and set your own working hours.
    - sershe 4y ago
      My point was that not helping your coworkers succeed because you are afraid they'd take your job (unless that appears to be an explicit goal) is a very bleak mindset, and probably self-limiting too, as far as one's own career goes. My goal is to eat candy and poop diamonds, I don't have altruistic motives towards junior developers :)

by sershe 4y ago

pg_1234 4y ago

That seems like a pretty good compromise ... in your case. For most people in this position the sane advice is GET OUT. The company plans to leech as much of the value of your experience as possible, and pass it on to cheaper juniors. Furthermore they will pay you nothing for this (it's an opportunity to "give back"), but they will use you to hook naive juniors for lower pay (an opportunity to "learn from the best"). Basically the company is exploiting you to scam your replacements.

sershe 4y ago
Hmm, so if there are a lot of junior developers - inevitable as more people are getting STEM degrees - I should not help them grow, so that they are not able to do my job? Sounds pretty bleak. Continuing this to its logical conclusion, should I try to sabotage them too? :) By the time cheaper juniors are able to do what I do they might demand the same salary I demand, or whatever salary I might be able to demand at the time. Frankly even from a cynical perspective, this doesn't check out. Juniors usually don't try to own the same thing - I'm already there and at any given point could do it better, shared component ownership is rare, plus they'd rather own something new so they can get promoted. Plus juniors move around more. Moreover, while new juniors are relatively easy to replace or outsource, someone with tons of expertise in the area and experience of owning it and working thru others is harder. So, being a large area lead seems more secure than being a junior.
- Viliam1234 4y ago
  > Continuing this to its logical conclusion, should I try to sabotage them too? Similarly, if you are not donating blood, the logical conclusion is to become a vampire. :) If you want to help junior developers, there are many other ways to do that. For example, you could teach a programming course, make a paid video at Udemy, or write a book. If your goal is to help junior developers, skip the intermediary, be more efficient, own the copyright, and set your own working hours.
  - sershe 4y ago
    My point was that not helping your coworkers succeed because you are afraid they'd take your job (unless that appears to be an explicit goal) is a very bleak mindset, and probably self-limiting too, as far as one's own career goes. My goal is to eat candy and poop diamonds, I don't have altruistic motives towards junior developers :)