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I know that I am going against the grain, but I would say force yourself into a “management track”. We need more engineers into decision-make positions, not le

I know that I am going against the grain, but I would say force yourself into a “management track”. We need more engineers into decision-make positions, not less. And technically, if you do want to perform at the very best, interacting with other people is not avoidable.

lolinder 2y ago
Speaking as a current manager (by choice): No! We don't need more reluctant managers in engineering, they do enough damage as it is. Management should be a strictly personal choice, and it should be easy to bail out of if it turns out you don't like it after all. We seem to be exiting the exponential growth stage of our industry, which means we're past the point where shoehorning people into management made any kind of sense. If we hit something approximating steady state then we'd expect 1 engineer to transition to management for every ~4 engineers who don't, which means what's actually needed now is a clear career path for the 4/5 who don't need to and don't want to be managers. > technically, if you do want to perform at the very best, interacting with other people is not avoidable This is a weird line to include, given that OP didn't mention anything about not liking interacting with other people. Management involves a lot more than interacting with other people—many introverts make great managers and many extroverts make terrible ones.
jokethrowaway 2y ago
In a startup, in an active role, in a low meeting and high focus on result environment? Sure! That'd be a good role. But then, what's the pay? Most tech companies of a certain size, which unfortunately are they ones paying top of the market, are heavily top down. Middle managers don't effect change, they just hold useless meetings. It's hard for even CTOs to effect change and give their input to the board of directors so that anything change. Then, because they have a limited amount of things they can try before they get booted, it's unlikely they'll have results by when they're needed (new investors, someone new acquiring the company). Being a manager is a generally a terrible idea in these companies. I went from PE to Senior Eng with a substantial pay rise and way less hassle. I'm planning to accumulate some more money until I can't pass as an Engineer anymore then try to pivot into my own business.

lolinder 2y ago

Speaking as a current manager (by choice): No! We don't need more reluctant managers in engineering, they do enough damage as it is. Management should be a strictly personal choice, and it should be easy to bail out of if it turns out you don't like it after all. We seem to be exiting the exponential growth stage of our industry, which means we're past the point where shoehorning people into management made any kind of sense. If we hit something approximating steady state then we'd expect 1 engineer to transition to management for every ~4 engineers who don't, which means what's actually needed now is a clear career path for the 4/5 who don't need to and don't want to be managers. > technically, if you do want to perform at the very best, interacting with other people is not avoidable This is a weird line to include, given that OP didn't mention anything about not liking interacting with other people. Management involves a lot more than interacting with other people—many introverts make great managers and many extroverts make terrible ones.

jokethrowaway 2y ago

In a startup, in an active role, in a low meeting and high focus on result environment? Sure! That'd be a good role. But then, what's the pay? Most tech companies of a certain size, which unfortunately are they ones paying top of the market, are heavily top down. Middle managers don't effect change, they just hold useless meetings. It's hard for even CTOs to effect change and give their input to the board of directors so that anything change. Then, because they have a limited amount of things they can try before they get booted, it's unlikely they'll have results by when they're needed (new investors, someone new acquiring the company). Being a manager is a generally a terrible idea in these companies. I went from PE to Senior Eng with a substantial pay rise and way less hassle. I'm planning to accumulate some more money until I can't pass as an Engineer anymore then try to pivot into my own business.