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That's great. In his last lecture, Dr. Bose said that the average timespan of an engineer doing actual engineering was about 7 years because they get promoted a
by milhous 13y ago
That's great. In his last lecture, Dr. Bose said that the average timespan of an engineer doing actual engineering was about 7 years because they get promoted and become managers. I hope to avoid this at all costs and keep practicing my craft until I die.
- dpritchett 13y agoI would think leaving the field happens more than management promotions. Otherwise we'd have more managers than engineers.
- bobdvb 13y agoIt was six years before I moved from a practical to a strategic technology role, now at board level I try to keep my hand in but I don't really touch anything that customers see, I just write documents, have meetings and direct people.
- incision 13y agoI'm with you, but there are a couple of downsides I've observed with staying out of management: * It can make moving between jobs harder. Career managers are scared to death of people who are more technical than they are and entirely capable of doing their jobs. Nothing can convince them that we don't actually want their jobs. They will see fit to undermine you at every turn. * Moving permanently into management in ~10 years seems to be such a common career path that it raises questions when someone hasn't done it. "What's wrong with him/her?" * Many if not most organizations are stuck in a mindset managers must be paid above those they manage. In some places it's hard and fast rule. On a related note, one of the worst situations I've ever had to deal with was working for a guy who had stopped being anything remotely technical at least half a decade earlier, but refused to acknowledge it. It made for a fullblown career manager who steadfastly believed that he was still the best and brightest engineer in any room.