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There is a creeping way from S/W engineering to being a staff engineer to being the software architect... Along that way you get dragged into meetings where you
by julianpye 13y ago
There is a creeping way from S/W engineering to being a staff engineer to being the software architect... Along that way you get dragged into meetings where you end up not having much competitive pressure - since the others are business people, but you end up shining and you get on the fast track. I enjoyed it very much, since I love doing tech-strategy and big picture planning. That said being a project manager - if this is what you mean - is not creative and unsatisfying.
- jeremyjh 13y agoThis is very insightful. I never really considered the fact that I was crushing cans on the way up but it is definitely true. I've been tacking towards "out of management" for a few years and it is not easy. Taking a "step down" is hard but only because of my own petty status-seeking and I've gotten past that. What I can't figure out is the salary problem. There are some developers who can get paid as well as I do, but not any in my industry where developers are a pure cost-center - I don't work in a software company. Changing industry with 7 year old tech skills (aside from open-source and side-projects) without taking a huge salary cut is impossible.
- belluchan 13y agoTake the salary cut. Consider it paying yourself to do something you love 40 hours a week. That's your life man, that time you spend at work.