100%. In big tech, as you get more senior, the job becomes miserable. I wouldn’t want to be a Director, or even a Senior Staff engineer. At a certain point you sacrifice your sanity to be in that many meetings.
What I've realized is the corporate ladder is a fiction that serves to keep people working harder and harder without significant pay bumps. It is an artificial status game that has real ramifications; however, since it is a zero-sum game, it ends up bringing out the worst in everyone.
What are your goals now around your career?
Any chance you had terrible, even substandard leadership where you were Director (assuming that's where you had the profound burnout) and you would absolutely have loved it otherwise?
True!
Why is that, though?
Like - do the great leaders retire quick?
Or is it that we are just an unlucky bunch who get exposed to bad leadership?
No one was even slightly put off by my resume or career direction. I'm not sure what "no one would hire me" means, precisely, but I didn't have an easy time – it took many months and near 100 applications to find the right spot.
The worst part of the two gigs I had was the director who was in the position above me? Not moving. In both companies. I spent almost six years between two companies trying to find a way out of middle management. I finally realized a lot of companies structure gets flat very quickly because a lot of the upper level executives are not moving, or not getting promoted, so then you have another set of issues you're dealing with.
Its just not worth it unless you can get in and get out of middle management in less than 2 years.
It's funny to say you don't like "constantly doing adult daycare" and conclude that it is better to be the one being adult daycares for instead.
Being senior staff often means $800k+ comp. I’d gladly take that over the $400k senior ranges. Directors are past $1m.
It’s a huge pay bump - not just 20% to go into management and more managerial roles. It pays.