I'm looking for perspectives from engineers who have switched into management. Is life better now? Are there unanticipated cons of being in management? Should all engineers try to move towards management?
Thanks!
I love programming. It's a zen activity for me, turn me loose on a problem and I'll literally lose track of time because I'm so absorbed in the problems. It's one of the purest, most joyous singular activities I've ever had the pleasure of practicing.
After 5 years of doing it 8-10 hours per day, I was getting stale. I was putting in the hours and I think I was productive, but I wasn't encountering new problems very often anymore.
I moved into management shortly thereafter, and being a CEO has been fascinating in its own right. So far (3 years in) I have feel like I'm nowhere near the top of the learning curve. It's a constant challenge, in a way that programming wasn't for me 3 years in. I don't think I've ever been more fully intellectually engaged.
That said, I miss programming. A lot. I find excuses to pick up bug fixes. I wrote an internal tool that manages the distribution of status updates, and at least half the reason was just to be able to code something. I don't regret the career change, but I hope some day I can make programming my main gig again.
As an alternative, I think I could have switched from web programming & DBA work to a new problem domain like graphics or even mobile apps and probably gotten a new lease on learning-curve.
Taking that step back, when I look at where other engineers have gone in their careers within the Twitch organization, the success of a switch into management seems highly idiosyncratic. Some engineers really take to it and enjoy the new challenges; some of them hate it and want to switch back. We've had a number of people try it, decide it wasn't for them, and move back onto the IC (individual contributor) track. We pay top ICs about the same as top managers, so I suppose that might make it easier.
My bottom line advice would be: you don't really know if you'll like management unless you try it. If you're in a workplace where you have the option of switching into a management position, give it a shot. Just know that it's not for everyone.
Don't do it if you ever plan to join someone else's startup.
Don't do it if you aren't a people person, or savvy with organizational politics.
Don't do it if you do not enjoy confronting people (regardless of what the confrontation is over, the entire point of being a manager is to manage confrontations in many organizations, between labor and management, between organizations, etc).
You're better off if you're in Corporate America and there's a clear management career path. If you're in startup land you're better off staying an engineer, unless you plan to retire by age 40.
Now I deal with a lot of new (to me) problems every day and get to spend my time trying to help my developers be the best they can be and kick ass.
The hardest bit for me was making the mental shift from trying to do things myself, to coaching and encourage others to solve problems and learning to be okay with people not doing it the way I would have.
No regrets so far, but I also do some consulting on the side, and occasionally jump into understaffed projects to assist as needed.