Why Senior Engineers Should Stay ICs • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Senior Engineers Should Stay ICs

#21

Post by tgma » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 4:57 AM UTC

dusanh wrote: post #3

tgma wrote: post #2

Counter opinion: if you want to advance in your career, always opt for management roles when given an option, even if you feel you don't love the shitwork that comes with it. Management is more versatile, more leveraged, and always has a seat at the table, whereas senior IC's power is serving at the peril of some manager. I would argue the most senior ICs that actually are successful are also managers who are afforde…

> whereas managers are seen as useful in different domains, giving them practical mobility And this is exactly my problem with becoming a manager. You become fungible, easily replaceable, movable and fire-able.

And they are the people who decide whom to fire.

Re: Why Senior Engineers Should Stay ICs

#22

Post by tgma » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 4:58 AM UTC

prerok wrote: post #10

tgma wrote: post #2

Counter opinion: if you want to advance in your career, always opt for management roles when given an option, even if you feel you don't love the shitwork that comes with it. Management is more versatile, more leveraged, and always has a seat at the table, whereas senior IC's power is serving at the peril of some manager. I would argue the most senior ICs that actually are successful are also managers who are afforde…

Counter: I was once promoted to a management role and I hated it. I kept it up for a year and then went back to dev in another company. Not all people want to be in meaningless meetings, shuffling people around and dealing with their personal/career growth, dealing with project plannings and Gantt charts, preparing presentations for upper management, etc. /rant :)

Sure, I totally get that someone may hate it and on balance decides it is not worth it for them, and still recognize it is generally a career promotion. I am simply asserting it is objectively a promotion even though there's propaganda at FAANG explicitly suggesting otherwise.

Re: Why Senior Engineers Should Stay ICs

#23

Post by timr » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 5:05 AM UTC

tgma wrote: post #19

timr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a completely different world, and some people aren't made for it. Among other things, the politics of management positions is often pretty intense, and not something that engineering-oriented people find fulfilling.

ICs like to think they don't have to deal with politics. It is only an illusion that sometimes is true because their manager happen to protect them from those (double-edged sword: hurts visibility) and if they are lucky their interests are aligned with the boss. ICs often have a worse hand in politics because they have to fly blind in the politics world and operate with less information and visibility.

I agree, but being aware of politics is entirely different than jumping into the deep end of the pool.

Re: Why Senior Engineers Should Stay ICs

#24

Post by prerok » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 7:18 AM UTC

tgma wrote: post #22

prerok wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counter: I was once promoted to a management role and I hated it. I kept it up for a year and then went back to dev in another company. Not all people want to be in meaningless meetings, shuffling people around and dealing with their personal/career growth, dealing with project plannings and Gantt charts, preparing presentations for upper management, etc. /rant :)

Sure, I totally get that someone may hate it and on balance decides it is not worth it for them, and still recognize it is generally a career promotion. I am simply asserting it is objectively a promotion even though there's propaganda at FAANG explicitly suggesting otherwise.

It is a promotion, I agree, at least at most companies. They usually have a single ladder and many times from senior engineer there is nowhere to go except management.

Some companies, however, do recognize the need for multiple ladders, so you can also be promoted within engineering, with a salary that is higher than middle management.

It is a problem, if you switch then to a company that does not have multiple ladders, though.