Development Track vs. Going Into Management

At some point in your career you will face a choice: continue on a technical track or move into a management role. Some people express the desire to do both, but generally that’s not possible, at least not in the long run.

At less desirable companies the technical track usually stops at something like a “Senior Engineer” level, and to advance much further in pay you have no choice but to become a manager. But the better companies will provide a purely technical track with plenty of advancement potential so that engineers not interested in management can still continue to grow.

The advanced technical track may go something like this:

• Senior Engineer
• Principal Engineer
• Senior Principal Engineer
• Architect
• Senior Architect
• Chief Architect

The exact structure and titles will vary by company; many places skip the Principal Engineer grades altogether. Also, the relative equivalent of an architect position to a management position will vary by company. At some places an Architect title is comparable to a Director level management position, with comparable pay; however, at other places an Architect may be nothing special – kind of like how at investment banks everybody and their brother is at least a Vice President.

If you are torn between continuing on a technical track vs. a management one, you should ask yourself what really interests you. Are you drawn towards learning new technologies, coding for hours on end, and solving complex technical problems? Do you love to whiteboard and talk tech with colleagues? You might want to aim for an architect track.

If on the other hand you enjoy the idea of building up a team, assigning resources to tasks, working with product managers, and in general dealing with the bigger picture, management might the path for you. Oh, and it helps if you have pointy hair.