
Ask HN: Did anyone regret the move from engineer to manager? - cigarpowder
I&#x27;ve read a lot about the &quot;lowly status&quot; of an engineer, and it&#x27;s easy to imagine the grass is greener on the other side: management.<p>I&#x27;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?<p>Thanks!
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emmett
Speaking as an engineer who made the transition to management in a big way
(from primary web engineer and DBA to CEO with no time to code at all), I have
mixed feelings.

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.

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epc
Once you become a manager your perceived technical value will be zero,
regardless of your past contributions or current skill set. If you're cool
with that, and have no plans to return to being "just an engineer" then go
into management.

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.

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steverb
I made the switch a year and a half ago and I don't regret it at all. I'd been
programming professionally for > 12 years and had gotten to the point where I
didn't really feel like I was encountering enough challenging problems to keep
my juices flowing.

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.

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srblanch
I made the switch to management and did that for several years. I don't regret
it at all. I learned lots and had a bunch of experiences that I would never
have had otherwise, but I eventually made the switch back to being a "lowly"
engineer. In the end, I personally had a greater sense of purpose and
fulfillment in that role than in management.

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jozi9
Don't do it! You'll be bored.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8187802](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8187802)

