Climb the Individual Contributor seniority ladder or go somewhere where you can

Last updated Sep 19, 2022 Edit Source

• Permanent note

In many cases, individual contributors consider a management career because they view it as the only way to progress in their careers. However, good organizations should have a technical career path that allows people to advance in seniority and responsibility without taking on management responsibilities.

An example seniority ladder might be: Engineer –> Senior Engineer –> Staff Engineer –> Principal Engineer –> Distinguished Fellow

If the organization one is in doesn’t have a career path of increasing seniority and pay without taking on management responsibilities, it might be time to consider a different organization, which does. That can mean moving to a different organization with the same job role within the same company, but might mean moving to a different company. This is common in small organizations where increasing seniority and responsibilities might not exist, but can exist in larger organizations where there are no opportunities to move laterally.

Concepts which directly led to this

• Considering a Career Path in People Management

Concepts, thoughts, and questions which are implied by this

• Excellence Precedes Advancement Blast Radius
• Advancing seniority means doing the job before you are recognized for it

Concepts, thoughts, and ideas similar in structure, pattern, or topic Big fish in a small pond Leading without managing

Concepts, thoughts, and ideas which seem to oppose the philosophy or action of this