How To Build A Long, Successful Technical Career As A Builder And Individual Contributor
Staying hands on developing and building in technology is complex. Few succeed past 15 years as an Individual Contributor. Here's what I've seen work.
Many in the Data and Analytics field don’t want to take a promotion which stops them from building. We fall in love with building and seeing our products working. If you’ve been lucky enough to build customer facing products, seeing people use them daily in the real world is rewarding.
As the years go by, it gets harder to keep our careers moving forward and keep our hands on developing. At some point in your career, you must transition to a new track, or your career will plateau then regress.
The Main Challenges Of Staying Hands On
Technologies age out. There is a duality to legacy technology. Fewer people still maintain COBOL and there are still jobs available now. However, there was a serious trough where COBOL wouldn’t get you a job at a competitive salary.
There are fewer senior+ roles available. The number of companies who appreciate someone with 15+ years of experience enough to pay what they are worth is too small. Most would rather hire someone at the 10 year mark who costs significantly less. Even with cutting edge capabilities, justifying our cost becomes harder every year.
Losing a job can be a big setback. When you lose a job suddenly due to layoffs, office closings, mergers, etc., finding a new one is painful. The last point becomes a massive barrier. Add to that everyone wondering, ‘If this person is so senior, why did they lose their job? Why don’t they have 10 offers lined up? Why haven’t they been promoted to {whatever career track they took which would have taken your hands off the product}?’
You’ll run into a leader who insists upon promoting you away from hands on work. I don’t understand this and won’t do it myself. Others feel like forcing people into a new career track like leadership, product, or strategy is doing them a favor. They are trying to save you from yourself in their minds without realizing how miserable they are about to make you.
Now you understand the challenges. You are going to have to take your career into your own hands. You must curate your own career path and it will take a lot of management. If you love building, it is well worth it. Here are some paths I have seen work.