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Update: I turned down the management role and stayed an IC, and 8 months in I'd do it again
Everyone at my company kept telling me to take the team lead job when it opened up in September, and I went the other way. It was a $9k raise but it meant dropping the work I actually like and sitting in budget meetings all week. My old boss pulled me aside and said "you know people would kill for this," which honestly pushed me further toward no. I stayed a senior engineer, kept my hands on the actual builds, and I've shipped three projects since then that I'm proud of. The guy who took the role is already burned out and counting down to his next vacation. I'm not saying management is bad for everyone, and your mileage may vary depending on your team, but I sleep fine with it. My question is for anyone who stayed on the craft side long term: how do you handle the ceiling talk when recruiters keep asking why you never moved up?
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alice893h ago
That $9k raise works out to what, maybe $300 extra per paycheck after taxes? When the first recruiter asked me why I never moved up, I told them I had turned down a lead spot in September and watched the guy who took it burn out inside a year. Do you ever point to that directly, like say you chose the craft on purpose and here is the proof it worked for you? Because the way you tell it, three shipped projects beats a title on a resume any day. Curious if you have a go-to line that shuts the question down fast, or if you actually sit there and explain the whole story each time.
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