Is the position of manager the next stage in the development of a programmer's career?

Question

Career in IT

Over the past 2 weeks, I met 3 people who used to be programmers, and now they have moved to the position of managers. They see this transition as a promotion and the next logical step in their careers. I don't think so. In my opinion, a programmer is primary, a manager in the IT field is secondary. In programming, there are a million areas that you can study and get a job. In management, you will hardly find tasks similar in complexity to those of a programmer. Therefore, I do not consider this to be any increase and the next stage.
What do you think?

Answer 1

I think the "next job" of a programmer should be something like an architect. And the transition to management is a change in the field of activity.

Answer 2

The worst thing a good programmer can do is to become a mediocre manager
. Yes, when a person hits the salary ceiling and reaches the lead programmer, then of course, becoming a manager is beneficial for him, from the point of view of money. But at the same time, he will not become a statistically good manager, in 2-3 years he will lose his qualifications and it will be extremely difficult for him to return back. At the same time, it will be much more difficult for him to change his place of work - a good programmer is welcome everywhere, and mediocre managers are everywhere a dime a dozen. The only thing left for him is to make a career in his office and a dull useless existence until the end of time ...

Answer 3

There are challenges in management too, but "promotion" from a programmer to a manager is like a promotion from a microbiologist to a boss.
And all because of the prevailing stereotype that bosses should receive more specialists and be more valuable than them.

Answer 4

I know people who went from programmers to directors. And someone can become a gardener from a programmer.
There is no one "development branch" as in games. There are simply more popular destinations and less. Someone can become a manager from a programmer, someone a technical manager, someone an architect, someone can become a tester, someone a head of a department, someone opens his own company, someone becomes a programmer in another language or in another areas, someone just leaves to do the same, well, better (experience has accumulated) and for a big salary.
If we compare specifically the positions of a manager and a programmer, then there is a key difference. The programmer writes the code, and the manager manages people. Not all those who write code well can manage people well, and most importantly, not everyone will like it. And vice versa is also true. Just go where you are interested.

Answer 5

To become a manager means to stop programming. And this is already a change in the field of activity, and not a new round. A new round is to become a team leader.

Answer 6

They must have been bad programmers.

Answer 7

Three hundred and thirty-five… © DMB
In the sun, perhaps, spots poured out - for some reason the last couple of months have been so feverish? But this one is just thinking out loud.
If on topic. Your mistake is that you consider the career ladder as a one-dimensional straight line and, accordingly, the so-called. "career growth" is considered as a movement strictly along this single straight line. And you don’t understand why your direct line called “solving more and more technically complex problems” does not coincide with the direct lines of other people.
The reality is that a career is a multidimensional space and everyone chooses for himself which axes he wants to move along and what he considers “career growth”, especially considering that it is impossible to move in all directions at once. Examples of such axes in IT, for example, are "income level", "responsibility for the actions of other people", "implementation of complex systems", "personal independence", "working with people", etc. etc.
Therefore, for someone, for example, it is important to move along the axis “solving complex technical problems” and he becomes an architect from a programmer, while for another it is “personal independence” - and he ceases to be an architect and goes into freelance, where he parses sites in his pleasure. You can also go from a programmer to managers, team leads, analysts, consultants (including independent ones) - and a bunch of other areas. And for people with a different system of values ​​along career axes, this will look like a career decline (how is it, he was an architect, built ERP systems, and then became some kind of consultant ???), but for those who live on those on the same axis - like career growth (estimate, he now works for himself, communicates with interesting people, and does not take a steam bath like we do in offices, introducing the same platform for the five hundredth time !!!)

Answer 8

It seems to me that coordinating the work of 10 people is ten times more difficult than any programming task.

Answer 9

One of my acquaintances has improved so much, now he has been unemployed for half a year, freelancing as a programmer, because as a manager his hr from previous jobs is not recommended, but as a programmer in the office it is already difficult to work, and his skill has fallen.
But in general, an increase is when the amount of salary and moral satisfaction increases. Often, managers are paid less than a good programmer, or the salary is higher, but a person has eternal stress due to greater responsibility.
Here it is impossible to be unequivocal, if a person believes that he was promoted, he is satisfied, then he really was promoted.

Answer 10

Manager, manager. What do you put into this word in Russian realities? It's just that some companies even call cleaners "cleanliness manager." Who exactly are you talking about? Head of a group of programmers, development department, head of a company or sales manager of software products?

Answer 11

Not! In no case!

Answer 12

My answer to the question in the title is No.

Answer 13

IMHO there are at least two ladders - one career ladder (line manager, middle manager, top manager) and at least one professional ladder (technical specialist, technical leader, leading specialist, architect, chief specialist).
In some places these two stairs may intersect. For example, a technical lead may or may not be a line manager. But, basically, they leave go in parallel. Which one to go - choose for yourself.
For me personally, the job of a manager is a downgrade

Answer 14

The next career step of a programmer is an IT systems architect.
And the manager is in parallel.
But in a way, your friends are right.
A good manager has higher income.
And professional programming knowledge of your colleagues will be useful for a better understanding of how the project is going.

Answer 15

They see this transition as a promotion and the next logical step in their careers. I don't think so. In my opinion, a programmer is primary, a manager in the IT field is secondary.

Why?
Now they can direct the project, make epoch-making decisions for the development of the system, and choose technologies.
It's not the same for everybody.
A lot of people don't like being bosses.
Many people enjoy being bosses.

Answer 16

The next stage in the evolution of a programmer is his integration with some application area, i.e. sharpening skills for a specific specificity. For example, there was a programmer became a game developer programmer or ABS programmer.
If you exchange the field of pure programming for the field of pure management, this is not progress, but marking time.

Answer 17

The next step is yes, because tasks with a higher level of responsibility are being solved.
But not the only possible next level.

Answer 18

You might think: the ceiling of a programmer is 150tr in Russia (if this is not the case, then please tell me where).
The manager has no explicit upper threshold. Therefore, it can be called an increase.

Answer 19

Do you want to earn money? Or be an altruist?
Top managers make money, not programmers.
If you want creativity, make programming a hobby.

Answer 20

I think that this is more like an “honorary resignation”, similar to when military officers are transferred to headquarters, where, due to the different specifics of work, they, when making decisions, lose much more than “staff officers”.
A programmer works with code - this is his element. The manager is with people and he understands the code at best. These are different professions with different skills and methods of work, so the Programmer Manager is IMHO not a promotion.

Answer 21

I believe that a manager is one of the options for developing a programmer. Another option is a system architect, or remain a senior programmer.
The answer is that programmers will be more comfortable working with managers who have themselves been programmers and can understand their problems.

Answer 22

And where do all the other and successful programmers go?
If they don't die, then your logic is pretty weird.
The logic seems to be this:
1. The project manager is, as a rule, income growth.
2. A programmer can lead software development projects better because he understands the specifics.
You have drawn the wrong conclusion from this.
You can work as a project manager without programming knowledge.
Who prevents a programmer from becoming a financial director or "becoming a minister"?
These are unrelated things.

Answer 23

No. It's parallel.
You can be a bad programmer and a good manager.
It is possible and vice versa.
Judging by the money, good programmers get better than mediocre managers.