Transition from developer to analyst/architect/project manager. What are the pros and cons?

Question

Career in IT

In what cases and at what stage of a career should a developer consider moving to:
1) Analyst
2) Architect
3) Project Manager
What are the pros and cons of each option?
It is especially interesting to listen to the answers of those who made a direct or reverse transition.

Answer 1

2) Architect

An intelligent architect is essentially a technical (well, or product) RP. The rest is just a designer.

3) Project manager

When you get tired of watching how managers break down and cheat.

What are the pros and cons of each option?

Analysts are too different and everyone is different. And at the expense of the RP and the Architect, get ready for the fact that during working hours you will only sit at the videoconferencing or face-to-face meetings, and do the direct work after working hours. There is also a lot of reading to be done (normal if you read 100-150 pages a day). Well, the ability to plan tasks, to achieve their implementation from completely random people who are in no way connected with you.

Answer 2

Well, he asked)
Firstly, if there is no confidence and as many as 3 professions to choose from, it is guaranteed early. It is necessary to solve the issue of changing a profession when there is an understanding of what it is like and whether it corresponds to what is already in the head.
Secondly, it is necessary to answer the question "what do I want". Without understanding what activities you like to do and what you don't like - all this is flour.
Thirdly, what kind of architect? Software, System, Solution, Enterprise, Business or something else? You need to understand that this is one of the youngest areas and there is no common understanding on the market. Someone needs a local CTO, someone needs a consultant, someone needs a trained developer, and someone even needs a pre-sale manager. And even in the course of the interview it is not always possible to understand correctly. It is worth reading ITABoK at least superficially.
Fourth, what kind of analyst? There are also 100,500 different pieces of them, and everyone has their own work. Someone works with data, someone with business, and a lot depends on the employer's business.
About the project manager, this is generally separate. This is a managerial job and you can either do it or not.
Regardless of the choice of one of these directions, it is necessary:

1. Want to put up to 90% of your time into communication
   
2. Have strong soft skills
   
3. Have strong presentation skills
   
4. Understand what goals are and how goals are achieved
   
5. Stop doing "work" and start listening to business
   
6. Be pro-active, not reactive
   

this is me, I sketched the most obvious list

Answer 3

In what cases and at what stage of a career should a developer think about moving to:

Yes, in any. The transition to each requires certain developments, and they will not appear by themselves, so you can think and make efforts

1) Analytics

If it is interesting to communicate with the customer, understand the customer's requirements, the product at the level of its use and solving business problems, and in principle, it is more interesting not to code, but to help solve business problems and set tasks.

2) Architect

Preferably after reaching senior level

3) Project manager

As soon as you want to become a leader, you can think about the leader. Profile courses, if possible in combination. The transition from developers to project managers is not linear.

What are the pros and cons of each option?

All these directions are not vertical growth, they are moving to another area. Each area has its own nuances, and the experience of the developer there only partly helps, otherwise there are quite different competencies.

Answer 4

In what cases: when the developer alone is able to develop and implement a project of medium complexity within a limited period of time.
Pros and cons: you gradually forget about the code and everything connected with it; you get to know business requirements and the business market, learn to communicate with people in the team and with customers.
When going back, it's exactly the opposite.

Answer 5

from the pros a lot more money and career growth
from the minuses a lot of brawls and the appearance of subordinates