The role of a software engineer has taken several evolutionary steps over the past number of years. What was once a pretty linear career path from junior to intermediate to senior now better resembles a tree structure, where engineers have started branching off into several different potential disciplines, specialties and areas of focus. And not only have the number of potential career avenues expanded drastically, so too have the technology stacks used in production deployments across the industry.
Web developers are no longer split into just .NET and Java camps - there are thriving developer communities across dozens of popular and mature Javascript-based technology stacks. Mobile developers have branched off from Swift/Objective-C and Java/Kotlin into cross-platform frameworks like Flutter and React Native. Embedded systems engineers have begun moving on from C++ into modern, safer languages like Rust. Web designers are breaking the pattern of Wordpress-dominated web development and investing time and effort into modern headless content management systems and API-driven approaches to data.
As a result, today’s software engineers have some difficult decisions to make.
- What technology stack should I focus on?
- Should I prioritize front-end development skills like HTML, CSS, Javascript or back-end skills like APIs, databases and devops?
- Are career opportunities better for developers that specialize in one technology or have a breadth of experience across multiple stacks?
Those decisions become even more difficult when considering a longer-term career ascension path as well. Experienced engineers have more career pivot options available to them today than ever before, with disciplines like product management, UX design, devops, data science and scrum mastery all viable career paths for those with a developer background. So how does a software engineer in 2022 navigate this variety of potential career paths and advancement plans? Here are some questions engineers should be asking themselves to help with their career planning.
What area of technology are you most interested in?
A well-thought out career advancement strategy should always start with what will make a job feel less like a job. Are there specific technologies, technology stacks, industries or disciplines that pique your interest more than others? An easy answer to this question is often to lean on past experience - I know this language well so this is what I want to focus on. But it’s important to have a full picture of the industry today, beyond one’s past work experience.
Engineers planning a career pivot would do well to do some research about some of the other aspects of technology that they are inexperienced in but sound interesting to them. YouTube videos, Udemy courses, blogs and tutorials are great places to start learning about new technologies, languages or frameworks. It's important to note that those skills that make a good developer in one discipline will provide an immediate leg-up in learning a new one.
Do you want to be a generalist or a specialist?
Many engineers tend to approach this question from the perspective of which path would offer better and more lucrative opportunities. But the reality is that there is no shortage of need in the industry for both broad technology experience and narrow, focused expertise.
Generalists are very valuable to organizations that offer up a variety of technology solutions, from consulting firms to cross-platform products and services. Generalists also have the advantage of being able to work on more of a variety of projects, exposing them to new and interesting technologies more frequently. On the other hand, specialists are highly sought-after in large organizations with an established technology stack, and they provide immediate value in terms of onboarding and training more junior-level developers.
What do you want to manage?
The age-old ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ Interview question may feel like a tired cliche, but it’s an important question to answer for engineers with career advancement aspirations. Engineers should reflect on the type of management they'd like to be doing later in their careers, which will help them better map out a path that suits them and their working style.
Engineers that enjoy mentoring new developers, performing code reviews and knowledge-sharing new technologies or design patterns may be best suited for team leadership roles. Those that feel that they thrive in more heads-down planning and deep-dive technical work may go down the path of software architecture or DevOps. And engineers that enjoy a balance of customer-facing work and technical solutioning may do well to explore the world of product management.
It's important to think about the non-coding skills that these types of disciplines require, and how they align with one's personality and working style:
- Team leadership: Mentoring, teaching, coaching, performance evaluation
- Architecture: Planning, documentation, client presentations, diagramming, stakeholder/client presentations
- Product management: Customer empathy, design, project management, prioritization, stakeholder interviews, customer meetings
While these skills are only a part of those disciplines, it's important for engineers to visualize a future state where those activities take up 70% or more of their time. New roles and responsibilities are to be expected in any career move, but pivoting too far away from the technical aspects of the work may ultimately do more harm than good.
There are no shortage of career options available to today’s software engineers, whether sticking to coding or branching out into other experiences. And while it’s easy to take the safe, traditional career path, engineers would do well to look beyond coding and explore what lies beyond their comfort zone.