Move from IT Project Management to IT Technical Cloud Developer/Manager

I've never seen a pm transition into dev. May I ask why? is it a passion of yours, money....etc

blexann wrote: ↑ I've never seen a pm transition into dev. May I ask why? is it a passion of yours, money....etc

+1

Why OP?

I have realized over a period of time

• PM value increases with age and experience. Prospects are to become program manager, Director or VP.
• Developer stays same and may get lesser offers with age as its quite touch to keep up with the ever changing technologies. Freshers are more in demand. Haven't seen any changes with position or atleast job title.

Personal circumstances may differ and dictate the decision

mohammedrhuss wrote: ↑ Hi everyone
I am a IT Technical PM who has around 9 years of Scrum and PM experience.
I am planning to move to a development background job. Any recommendations?
1. Salesforce
2. SAP
3. Full Stack Development

teoconca wrote: ↑ +1

Why OP?

'cause "full stack development" is such an easy thing to become qualified for in middle age with no experience.

thanks for all the replies everyone. I do have previous back end development experience but would like to just get more technical to work in FAANG companies tbh

hoob wrote: ↑ 'cause "full stack development" is such an easy thing to become qualified for in middle age with no experience.

Middle age? Can’t compete with much younger employees. You may have more knowledge (overall) wise but not flexibility and quickness. I knew, I was doing IT before with 30 years experience. Wish you luck.

ITAspirant wrote: ↑ I have realized over a period of time

• Developer stays same and may get lesser offers with age as its quite touch to keep up with the ever changing technologies. Freshers are more in demand. Haven't seen any changes with position or atleast job title.

Personal circumstances may differ and dictate the decision

I was told that wasn't case. That experience trumps knowing about changing technologies and being more durable.

I think experience also helps in learning new technologies. A good developer will see the pros and cons of new technologies and provide in-depth analysis when deciding which one to use. Tech stacks are just different ways of doing things or even different ways of doing the same thing. I've seen many senior developers that are capable of looking at something new and understanding how it works. A lot of the core software development concepts like design patterns and programming constructs will be the same across different technologies. The difference is that a good developer sees how it is different or the same and is able to learn the nuances without any hand holding.

This is likely the reason imposter syndrome exists. It takes time and self introspection to get over the hurdle of learning new things. Once a developer gains enough experience with different code bases, they realize it's just code and different problems to solve.

ITAspirant wrote: ↑ I have realized over a period of time

• PM value increases with age and experience. Prospects are to become program manager, Director or VP.
• Developer stays same and may get lesser offers with age as its quite touch to keep up with the ever changing technologies. Freshers are more in demand. Haven't seen any changes with position or atleast job title.

Personal circumstances may differ and dictate the decision

I gotta disagree there. I work with many architects who are old. But they keep up with technology and end up knowing more than the younger or upcoming devs.

All comes down to how much you want to learn. When you stop learning in IT, well... your career is over IMO.

harryt wrote: ↑ I gotta disagree there. I work with many architects who are old. But they keep up with technology and end up knowing more than the younger or upcoming devs.

All comes down to how much you want to learn. When you stop learning in IT, well... your career is over IMO.

Probably survivorship bias? The strong and dedicated are the ones left that you see. Kind of like just looking at successful start-up founders making it look like the norm when many others have fallen.

I am curious about physical degradation. As in vision, back, wrist, etc. I know I'm lumping it all in but Wife's BIL does coding type stuff and he's developed wrist issues.

I'm getting up in age and definitely notice my vision getting worse. And I don't even stare at the screen that much. I guess one has to make it to 'boss' level just giving out the orders?

at1212b wrote: ↑ Probably survivorship bias? The strong and dedicated are the ones left that you see. Kind of like just looking at successful start-up founders making it look like the norm when many others have fallen.

I am curious about physical degradation. As in vision, back, wrist, etc. I know I'm lumping it all in but Wife's BIL does coding type stuff and he's developed wrist issues.

I'm getting up in age and definitely notice my vision getting worse. And I don't even stare at the screen that much. I guess one has to make it to 'boss' level just giving out the orders?

Maybe not survivorship bias but that successful people in tech are ones that evolve with it. One that evolves can achieve greater success because they understand more of what kinds of solutions exist. It opens up more opportunities because they have more tools in the toolbox. One that stagnates is only good at their one job and will likely hit a ceiling. I've worked at places where people leave and go on to do other things. I've been at places where people don't move on and stay where they are. It's hard to level up if one doesn't experience other tech stacks or industries. That person will stay in one job and may be be good at it but they'll never evolve unless the job demands it.

Physical degradation is another thing. It's not really related to one's success but it something to watch out for when working desk jobs. I've seen people develop wrist issues. That's crappy but it's something that can be mitigated through physical therapy and ergonomic equipment. Eyesight is worse but not impossible. There have been many places where I've had to consider accessibility as part of the software being built. There are developers with partial or even full blindness. They have tools to help them. I can't imagine how difficult it is for them to work but they've adjusted. I can only guess that their passion for software development drives them to stay in that kind of role instead of moving into management. Being a software developer doesn't mean moving up to manager in order to succeed. Many stay in the IC role and avoid management yet are happy and successful. Management is a different kind of role and is not the only way to be successful.

blexann wrote: ↑ I've never seen a pm transition into dev. May I ask why? is it a passion of yours, money....etc

Happens quite a fair bit actually, but not as much from dev to PM based on my experience. Reasons are many: more money depending on company (faang), personality type, enjoying the tech work itself,