Last July 6, 2022 I shared about my journey from developer to manager in the regular StackLeague webinar sessions.
The Webinar is now a Podcast
The webinar is available on YouTube. But I'm also editing the recording into a podcast series. You can listen to the podcast here (requires email login). Bonus: I have more free stuff coming to that app in the next few weeks.
By the way, when I say editing, I mean heavily editing, as I noticed in the YouTube video that I seem to be gasping for breath a lot (due to my asthma). So thanks to Audacity software for enabling me to clean up the audio. 😅
Listen to the Podcast Here
Talk Highlights
Anyway, In the webinar, I shared insights on some important topics:
- The twists and turns of an IT career path, as seen from my own experience
- A day in the life of a developer, compared to that of a manager's
- Broad overview of the kinds of things that IT managers handle
- The three dimensions of career fit, and why your passion might not be the same as your dream job
- The phases of every software engineer's career, highlighting that it's never a straight up-trending line. There's a climax and more importantly, a decline.
- How to extend your career growth, or at least delay your career decline.
- How, in a way, you're already doing managerial tasks but in a smaller scale. Also how to scale that up to fully become a manager.
- Three motivational tips on how to progress in an IT career.
- Frequently asked questions about the software engineering and management careers.
You will be able to more clearly hear these sub-topics as individual episodes in the podcast. Plus I will add 1 or 2 more bonus episodes so that you can learn more on this topic.
Answering Audience Questions
In the webinar, I also answered a few questions from the audience. You'll hear my answers in the YouTube recording or in the podcast. But I thought I'd give a fresh take on the questions here. Plus answer other questions from the audience that I wasn't able to answer then.
Q: How was it being a manager during the pandemic?
This is from my perspective as one with a technical background. I found it both easier and harder to be a manager during the fully remote/ WFH phase of the pandemic. Back when we were all in the office, I found that I was getting pulled into ad hoc meetings more frequently. This is true especially in an open layout office.
With the remote WFH setup, I found I could have more focus time as meetings ended more quickly. People couldn't see you throughout the day, so their only basis for your availability is your calendar (or instant messaging). So I could block off focus time on my calendar.
The other side of that coin is that I found it harder to collaborate and coordinate with my team. They could be offline on chat just when you need them most.
Q: In your perspective, what is the difference between being a manager and developer in terms of workload?
Q: As a manager, do you still make time for coding or do you code in your spare time?
Yes. This is one reason why I joined StackLeague. I also mentioned in the webinar that I code automation scripts behind the monitoring spreadsheets that I use for my teams.
Besides this, I'm also learning low-code/ no-code application development (as you might observe in my past blog posts). I'm developing a couple no-code apps for my church and for my part-time business (click the link to my podcast to see said app in action). I believe this helps me adapt with the changing industry and will help me stay relevant even if my Java skills become less in-demand.
Q: What was your favorite project, and how did you approach it?
I have many favorites for different reasons. Centerpoint is a favorite project because it's the first SaaS product that I architected from the ground up.
Q: What excites you about the future of web development?
This is one great thing about being a technical manager. You can experience different projects without having deep knowledge of specific technologies. Having deeper knowledge of technologies certainly helps you navigate the more difficult project issues.
But not having the knowledge doesn't disqualify you from being part of the project. I've led projects with technologies ranging from Node.js, Angular, React Native, Microsoft Bot Framework, AWS, Java, and more.
Whatever the technology, you can still manage the project, since you will be relying on the team to the legwork. And they will be relying on you to keep the project parameters stable so they can work in peace.
So it's true that it's exciting to encounter new web development technologies in different projects. What's not exciting sometimes is the difficulty in hiring the right people for the job.
Q: Do you have any tips on how to build your development team?
A:
In building a team, I like to think of myself as Nick Fury choosing his Avengers. They should be highly skilled, have useful specializations, and blend well together. But they also need to have their own opinions, have the courage to disagree, and not just nod to everything their teammates or manager says. They need to be independent and innovative thinkers. Yet they are humble and always considerate to their teammates.
If you have any additional questions for me on this topic, feel free to email me. (Email address in about page).
