5 year plan for unconventional engineer
From EU country late 20s. BSc in EU and Msc in the US both in Electrical and Computer Engineering (robotics) Learned Mandarin and Japanese from zero, both now business level (speak/read 4 languages) Based in corp office outside the US and stuck in a technical position (not sde nor hde) with minimal career growth. I love tech and coding. But I also enjoy driving requirements, designing systems and architectures, giving presentations and ultimately talking to people. Reading on Blind it seems that the best match would be either SDM or PM-t. So, I’m considering doing a MBA (top10 schools) in 1 year or so, but I could postpone it if needed. It feels I could greatly benefit from SDE experience, especially in Seattle (e.g. close to robotics) which I do not mind (although I feel the role might not be a perfect match with my next steps). what do you think the best career plan is? YoE 3 TC 125.000 (~2x standard local eng comp)
Don't move to China. It's different than what you think. Source: I'm a foreigner lived in China. Also what's your current position? You didn't really write that
My current role is related to automation. I cannot say more. Currently L5 I was in Shanghai in 2010 and 2013. Do you think there are not many opportunities there?
Shanghai has probably changed a lot. It's a downstep in your career to go to China
You don't need an MBA to be a PM..
True! Although I feel it could be a good investment for the future (in terms of connections and knowledge) Plus let’s say something goes bad during my career (e.g. I join a failing startup), I somewhat feel having a MBA could help me overcome future difficulties with less risks (e.g. land a good job even after sporadic failures) What do you think?
I personally almost never want to work for a SDM with an mba degree or a PM fresh out of bschool
I’ve been coding a lot since I graduated (in R&D before amz and for internal tools), but now I’m not an SDE. Should I still get proper SDE experience even though it does not necessarily match my mid/long-term goal?
If you have technical experience, you can transition to a PM without SDE first. For SDM, I would suggest a few years of SDE experience though.