Based in Germany, I have 12 YOE (TC ~€90k), current title is lead software engineer. I have a strong background in Python (14 years), React (5 years), TypeScript (2 years), AWS, and more. Throughout my career, I have worked in various environments such as a digital agency, attempted my own startup, and up to now spent a full six years at a tiny to small startup. I have also had some experience leading a team of up to seven engineers before the pandemic hit (now down to 3). One thing that I have truly enjoyed throughout my career is building web apps, APIs, everything around that. I basically own the entire stack at my current startup, but I've reached a point where I don't want to be the sole key person responsible anymore. While my colleagues are talented, they don't have the wide range of experience that I possess, and others left due to life changes/covid. Now, I find myself at a crossroads and uncertain about the next steps in my career. I genuinely love shipping products and making meaningful contributions, and start to be afraid I'll be limited to a specific department or role. I haven't worked for larger companies in the tech sphere. One crucial aspect that I prioritize and complicates things potentially, is a healthy work-life balance. Currently, I benefit from the fully remote work and flexible hours, which I fully leverage to stop work at 3pm three days a week to pick up my two kids (I put in missing hours in the evening). This is a significant advantage for me. But after six years in one position, I don't want to be stuck just to keep this. My feeling is, with fully remote positions, that this should be doable elsewhere as well. Given this context, I'm seeking career advice. I would greatly appreciate any insights, suggestions, or personal experiences. What potential career paths could be a good fit for someone with my experience and skill set, especially to leverage my Python experience? Should I consider transitioning to a larger company in the tech industry? Or would I not stand a chance or even enjoy it? And then what about my hours? Are there any specific roles or departments within larger companies that I should explore? Or would it be alright to keep looking at smaller startups for similar TC and be okay with it? So many questions. I hope any insights could guide me in the right direction before I apply to different positions only to be disappointed in general. #engineering #referral #swe #europe
I have 2x of your TC with full remote and flexible hours. WLB is dependent whether you wanna promo or not, but pace of work is, of course, high. Prior to Amazon, I was in a small company for 3y and it is day and night wrt average level of colleagues and impact of projects here at AWS. However, like you mentioned, you won’t (typically) own the entire product and will be „just a cog in the machine“ until you get to higher IC levels.
Thanks for the insight. I guess I have no problems with pace of work. An hour of work is an hour of work. WLB is important insofar that I don't want anyone stealing more hours than agreed. Interesting point though about level of colleagues. I'll keep that in mind since that are ones you will learn from.
90k is peanuts dude, google offered me 150k entry level in Munich
I'm not sure how I can apply this information to be honest. I'm well aware Google pays better.
Just sharing in case you wanna try there, although work at G sucks I declined the offer tho