I guess this has been debated before, but I feel my situation is little more unique. Mid career professional doing analog ic design (PhD + 3 yoe, 150k tc, non bay area). However, when I look at long term career options, sometimes I dont feel great. Say, if one slogs out and does really well, you get to a manager/principal level at the max. The Tc is for sure lower than swe. And then, jobs are so much concentrated in particular regions ( bay, Austin). And moving to bay area outside of FAANG is not worth it (i think we can only target 3 in that list). Apart from TC, our career choices are limited to so few companies. Looking long term, do you ppl think making a switch to something more interesting (ai/ml) at this stage( with a PhD in ee) is worth it?
1) No doubt, I am interested in learning. (Started the std Andrew ng's course. Looked a bit in some finance courses). And even willing to go lower in TC for a couple of years. But cant really quit job for family reasons. Also, it's a little overwhelming stepping into a new field. What field to choose? Sw is huge and there a lot of options.or should I do some part time MBA and try to go higher in my field outside of pure design. 2-3) Definitely want to change at some point. Do salaries in bay cross 220-250 at places apart from apple and maybe Broadcom for ic designers?
Nvidia should be able to do that range for IC4-5
MBA sounds reasonable option in your case, if you pick a top school like Michigan
I think outside of the hot markets the MBA is probably the best option to make money long term. The goal is basically to hit VP at a larger company which should be around 400k or more in an area with much lower housing costs.
MBA is good for switching fields and getting the horizontal part of T. With specialized knowledge and experience he has the vertical part of T already. MBA will allow him to leverage the investment in special expertise. If he simply jumps into software it will take a few years before he catches up with top performers, and he’s old already which makes it harder.
What's your take on the long term career prospects. I sometimes get worried about hardware and ic design in particular. With so many mergers, and hardware being more of a commodity these days. But then again, switching to swe at this stage, is it advisable? I am happy with my job, but just worry about long term.
Software might not be so lucrative eventually either.
I think it depends on your interests, your current location, and whether you have a family. 1) if your interests have shifted, there's nothing wrong with self studying and trying to get a job in something that is more interesting. 2) if you're in RTP 150k is a good chunk of change and your quality of life should be really high. If your somewhere more expensive it may be worth a change and relocation. 3) it could be worthwhile to move if you get over 250k in the bay but your life style will change in that you will be a renter, although I'd argue you'd be able to save more in some circumstances especially at the 300k mark.