Is becoming a (technical) director that hard?
I know 2 people who have average skills and capabilities, yet they are business respectively technical directors at age 35. I also worked with a technical director at my current company. And to be honest, I think his skill is below average (I'm not the only one who thinks that). He is a bit older. Maybe 40. What does it take to become a technical director?
I am not sure I am following the whole question and where age comes in or where you are coming from with this question but generally, I would see a TD as someone who is well versed in technology not necessarily a SWE background but someone who has worked across multiple product and projects and can drive success. A TD should be able to align to the business and not only understand the how something works, but the why it was built in the first place and take that knowledge and the business/market understanding to help define what’s next. If you can do that at 22 then great, most need at Least 5-10yrs or more to effectively have the broad based experience IMO
Step 1: Don’t write like a 5th grader
Please correct me. How would you write it?
Download grammarly
Ok, what mistakes did I make?
You need to have been in a technical role, even if you were no good, and then be a boss-pleaser. That'll get you there. You can learn some business vocabulary from reading technical blogs and magazines, and you're all set. Picking on someone's grammar or getting into arguments with anyone reduces your chances. Just be likeable by the higher ups and stay visible.
What size company are you referring to? A "technical director" at Google has more responsibility than 25 "CTOs" of small startups combined.
500+
In FANG you need better soft skills, in a hardware company like mine it is all about technical stuff and years of experiences, and VP favoritism like everywhere else.
Stupid question here: What do you do with the soft skills at FANG as a technical director? Don't you make technical decisions that requires technical skills more than soft skills?
A director is less about technical decision making but more so around alignment, strategy, and organizational growth.
You need better written skills.
That was nicer than my comment which was going to be “Was that English?”
😂