I am an SDE-II at Amazon with 8 yoe. Have been tech lead for projects. I am looking for external opportunities as an SDM/EM. Already tried internal opportunities but there aren’t any. What can I do to get external jobs? Does PMP certification help? Am okay with tier-2/3 companies.
Try L5 manager I have seen ppl with 5 years experience changed to L5 SDM
Would you trust a midlevel sde hired from another company to lead you / take care of your career? No? Then transition to L5 manager first and actually get trained
Is an L5 mgr. equivalent to L5 mgr. at other companies? Amazon levels confuse me for manager.
(None of the below is fact or policy based. Just my personal observations and could apply to any company) L5 manager is conceptually similar to junior engineer in other companies. You’ve shown that you are capable of managing people, but you still have a lot to learn and experience to gain and may need more help/mentorship. It’s a nonterminal role and the goal is to get promoted to an L6 SDM, which is a terminal role if you desire
If you are struggling to make the switch internally, try going to a Wall Street firm for a couple of years. The natural transition there is to grow into a techno-manager. They don't have separate ic/mgmt tracks and only now are beginning to adopt this kind of separation of roles. You will naturally become a manager there and then you can transition into a manager at big tech.
Might be rough since they’ll all look for management experience. Best bet would be to internally switch and then look elsewhere