Switching from consulting to big tech
My friend is a technical consultant at Accenture. He wants to make the switch to Amazon. His current role is "technical architect." (As an SDE at Amazon, I find the existence of such a role where you design large systems and don't code and don't maintain interesting and think of it as a bit of a joke... but that's beside the point.) He doesn't want to code (though he can, as he comes from an engineering background). He has been thinking about going the solutions architect path, but he's been out of college for ~2 years, and I'm not sure whether SAs are commonly hired with such little experience. What are the potential roles he should aim for, and will they net him high (i.e., six figures) total comp?
He can try PGM, PM or PMT roles at Amazon.
Wait, so no go on solutions architect?
in just 2 years.. how can a person become architect? what are his achievements?
I think Accenture's standards for software are different. From what I understand, their software engineers don't have to go through coding interviews, and their analysts ("architects") are tested on case studies before hiring. However, they're also not paid very much compared to the tech world.
Customer success manager, try that
I'm a SA and like your friend have an engineering background. Self-taught programming - spent 2 years as an engineer before moving to SA. I'll say what everyone else has.. if he doesn't want to code this is a bad role (and gives SAs a bad rap). I actually may switch back to eng; while the 60/40 split between customers/building is fun.. I'd rather built 100% of time Tell him to try an SE role, TAM, CSM, etc.. those sound up his alley.
If he cannot code - he should try for a program manager role. Also agreed that "architects" who don't want to code are jokers.