Hello, I really need community help. Would you advice your sister or really good female friend (with kids) to be a swe in her 30s? more context: I am 30 y.o. woman with a baby, and planning to have another one in next few years. I was software engineer for 2.5 years. Role was time-wise and mentally demanding. Then due to baby and family responsibility, I moved to marketing/support role. It's been 3 years in this role. Now I am thinking to move back in SWE role. My reasons are: it's exciting, better pay, better career path. But due to family commitment, I won't able to have long working hours. Husband suggesting to transition into managerial role(pm/tpm) stating these roles are more flexible and less demanding. On one side I am leetcoding and on other side I am doubting whether I should even apply for swe role. Please share your thoughts/suggestions. Would you recommend me to apply for swe role or should I start looking into transitioning in pm/tpm kind of role? Thanks!
Totally depends on the company & team. Fyi, mgrs take care stress in some products. My personal opinion: do what mAkes u happy. My wife is in early 30’s, she is swe & she enjoys it. Mostly similar to ur case
Whichever you are personally more interested in
It really depends on company. I don't think PM roles are less demanding. They need to do a lot of meetings and presentations. That will take up a lot of your time. Also progress relies heavily on other people. Being a PM, you need to be time flexible. At least being a SWE you can control your own pace.
PM and TPM are equally if not more demanding in some cases. Been a PM for many years, female in my 40s. Do what you like, don't go by $$
I thought SWEs looked down on marketing people. And here you are breaking the stereotype and becoming one. 21st century, ftw.
In my experience, PM and TPM are more demanding in hours. They report into leaders who expect them to be available at more hours of the day. There is no oncall rotation so they are always the ones on call for a director or VP. Face time is also more important for PMs. SDEs start late morning and leave at 5. They can work from home.
I have not found management, either people or product, to be less demanding than SWE work. I’ve seen a lot of SWEs phone it in, have very good work life balance, and consistently get “meets all” ratings. Why don’t you do SWE but just not try as hard?
I'd recommend do something that doesn't require regular time commitments. As an SWE, I have at most 2-3 meetings a day. I somehow manage to miss a couple every week and it doesn't matter. Basically very few people depend on me. Products and releases still depend on me. Additionally, something that doesn't require learning so you get more time for yourself.
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Do what you enjoyed, not what you earned more.
Do what you enjoyed, not what's "flexible and less demanding". FTFY