Torn Between
Two lovers? Naahh!
I am contemplating if I really want to pursue a management career track or a software developer career track. I love programming, I really do. I like the challenges that it gives especially if I were to design the system. But I also love to manage people and projects. It enables me to meet different kinds of people and experience not only the technical side of the project.
I am currently the project manager for two projects and is handling about seven programmers. I enjoy my work although sometimes it gets boring when I have to document everything but the same goes if you are a developer, you also get to document what you did in the project. The problem actually lies in the long-term view of the careers… Which has a more advantage in terms of compensation, stability, and demand in the open market?
Maybe I should go to a top of a mountain and meditate on this.
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Managing people is to me the most rewarding, why not call the shots instead of reacting to someone else’s decisions? For self respect, of which I would imagine you have quite a bit (The picture – very strong) I would choose a career in managing.
rockwatching - June 28, 2006 at 4:38 am
hmmm… I think sa software developer part, kailangan mo mag aral ng mag aral. Kasi ang bilis ng mga technologies. malay mo, one day biglang mawala na ang Java, naging .Net na ang uso. hehe! Or may mas bago pang technology and lumabas. So isipin mo na cguro by age 50++, kung mag developer ka pa rin, dapat very updated ka pa rin and fast learner. And may chance na ma-replace ka with younger people.
Sa managerial side naman, I think based on experience sya. The more experiences you have with managing people/projects, mas magaling ka mag-manage? You can learn from your experiences. Cguro pwede rin to study about a certain technology, pero not very detailed, since yung mga developers rin ang gagamit, pwede mo lang i-suggest sa kanila.
Therefore, i conclude (hehe!) mas maganda maging managerial IF you have the potential. Pero since manager ka na naman, so I guess managerial for you. hehe! Pero sa mga iba, like me, developer pa muna. D ko pa na-discover ang aking “talent”. haha! feeling..
Aldrich Caw - June 28, 2006 at 9:36 am
Hmm… nakakainis… ang haba haba ng tnype ko, nawala lang…
(
Anyway, re-type ko nlang…
I think sa developer, kailangan always learning ka. Kasi mabilis ang technologies, malay mo, one day laos na ang Java, naging .Net na ang uso (hehe!
). Or pwede rin na mag lumabas na mas magandang technology. So by the time na medyo matanda ka na, you have to still handle the pressure of trying to learn new technologies, trying to becom up-to-date. And there may be a chance of replacing you with younger people, since they may be more “flexible” since they’re still young.
For the managerial, I think this is based on experience. The more experiences you have with managing people/project, the better your management skills. Since you should be learning from your experiences/mistakes. There may also be some learning, trying to catch up with the new technologies, but this is minimal, since you don’t need to learn it, you just need some overview of it, and maybe suggest it to the developers.
I therefore conclude (hehe!) that you should be in a managerial position IF you have the potential/power to manage people/projects. And since you are already a project manager, then you should pursue the managerial career (Just my opinion, not a command/order). And for me, I’ll still be a developer for now, since I still haven’t discovered my “talent”. hehe! feeling..
Aldrich Caw - June 28, 2006 at 9:44 am
Thank you for the nice comments! I will greatly consider what you said. By the way I am not the one in the picture
chau - June 29, 2006 at 10:04 am
Sorry, pero naka dalawang comment na ako last time, pero d nagpost… huhuhu… ang haba pa ng post ko dati…
( Pa-delete nlang ng testing na comment, haha! 
Anyway, ito na uli yung comment ko…
I think for a developer, it is always learning new things. Trying to learn enw technologies to use so that you will be up-to-date and not be left out. We can not say that Java will always be the most used forever, it might be replaced by .NET (hehe!
). Or another new technology might emerge and replace them all. So the challenge is to always be updated with the current technology. And by the time you’re already old, you should still be trying to keep up with technologies. And there may come a time when you will be replaced by younger people since people think they are more “flexible” and learn faster. And this could only be a short-term career.
For a managerial position, on the other hand, is learning based on experience. The more time you have been handling/managing people/projects, the better you are at managing. Since you should be learning from experiences and past mistakes. There may still be trying to learn new technologies, but it doesn’t need to be too detailed, you just need to have an overview. And maybe just suggest it to your developers and let them learn it. The challenge here would be how to handle different people. And I think that this is more of a long-term career.
Therefore I conclude (hehe!
) that you should be a developer if you really love programming and you are always up-to-date with the current technologies. You should be in a managerial position IF you have the skills in handling people. And since you’re already a project manager, I think it would be better if you continue your path (Just my opinion, not an order or command. 
). And as for me, I am currently still a developer since I haven’t discover my “talent” yet. hehe! (feeling…)
Good luck nlang sa career! And alam kong malabo ang comment ko, no sense of direction, haha!
Aldrich Caw - June 29, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Naintindihan ko naman ^^.
Yup you’re right on the concepts of those careers. Actually I love both managing and development. They both give me a sense of fulfillment especially when being able to finish a project successfully. Both can have good compensations too! There lies my problem. If I weigh them both, they would actually weigh the same in terms of how I love the career, and the sense of fullfillment that I get.
So I am having a hard time deciding ^^ There is a current standing offer to be a developer again under a nice project… what to do.. what to do!!! hehehe!
chau - June 29, 2006 at 5:43 pm