Limited Big Tech promotions and the options to consider
IC Director role vs People Management career?
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Big tech is limiting promotions and many high performers are frustrated as their careers are suddenly blocked.
For years, the "FAANG" or "Magnificent Seven" companies have been both high performance *and* high growth.
Here are some situations and options.
A reader asked me about pursuing an Individual Contributor (IC) Director role in place of a people management career.
He asks about the costs if he later wants to go into management.
First, this reader is trapping himself into an either/or choice, which is too narrow.
Either stay blocked trying to get to management or switch to an IC path. There are other options, such as going somewhere else. The meme is that there are no jobs out there, but I got an email from a client just today that reads: "I ended up getting a few offers and chose one as a director of engineering..."
The jobs *are* out there.
My advice to this reader, beyond considering additional options, is:
Moving to an IC Director role will pay more immediately if you can get it.
You can move back to personnel leadership. It will be hard to get a Director-level leadership role (with 100 or more reports) instantly, so your choices will likely be either (a) slowly growing teams under you as you learn or (b) switching to a first line manager role. But you can make the move.
What you should *actually* do is pursue whichever type of job excites you most. I realize feeling blocked is frustrating, but you may be creating a lifetime of frustration if you sacrifice doing what excites you and engages you only in the name of a higher title and more pay. I know plenty of very unhappy people who have found that high income doing something they do not like is a kind of trap and prison sentence. They feel like they have to keep doing the work because of the pay and prestige, but it is work they hate.
Being blocked at your current company is something you can escape.
You can wait.
You can change companies.
Working on something you love is a super power. You will naturally do better *and* it will feel like less effort.
It is win / win.
I would not optimize for the fastest path to the next promotion of any kind.
I would optimize for what I am great at doing, what I love doing, and where can I find a place to do that.
If it takes a bit longer, I need to have faith that once I am in the right situation I will outperform others and soar forward.
PS—If you want a promotion document framework, use this.
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Many subscribers expense this newsletter to their Learning & Development budget, use this email template to send to your manager.
It covered many interesting points needed for the much needed reviews and career switch!
The best opportunities also result from superior leadership. If the person running your team invests in your future, the path to success has countless forms. You'll know it's happening based on their interest in your goals.