I’ve been in the work force about 7 years (not including co-op). I’ve gone from a junior designer to a junior developer to an intermediate developer to a senior developer. I’ve been a senior developer for 2.5 years now and I think I definitely could have been the developer tech lead if wanted to be – but I didn’t. I wanted to stay a developer as I know there’s still more I have to learn. A lot more.

I’ve been wondering what the next step for me is. Part of me thinks management – I definitely think I could do it. I might hate the meetings and presentations but I’m good at putting fires out, get along with people, feel that I could mentor and guide them as well. I wouldn’t want to public speak – but I can do it. And I wouldn’t want the meetings – but I can do them. But I guess the real reason why I don’t want to be a manager is I don’t want to leave the development world yet. I still have a lot of fun doing it, it’s still my passion. I used to always think it was important to do what you love and get paid for it. And for me, that’s development. Do I start doing something I don’t enjoy as much for more money? Or because it’s the next logical step of progression? Maybe.

It’s funny, as strong as I am in development, I know I’m slow. In the last 7 years, stronger developers (and I’ve seen and known them) would definitely have surpassed me given that time. Development isn’t as intuitive to me as it is to others. Even though I might be the (or at least, one of the top 3) strongest developers on my team, I know that relative to others, I’m weak and slow. And again, web programming is still EZ mode compared to real dev. If I really want to be a better developer, I need to self-study more.

To be honest, I spent much of the day today making an unprecedented (for me) manager type decision. It was like I was a manager today, controlling the fate of someone on my team. It was kind of thrilling. The power, THE POWERRRRRR!!! But it gave me a glimpse of how a manager might think. And I liked it, but not as much as I like development.

I don’t think I’ll be doing dev forever. Not with my skill and the rate I learn. I can’t compete with the new kids who have lived development. I’m not out of the dev game yet but I have to start considering: what’s my profession after development? When I’m 50 and need to do something else. Possibly not even be in the tech field? Where do I go, what do I do? Something to ponder. Not now….but along the way…