Shake It Up | Time to leave BigTech

tl;dr: I am a senior software engineer, and I know I can easily do this work for the rest of my life. So, it's time to shake it up.

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Big tech "levels" people, putting them in categories of seniority. I've reached the "terminal" level at BigTech - the Senior Software Engineer. A place where a significant number of software engineers spend their lives.

I know for a fact that I can do this work at this level for the rest of my life. The tech industry has* jobs at this level.

Given where I am today, a 30 year old with limited responsibilities, I have the freedom to shake it up. 
Join a startup, change my role, start all over, work as a barista, work at a farm.

The worst that I can do is stay where I am, that is, continue with my current team.
Slightly better is to change within BigTech, but I'm pretty confident it'll be the same problems any team I switch to.
So, I must shake it up. Do something where I don't know what that future will be. 

I can always come back and do the work I do today.

*Tech jobs are changing because of AI. BigTech senior software engineers aren't going to stay the same in 10 years, that's a guarantee. So, while there are people that have spent 20 years being a senior software engineer, that role may not last much longer.

Comments

  1. DavidApril 4, 2025 at 7:50 AM

    Hi Rish,
    It's been awesome watching your growth over the past few years.
    I'm a high school CS teacher in Canada and have been using your portfolio template for my students' Culminating Task for years!
    You rock. Good luck with everything and God bless.
    David

    ReplyDelete
  2. DavidApril 4, 2025 at 8:11 AM

    Just as a PS -- I left my role as a CS teacher a few times to work at startups and have never regretted it. Now as a father and husband, I can't leave my role as a teacher (pays the bills) but I'm working with organic farms on a side-startup that I'm running and that I want to do for the rest of my life, regardless of financial considerations. So I'm super excited for you!

    ReplyDelete

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