Next steps for a five plus year software engineer

What is the next step for a +5 years software engineer?

Joe Francis · Updated November 3, 2018 Software Engineering · 24 years as a software engineer, 18 as architect and development manager.

I am an architect with 26 years of experience and mentor a lot of developers at this stage of their career.

The most important thing to do at the five year stage is to become a technical leader rather than worrying a lot about the specific technologies you are working with.

“Technical” Leader. I am suggesting that you cultivate the ability to lead small teams, perhaps 3–4 people, from a technical perspective rather than an administrative perspective. This first requires that you be an excellent developer - someone whom the other engineers justifiably respects for their technical skills.

Areas to Focus On

You will want to be able to coordinate with other teams like QA, DevOps, and engineering. If you can spend a little time substituting for others who normally do such jobs, that is ideal. You will want to be able to mentor others. You will want to understand software process and best practices.

This might also be a good time to get a graduate degree.

The Most Important Criteria for Success. If you can find an effective architect to mentor you, that will help the most. You can only learn to lead by doing it and taking time to study leadership carefully. Engineering is an academically oriented field, so you need to continue studying all the time.

If you like this type of material, please visit my site at https://softwarearchitectureinpractice.com/ for more.