The staff engineer vs manager path A window over the tech career paths
summary
Consultancy NearForm works in the JavaScript ecosystem and maps concrete career moves: read The Manager’s Path, The Staff Engineer’s Path, and a software engineering guide; try shadowing and a brag document (weekly work log) to collect metrics; expect peer reviews and a promotion package often running 20–30 pages and evaluated by a committee; test a manager/IC shift as a pendulum or treat it as a one-way door decision; log wins like decreased API latency or a shipped product in time budget and scope.
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chapters (12)
- 0:00Welcome to career paths
- 1:25Beyond linear progression
- 3:31Terminal level roles
- 5:56Choosing between management and IC paths
- 9:01Staff engineer vs manager
- 13:17Tech lead role
- 15:24Engineer-manager pendulum
- 16:53One-way vs two-way decisions
- 17:56Promotion antipatterns
- 21:06Brag document for promotions
- 22:09Book takeaways
- 23:57Career uniqueness
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