[tixocloud]

I made the transition from engineer to strategy consulting to manager on the business side of things so hopefully my commentary will give you a different perspective.

And I know how you feel as well because I was there. I thought I was limited down the Software Engineer path. The reason why I stepped into the business side of things is to build my skillsets in case I wanted to start my own company.

As a Manager, what most folks have mentioned is true whether you're an Engineering Manager or a Business Manager - you need to always be on top of things making sure that everything is running smoothly and to address the issues when things aren't smooth. You'll be solving problems related to humans and time (i.e. allocating resources, project planning, budgetary constraints) as opposed to engineering problems.

You'll have to put on your sales person hat to sell ideas on why things can and cannot be done (i.e. why can't we complete XY feature in 2 weeks? Why adding more developers won't speed up the project? Why we need an additional server for development?)

If you're further up the chain in management, you'll have to put on your strategic hat to understand how your department sizes up against the other department. You'll also be the first person the CEO contacts when things don't go right. You'll be expected to weigh in on all things tech related and give recommendations on what the business should and shouldn't do from a tech perspective.

[throwaway_105]

And does this transition see a higher increase on your income than a traditional software engineer career path?

[tixocloud]

Based on my specific case, yes but I would tend to say in general it might not. It'll probably depend on which companies you pick and choose to join.

Think my buddy doing sales did way better than me.