[kcplate]

> No one has said it but my management years away from daily coding likely count against me

I bet they do, but when you get engaged again in SWE, I bet it haunts you still. I am thankfully employed and hoping to stay that way and ride out my final career years in my current org. Similarly I have been in tech nearing four decades but over the last 10 years made a conscious effort to exit technology management (was tired of managing people and all the BS that means) and moved into product management which I personally enjoy more.

I am often asked why I don’t show more ambition to lead people because of my past experience. Well, it’s because of my past experience.

[sleight42]

Exactly. For me, the emotional labor, the responsibility I felt to my directs, one of my strongest areas, was also eating me alive from the inside out.

I want to be responsible for services and code and mentoring people and not peoples' employment status.