February 25, 2004Software engineering versus managementLaurent is upset about a student getting a software engineer degree and then willing to become a manager: Request from your management that you be assigned to functions which match these choices; to discover those, look around you and spot the people whose job requires that they perform the kind of activity you prefer. You might well not end up in a position called "Project Manager", but I guarantee that you will be satisfied with your career choices.I don't understand why Laurent is so upset and even judgmental about this "tragically misled student". If he feels his vocation is into management, then why question his choice? What if a manager came to you and patronized you for being a software engineer, telling you that it's an inferior position and that you should strive for better? This sounds very arrogant to me. What's more, in certain countries (and France is certainly one of them), management is often the only career path that allows for more growth (both in terms of responsibilities and salary) than the technical field. We are no longer talking vocation here but simple, pragmatic reality, no matter how sad it is. Il faut de tout pour faire un monde, and I, for one, would really love to have a manager who has a software engineer degree... To each their own. Comments
"Software engineer is an inferior position and one should strive for better" is precisely what this person was saying. I'm finding it strange (and sad) that someone who wants to manage should choose to train in engineering; if you want to be a manager, isn't it better to choose training in management ? Of course, many people discover only after their formal education that the career path they really want is not the one they'd prepared for; different issue altogether. What this person was saying was "I've trained in the very best engineering school, therefore I deserve to be appointed a manager of engineers". Posted by: Laurent Bossavit at February 26, 2004 06:09 AMWe're hiring .. ;-) Posted by: Cameron at February 27, 2004 09:13 AMCédric, look at the newsgroup thread Laurent is refering to. Please don't tell us you would ever hire someone with that kind of an attitude, especially as a manager ! I agree with your pragmatic outlook on things but this is a case where someone is blatantly displaying disdain for all development tasks and developers. You just can't be a good development team manager if you don't have respect for the people and the tasks you are managing ! Posted by: Philippe at February 28, 2004 06:25 AMAt last someone talking about this taboo subject:) CEDRIC ROCKS THE EIFEL TOWER BOYZ! Posted by: je me pell doofus at March 8, 2004 07:46 PMCool cool Posted by: henti at September 25, 2004 01:10 AMPost a comment
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