Career Crossroads.... need some advice

[Doboji]

So I've reached a crossroads in my career... I've been very successful in my IT career thus far, largely because I have a strong balance of soft and hard skills. I.E. I know the tech, and I can talk to the people... Lately in fact I've been managing multiple teams on multiple large scale technically complex projects..

The hard work has paid off... I've been put on my company's "field expert" team, and have also been handed significant management roles... but I don't think it's feasible for me to progress as much as I'd like without choosing one path or the other to go down.

I face a choice... in the next 6 months I'm going to need to focus on one path or the other... and at the end of the day I'm going to find myself in the next step up in my career in either Management or Technical.... and honestly I have no idea which door to open....

Anyone else been through this kind of decision? What did you do? What would you do?

-Max

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I'd try to go the Management route - it's how you can get to a higher position with more power. If you stay technical, you'll just be limiting yourself. You'll see more and more politics as well...

If you enjoy technical and not management at all, well, that's your call and choice, but expect that management will have the checkbook to waive around a bit more freely if you choose that route and not technical.

 

[andy04]

Go for mgmt, its just a matter of time b4 ur your tech job ends up in India anyways...

 

[desy]

management
Same dilema here

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Management. If you have good people skills it can take you all the way to the top.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

I'd say go management. I'm in a similar situation as well. Unless you're a uber techie (I'm good, not uber), your salary tends to level off. Most companies move up the younger guys and pay them less! And if you do go management, make sure you get PMP certified. More $$$$$

 

[NoMoMoney]

Management. Same situation here. Just applied to business schools and hear Monday!!! The stress is killing me.

 

[Patt]

Management offers more money and upward mobility, but if you're like me, the tech angle still appeals. I'm torn as well, and although I have a while before my boss leaves his position, I'm certainly in line to take it.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: andy04
Go for mgmt, its just a matter of time b4 ur your tech job ends up in India anyways...

Please don't turn this into a thread about outsourcing... if you want to debate it, P&N is calling you.

 

[cw42]

Sorry to thread hijack, but i've been thinking about my IT career as well. I'll be graduating in Dec with a B.S. in IT. I don't particularly consider myself a specialist in anything yet, and am trying to decide what kind of career path I want to take. TBH I don't see myself as the mgmt type because my personality is introverted, so i'd end up having to go down the technical road. From there, I see programming v system/network admin. I don't have a much of an interest as a programmer, and lack exp doing system/network admin. Any suggestions?

On another note, I recently got an internship offer doing some computer forensics stuff for a financial company, but I don't know how far that could take me. If I really wanted to further something like that, I think one track would be working in the public/gov sector.