Engineer to Management 1

[thinkfree09]

I have been currently working as an Engineer for three years and think in the next 25 years of my life I would like to go into management. However, I love my role as an entry-level Power Electronics Engineer and eventually would like to remain technical. I would like to know if there is any one out there who have come across such a decision to stay in the technical path versus management path?

 

[monkeydog]

Yes, I have come across that path in my career.

 

[SnTMan]

I personally try to avoid any act which might suggest to my bosses that I could have any interest in going into management.

Regards,

Mike

 

[KENAT]

We have a couple of senior engineers that get compensation on par with comparable levels of management but get to stay 95% technical or something like that.

We actually have had a couple of 'Engineer Fellows' or something like that who were on VP level but again with minimal management responsibility, however they both left and weren't replaced.

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[monkeydog]

So, does the OP have a specific question, other then asking if anyone has come across that fork in the road?

 

[rb1957]

as one who's stryed over to the dark side ... if you like politics (if you think "survivor" is real life) then you'll probably like it.

i "went over" 'cause our mgmt were typical ... good engineers promoted into being lousy managers. i could see that mgmt was an important part of the overall job, and thought i'd try to improve the standard. didn't like the politics, didn't like having to represent a mgmt i didn't believe in (we were absorbed "resistance is futile" and the senior aerospace c/- was right, even when they weren't, and we were wrong and all the engineering was going over to the senior partner). fortunately i had an outlet that didn't involve bringing guns to work and i was punted several years back and went back to the technical (contractor) role and have been happier since.

just my 2c

 

[lacajun]

I went into management of sorts and enjoyed it. I missed the purely technical stuff, too, but sometimes that gets old, too. I don't want to do the same kinds of things repeatedly for 40 years.

As my career progressed, I ran into more politics as a technical resource and a management type. It all depends on the company and the caliber of people they hire as to the degree and nastiness of the politics practiced. I told my subordinates to take the high road every time and not get into the gutter of bad politics. We had projects to get out of our department and that was our only responsibility. If we could not get cooperation out of other departments because of a few people, then we would run it up to the next manager.

 

[GregLocock]

OP:Yes I have

You won't need to worry about it, if you can ask a dopey question like that then you are obviously born for one of the two alternatives.



Cheers

Greg Locock


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[StogieFL]

I would recommend that you never turn down an opportunity to move into managament however it is important that you learn the technical aspects of your field first. This could take 5 to 8 years, sometimes even 10.

Management doesn't always mean business development, you can stay technical as a manager with operations type responsibilities without having to sell your services.

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[LSpark]

I recently declined to apply for a line manager role even though I would have stayed part technical (I'm in my late 30's). In the past I've changed path slightly (operations to engineering) to reamin technical. I'm not ruling out a move up the ladder in the future but at the moment the thought fills me with dread, politics and boring meetings are not my cup of tea.

I'm one of the more senior engineers now so I support my line manager and informally mentor one of the graduate engineers. My company does allow some progression for engineers to stay technical, we do have a few management grade engineers but not sure if they'll be replaced as they leave.

Engineers who move quickly up to managment positions always struggle to get the respect of the other managers (and often other engineers) from what I've seen.

 

[hokie66]

Management? I've never seen much evidence of its existence, so why would I want to be a part of that?

 

[swertel]

You're confusing Management with Leadership. I've seen plenty of management, but very little leadership for those in management roles.

--Scott

http://www.wertel.pro

 

[knight185]

There are plenty of engineers at the plant where I work who have no interest in being in management, and they aren't shy about saying so. Several have been approached before with promotions and have turned them down. Some have taken promotions and have expressed missing the technical work. As a young guy I don't mind doing some of the work that I do now but in another 20 years I would rather be in a management role. I would probably be best suited for some kind of technical management role. In my business the big disconnect between engineer and management is that engineers are asked to find solutions to issues and execute. Management's primary goal is budget compliance. Many of the engineers just want to solve problems, not worry about budget.

 

[KENAT]

"Many of the engineers just want to solve problems, not worry about budget."

While I have met some folks that kind of fit that mold, and my current place has historically had it's fair share, I'm hesitant to say 'many'.

Now don't get me wrong, I would be tempted to say that many engineers definition of value for money, responsible financial stewardship etc. don't necessarily mesh with the average MBA's

Also, often engineers that do fit the 'I don't care about budget' do it because they are used to management (with the help of sales & marketing) setting unrealistic budgets in the first place.

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[swertel]

Two comments:
1) Engineers worry about cost more than budget.
When given the option between A and B, where they are technically equivalent, the engineer will use cost as the deciding factor and choose the less expensive one. When an engineer is faced with the difficult choice of doing it right or doing it right now, the ethical engineer will choose to do it right... budget be damned. Rarely does cost come into the equation until AFTER all of the performance issues have been resolved.

2) Management, especially those without an engineering background, tend to not understand what it takes to get the job done right. Like KENAT said, budgets are proposed by engineers or their technical managers. The next level of management thinks the numbers are too high and slashes them; engineers exceed the new budget and get reprimanded for it. Engineers shuffle it off with an "I told you so" because they are within their original budget. Management gets upset and assumes engineers blew the budget on purpose to prove a point, not because it actually took that long to do the job right. The cycle repeats.

As an engineer turned technical/working manager, I get pulled from both directions.

--Scott

http://www.wertel.pro

 

[KENAT]

Swertel, your engineers actually get asked about budget? Wow, I'd forgotten that actually happens, I was starting to think it was something I imagined.

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[knight185]

All of the technical managers that I have worked with used to be engineers. Some have spent more years in engineering than others but most of them know what it takes to get a job done. However, even they are being held accountable by corporate executives whose primary job is to make the company profitable. It is a constant tug of war between spending money to make plants reliable and not spending money to maximize profit.