Ask HN: Career advice for a non-traditional engineer at a Decacorn?

by Synroc on 7/31/2018, 4:50:56 PM with 1 comments
Hi,

I'm current an SRE at a so-called decacorn startup in the Bay Area. I graduated with a Bachelor degree in Mathematics from a top 10 US school, but have been programming since 12 roughly. I've had a number of roles at the current startup, but have been an SRE for the past couple years.

I don't think SRE roles are for me, especially as it seems to pigeonhole to a DevOps type of role, and instead I think I enjoy infrastructure SWE roles more.

Ultimately, I'm interested in becoming an Engineer Manager eventually, as I enjoy working with people and projects at a higher level, as much as I love coding.

Do people recommend pursuing a graduate degree, and if so, an MBA or a MS CS? If not, should I just keep going in the industry?

  • by itamarst on 7/31/2018, 5:17:54 PM

    You can become a manager or SWE without a degree. Easiest way to get different role is to transfer within your company: go find some other team (or same team!) with people you know, convince them you'd make a good fit.