I know this is highly personal and context dependent, but looking for general thoughts or experience.
So, I'm thinking about transitioning into PM at the same org.
While I enjoy the day-to-day of an SE, my biggest gripe is that most of the work is fleeting. Sales cycles come and go. A consequence of this is that there's little leverage of building/owning something over time.
Things I like about SE:
- Decent performance-based comp
- Variety in prospects/ building solutions
- Lot of autonomy, most of the time
- Good WLB relative to comp potential (can have big spikes at times)
These are all true, in my experience.
But even with all of that, I'm left searching for more.
I've heard SE described as the 'best dead-end job ever', and I'd tend to agree.
So, HN - any thoughts on transitioning from SE to PM?
Other info - 5 YOE at current org, 3 YOE as Sr SE
- Deep domain expert product + industry at current org
- Top performing SE ( 3 x SE of the Year)
It's a good move.
When I was a PM, the best PMs I worked with were former Engineers or former SEs so they had the right mix of market experience and technical skills, and I myself considered doing a reverse PM-to-SE switch at one point.
PMs who specialized only as PMs sucked because they lacked relevant domain experience.
The WLB might be better as a PM as well due to stabler compensation practices.
I'd recommend making the move laterally within your company, as you already have the domain experience and product experience, plus an existing network with your Sales and Solutions Engineering orgs.
I guess the question is why do you want to become a PM though - from the sounds of it you have a great rapport within your Sales org, and I'd assume your compensation would be higher than as a PM.