Project Manager or Developer?

[oxtailsoup]

I moved from being a developer for 13 years to being the tech lead and now I've been a tech project manager for the last 18 months or so.

I'm just interested to see if anyone else has gone along a similar path and how they feel about it?

Personally I really miss the hands on approach of being a developer ( I work in the SAP arena). I got a real buzz from delivering new solutions, fixing bugs etc.

I just don't get the same daily buzz from project management. I still enjoy being a pm and find it rewarding, just not as satisfying as dev work. The pm work seems more mundane, more stressful (as you are relying on other people). On the other hand it is slightly better paid (not greatly though as sap developers are well paid too), seems to carry more status and hopefully will give me a longer shelf life in the contractor market. Plus pm contracts tend to run for longer (i.e. the whole life cycle).

It's just day to day I prefered being a developer or even the tech lead as that was a mixture of dev work and management.

[Muttley08]

I've been working as a PM for about 5 years now - did some dev work, some BA work before that.

Would much prefer to be doing dev work, but skills are now out of date. While I do some dev work now - it's only because of a specialism, because not many people about with skills.

Big difference is the rates. But depends what your personal goals in life are - enjoy work vs money???

I don't think there are too many contract PM gigs where life is easy. Most of the time you're gona get cr@p - fine if you can be thick skinned, but not much job satisfaction.

Personally I'm just a stubborn git who wants to grit his teeth for 10 years and retire / semi-retire.

[beaker]

Been a PM for years now. Never had the patience or desire for constant learning required for development. Although PM work is boring much of the time - as I've moved on its become less technical and more people and client oriented - mainly managing expectations really.

I do get sick of having to deal with end clients and having all the responsibility and having to kick lazy peoples' asses.

Think I would rather be some kind of adviser... all care and no responsibility!

[GeorgeGregan]

Hi Oxtailsoup,

What was your specialty within the SAP arena?

I ask because Milan recons it's even more lucrative than .Net development.

[oxtailsoup]

Ha! Well Milan and I go back years in this SAP v .Net thing. I used to have a different user name on this forum but had to re-register like everyone else when they moved to the new forum software.

I was an abaper for years. I specialised in a few areas. Mainly around shipping and specifically customs and excise (vat etc) where goods were moved cross border (all the required paperwork and docs around this).

Then I got involved in Unicode upgrades on SAP and after two of those I got a gig as a Tech Lead for a large Unicode upgrade in London. When that finished the client took me on directly as a technical project manager (still contracting). I'm still on SAP.

Difference in rates isn't much. I've gone from £450 to £550 plus expenses.

Main benefits are I work from home 2/3 days a week and I'm guessing that I'll have a longer contracting career as a PM. I love the gig because of the guys I work with. It's just the actual work which is a bit mundane. Very similar role to Beaker. Managing expectations, deliverables etc etc.

[Peter Loew]

I was a Java / J2EE developer and team leader. Moved onto do transition management and project management.

I don't miss being a developer because it never really suited my personality nor did I have the motivation to constantly keep up with ever changing technologies. That said, I did enjoy the satisfaction of writing a web app or something and seeing it work.

But there is just too much in development to keep up with, for a perfectionist or someone who likes to understand everything he does, this can be hell. So I used to sit around for hours with my first line of code wondering what the best design approach would be, then not get anything done because I felt I didn't understand all the options out there enough to decide. And I was considered a senior developer!

P

[Francko]

I was a Java / J2EE developer and team leader. Moved onto do transition management and project management.

I don't miss being a developer because it never really suited my personality nor did I have the motivation to constantly keep up with ever changing technologies. That said, I did enjoy the satisfaction of writing a web app or something and seeing it work.

But there is just too much in development to keep up with, for a perfectionist or someone who likes to understand everything he does, this can be hell. So I used to sit around for hours with my first line of code wondering what the best design approach would be, then not get anything done because I felt I didn't understand all the options out there enough to decide. And I was considered a senior developer!

P

Ah finally somebody honest! You became a project manager because you were not good at your job and could not face the challenge. Don't worry, there are many like you around here (hint: ask sasguru)*.

*However, I do understand that there are a few good PM who have attitude and skills for the role. Unfortunately, this is a small minority. The largest majority of PMs are failed BA or techies with a big ego and no morals so that they are not ashamed of doing a job in a worthless and unfair way (hint: ask sasguru).

p.s. not pointing you out, you might be one of the few good ones. Just using you as a case.

[sasguru]

Ah finally somebody honest! You became a project manager because you were not good at your job and could not face the challenge. Don't worry, there are many like you around here (hint: ask sasguru)*.

*However, I do understand that there are a few good PM who have attitude and skills for the role. Unfortunately, this is a small minority. The largest majority of PMs are failed BA or techies with a big ego and no morals so that they are not ashamed of doing a job in a worthless and unfair way (hint: ask sasguru).

p.s. not pointing you out, you might be one of the few good ones. Just using you as a case.

More perennial moaning from the eternal loser from the eternal city. A permie who couldn't hack the City, couldn't hack contracting and certainly wouldn't be able to hack top-level management. Sad really.
Destined to plug the low-level tech role forever. Repeat after me "Hello World".

[Francko]

More perennial moaning from the eternal loser from the eternal city. A permie who couldn't hack the City, couldn't hack contracting and certainly wouldn't be able to hack top-level management. Sad really.
Destined to plug the low-level tech role forever. Repeat after me "Hello World".

As long as this gets a good daily rate, this is fine for me.

[Stan]

I just don't get the same daily buzz from project management.

I wonder sometimes what PM would feel like - how is it at release time for you as PM compared to when you were doing dev?