Career planning for programmers

Hint: This article is suitable for 2 years and above work experience programmer, for the new job or the upcoming process, suggest to read another article Tu write: To the revenue it of the people

Programmer career Development to a certain degree will face a choice, is to go business + technical direction, or choose pure research technology. Programmer Career Development problem, this is all programmers are concerned about, how to go in the future, after 30 years old can still be a programmer.

Most programmers end up with a career goal that may be CTO, CEOs are estimated to be less, there are a small number of people to start their own business to become the boss, there are some people changed careers, when the boss of the people is a minority, career change people do not do in this line, nature has nothing to say. Generally speaking, the development of programmers will basically go through such a few paths. Programmer-System analyst-architect-Technical manager-cto, programmer-Project leader-project manager-project director-cto, programmer-product designer-product manager-cto.

Of course, this is just a rough path, not all programmers will need to go through this, some people may skip some of these steps, or some people will do a lot of jobs in the middle. And ultimately the CTO programmer, is also a very small part of the reason is very simple, the world does not have so many CTO and CXO.

In other words, many programmers may end up as technical managers, project managers, or project directors, so what exactly are we going to choose in our careers? I think this question does not have a unified answer, because each person's character is different, the opportunity is different, just like you grew up to want to be a corrupt official, But fate has made you a programmer. So you should choose a path based on your interests, personality and fate, for example, you have the opportunity to bring a project, and you do not hate the position of the project manager, then you can choose to develop direction to the project manager.

In fact, a lot of times, some companies do not have a clear technical managers, project managers, product managers, in many companies, they are often a person to bear. In an outsourced company, there is usually a project manager and a system analyst (or perhaps a technical manager). In some non-it companies, it may be a department manager, and a company that makes its own product may be more detailed. Let me give you a general idea of the difference between these three positions, so that the wandering programmers have a general understanding.

Project Manager is the direct person in charge of the project, this role is equivalent to an intermediary interface, whether it is a team member or demand side (customer), or a superior leader, there is something directly to him, so this position is focused on management and communication. In general, project managers focus on communication needs with customers, project progress control, team communication, some companies will also need project managers to undertake team building work, but it seems that many domestic companies have overlooked the work of team building. For the project manager, the focus will be on communication, coordination, crisis control, execution, team management, focusing on communication, management and planning. Of course, some companies also require the project experience to participate in the bidding negotiations, which requires the project manager to have a certain degree of business negotiation ability.

Technical managers may sometimes call system analysts, and some small companies may have a technical manager across the department. The role of technical manager is mainly system analysis, structure building, system construction, code walk and so on, if the project manager is the President, then the technical manager is the Prime minister. Of course not all companies are like this, some company project managers regardless of the technical team, only to do the needs, progress and communication with customers, then the project manager at this time like the factory with a single person, this situation in the outsourcing company more. For technical managers, focusing on technology, you need to know what technology is appropriate for a particular feature, and how long it takes to develop a feature. At the same time, technical managers should also be responsible for improving the overall level of the team's work.

Product Manager This position generally has its own products (whether it is software or web products) of the company is more common, product managers are mainly responsible for product design, product improvement and so on. It should be noted that product design and designers are not the same work, product design will mainly from the user experience, business needs and other levels to design products, and designers are more from the user's vision to do. Product manager should be the most knowledgeable person, for example, you are in the design of a micro-BO products, it requires you are very familiar with microblogging, from user habits, user experience, the company's development strategy to design this product, but also compare similar products will have what advantages and so on.

Whether the project manager or technical manager and product manager, are required to be familiar with the business, business is the source of demand, there is no business-free technology, so no matter where you are from the direction of development, are required to be familiar with the business. The product manager needs to be familiar with the business, the project manager is the second, and the technical manager is final. For programmers, the first few years of work can be immersed in the technology, generally this time in 2-3 years time, and then should pay more attention to the business. This business does not necessarily refer to a specific business, because the scope of the specific business is too small, but also need opportunities.

I have seen many programmers who do web development but are unfamiliar with the internet and are largely indifferent to the trend of Internet popularity. Do not know now everyone in the use of Micro Bo, also do not know SNS, also may never use the net silver. I think this is very bad, programmers should pay more attention to the development of the Internet, a lot to play some new websites.