Future / Career growth as an SM Vs Quality Analyst
Hi All, Before I post my query, let me thank all the authors for their blogs and forum discussions
The Blogs and forums here helped me a lot whenever I'm stuck with an obstacle during the sprint window or while facilitating the events
I have total 11 years of IT industry experience of which 9 years as QA Automation engineer and then switched to Agile path by doing CSM and PMI-ACP. 2 Years has been good and learning and knowledgeable. Can I take this stage and ask the experts about the future being an SM .. The Org 'm working is in transit phase of transforming to Agile.
However, few of senior industry folks whom I worked with suggested that it's always good to be on technical front / updating skills as the industry is running after AI, ML, Data Science, Blockchain and RPA. So, advised to plan career as individual contributor > Lead > Technical Manager / VP than planning career as an SM. But when I did my certification I was inspired by many Agile Coaches, Trainers who see the same problem in different view.
I know this is something related to my aspiration but I welcome your suggestions / advises
This is not advice. It is my opinion.
If you are technical, you should think long and hard before you abandon that for a business (functional) role. True that as a technical asset, you have to keep learning and keep solving problems and some people get burnt out from that. Somebody I know really well was a guru at C until he suffered from sleepless nights over not being able to solve issues. Finally, he moved over to being a Project Manager and has been happy with his decision.
But if you enjoy it (being an engineer), you should consider continuing down that path. Though the path you suggested (engineer to VP) is not necessary. If you're in it for the money, there are top coders making upto seven figures (base, bonus, stock options) at FAANG. But if you want to be a CTO, then a technical path makes sense even more.
If you're ready to hang up the engineer hat like many of us did, then Scrum Masters can move up to leading Centers of Excellence if the opportunity arises. Agile transformation shops are not easy to work in. You will meet with constant resistance and it can be draining on your morale. But hey! At least you're not suffering over a code fix!
@Mark Adams thanks for your opinion. I really appreiciate it!
I also started developing and then changed into PM and now SM. I did this move mainly for career reasons, as I did not see much future in developing in my company and country.
First thing you should consider is which path would make you more happy. And consider that you can be SM and also part of the Dev Team.
Then consider the situation in your company and country. In big international companies they tend to move delivery from high cost countries to best-shore countries. Check if they also do that with SM in your company, to know if that will have a future in your country.