Help! What is my place in the IC vs. EM career path?
summary
Career path argument: moving between IC and EM is feasible and often simultaneous, supported by concrete steps and credentials — developer from 2013, promotion to engineering manager 2018, senior staff engineer 2022, plus certified Scrum Master 2014 and formal management training. Workhistory shows agency constraints (two days per month for EM duties) while handling client IC roles, running a mobile community, joining a core team and chapter leads, and building internal events and tooling; some client roles stop all coding (no lines since last October).
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chapters (15)
- 0:00IC vs EM career paths
- 1:08IC versus EM tracks
- 2:15Measuring career impact
- 4:04Company career frameworks
- 5:08My Sphere journey
- 6:55IC to EM transition
- 8:26Dual-role YAM at Sphere
- 9:48Balancing EM and IC roles
- 11:35High-impact problem-solving
- 12:20Side projects & community
- 14:04Mixed career lessons
- 15:29Taking initiative
- 16:14Career paths without frameworks
- 17:17Soft skills for all tracks
- 18:00Q&A
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