Caroline Handley at StaffPlus London 2023
summary
Claim: moving from line management back to an individual contributor role is practical but deliberate — expect months of reskilling, deliberate system design practice, and coding interview prep. Concrete tools include keeping a diary of day-to-day tasks, seeking feedback from talent teams, and negotiating timelines or a phased handover. Outcome reported: coding confidence returns, mentorship continues, imposter syndrome persists briefly, and switching companies absorbs risk while letting a new IC role land and succeed.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Introduction
- 3:34Engineering manager vs IC roles
- 7:06Signs for career change
- 9:34IC to management benefits
- 12:01Accidental management challenges
- 13:47Committing to one path
- 15:11Stealthy vs open transitions
- 16:55Evaluating company fit
- 18:00Preparing for transition
- 20:05Reflecting on journey
- 22:33Management vs IC oscillation
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