My honest opinion on tech is simple, if you arent good at leetcode your growth as a developer is limited. Move out ASAP:

if (can solve hard leetcode problems) {

  return moveToFAANG;

} else {

// move out of developer roles

  return moveToManagement(bestBrandedCompanyCanGetInto).asynchronous(workOnOwnCompanyInFreeTime);

}

I would update code as follow:

if (can solve hard leetcode problems) {

  return moveToManagement(moveToFAANG);
 } else {
 // move out of developer roles

  return 
 moveToManagement(bestBrandedCompanyCanGetInto).asynchronous(workOnOwnCompanyInFreeTime);
 }

Even in FAANGs, there is a limit on how many engineers will reach the top level.

Check out Developer Hegemony by Erik Dietrich. I am an engineer at heart but this book convinced me to move into management.

Feel like I am going through a pull request on my code right now :)

I will push back. Relatively good senior engineer (that can leetcode) will cap out at 400-500k. I think if one can code and likes to, this is a great deal. There are alot of companies hiring in this range.

Management is in some ways more fungible, the pay is higher, but there are less roles. Senior developers have a relatively meritocratic hiring process and there is a lot more demand.

Yeah I agree, one doesn't need to maximize their income at all costs. Let me update my PR then :)

  if (can solve hard leetcode problems) {
  
    return isDesireToMakeMoreThan(500K) || !enjoy(code) ? moveToManagement(moveToFAANG) : moveToFAANG;
  } else {
   // move out of developer roles

    return moveToManagement(bestBrandedCompanyCanGetInto).asynchronous(workOnOwnCompanyInFreeTime);
  }

I love programming but I realized that I enjoy writing pure code and I am good at it. I can solve hard LeetCode problem though takes me hours or days. But I really don't want to deal with senior/staff/architect level dev responsibilities such as infrastructure, DevOps, and politics of proving yourself.

Long time ago, I did a little bit of photography as a side-hustle. It sucked the joy out of photography until I stopped doing it as a side-hustle. It has been a long time since I enjoyed programming at my 9-5.

Your next step is management or a career change. It's a wise move to review your options now. You won't retire an engineer. The days were you could work at one company in the same position are mostly gone. Do yourself a favor and go into management. If you don't like it then move on to a different career.

A job I've noticed getting more popular is a director of IT at medium to large companies whose job is to maintain an IT department using outside IT contractors and temp workers. At most they have an assistant and a few helpdesk positions that are full time at the company. This way companies can run an IT department that costs a fraction of what it used to cost a few years ago. But even that position is being superseded by companies outsourcing all of IT and hiring apps as needed - no director needed.

IT is mostly a cost center for companies so the logical thing to do is to reduce the cost as much as possible and as fast as possible. That's what's happening and will continue to happen. It's not favorable to a long career in IT.

Look into careers that bring in money to the company and you get very good at it. Companies will kiss your butt if they know you can bring in more than what it costs to keep you employed.

You might find this helpful, or at least interesting: https://bitfieldconsulting.com/golang/career

Why not all of those things? ;)

I spent the last 10 years trying all of those different jobs and it helped me dial in what I like to do.