Chief Technical Recruiter | Fractional TA Partner | Career Coaching & Resume Reviews | Imperial Security Bureau Podcast | Dad x3 | Call or Text 919-410-7780
Tech companies always seem to want a "hands on player coach" dev manager. Most candidates I speak with find fault in this... They ask me, "are they looking for a manager or a developer?" Regardless, companies will typically put dev managers through technical interviews just like developers. Even with Director or VP level roles. They still expect those tech leaders to be "hands on player coaches". Richard Ford is an anomaly. He's a CTO who still writes code. ***He's also available right now if you need a talented CTO*** Richard does a great job of explaining why it's valuable to have hands on player coaches in tech leadership roles. Elon Musk was quoted saying ”I strongly believe that all managers in a technical area must be technically excellent. Managers in software must write great software or it’s like being a cavalry captain who can’t ride a horse!” That makes sense to me. But when you ask dev managers/directors/VPs "when was the last time you wrote a line of code?" most will admit it's been a few years. That question eliminates the lion share of candidates from consideration. But talented hands on player coaches like Richard are out there. Whenever I place a highly sought after hands on player coach, I always stay in touch. They often need to hire more people for their new team. After a few months on the job, I'll ask them, "So, how much of your day-to-day is coding?" Most will say "oh, none, this job is 140% management". I think to myself, why did they need to hire a hands on player coach then? Aside from that, I've witnessed dozens of senior developers get promoted into dev manager roles and end up bowing out after 6-9 months. Sometimes they don't realize they're signing up to be in back-to-back meetings all day with no time for coding. Dear Dev Managers: Are you still hands on? Whenever you hire a hands on player coach, do they have time to actually be hands on? In reality, would a talented people manager with software engineering in their background be just as good? AI writes most of the code these days anyways, right? Where do you stand on this debate? #handsonplayercoach #playercoach #devmanager #appdevmanager ---------------- FOR JOB SEEKERS: I offer a 45 minute consultation for $250 which includes a resume & LinkedIn profile review, career positioning & job search advice, and elevator pitch refinement. Afterward the meeting you'll receive an updated resume in word and PDF format, directions on updating your LinkedIn profile section by section, and a custom LinkedIn banner to upload. Use this calendar link to schedule a consultation: https://lnkd.in/ed2K9jmV FOR HIRING MANAGERS: I'm actively seeking new job orders to work on. If you need recruiting support, fill out a New Job Order Search Request Form: https://lnkd.in/e756wJwr I'll review and get back to you ASAP if it's something I can help with.
There's only a certain amount of hours available for work every day. If you are managing a team, writing roadmaps, communicating with stakeholders, etc - and the company also is expecting you to be the main contributor to the codebase...they simply do not know what they are doing. I see this all the time when talking to potential clients, and half of my job is to educate them on how much problems this can cause. If they still insist, I don't take them on as a client, because as mentioned - there's only x amount of hours for work every day. I'm here to make the wheel of engineering thrive, and ship products fast to the market. I do code though, but mostly in my spare time, to learn new technologies and test out ideas.
As someone who has been formally / informally in this space as a principal / lead I’ve had to field a question like “are you okay not coding anymore” each time I interview for a manager role. The answer I evolved into and think is the best is The stake holders and team comes first, if their needs are met and there’s time to contribute I do, or if we need a little oomph in delivery / obligations I do (see stakeholder needs) Should dev managers be technically competent? Yes, to understand risks and communicate functional and non functional issues to technical and non technical audiences. Should they actively code? Depends: watch the signals coming from the team
Two challenges I have with the “Player-Coach” 1. It diminishes the importance of a specific management role that is responsible for consistent process, governance, communication, and support for those executing the work. 2. It covers over most organizations weakness on resource and capacity management. Cutting corners and costs on management results in inconsistent output and diminished quality. And the teams end up getting blamed for the results.
Vader did field work
love this!
I once interviewed for a manager position where my sole purpose was to manage communication with, and deflect meetings from the company’s best developer. He actually interviewed me. He passed on promotions regularly knowing he wouldn’t code as much as a manager. It was a weird situation and I didn’t get the job, but at least the company knew not to force him into a role that he wouldn’t be effective in. The main benefit of having a manager that is close to the code is a solid understanding of what his team deals with on a daily basis. They are advocates for less meetings, more communication, and proper planning. They know firsthand what happens when those needs aren’t met.
Chief Technical Recruiter | Fractional TA Partner | Career Coaching & Resume Reviews | Imperial Security Bureau Podcast | Dad x3 | Call or Text 919-410-7780
1moAll dev managers who aren't coding anymore 🤣