Re:Ask HN: Why not more hiring of junior devs, then on-the-j...
by eloisant on Thursday November 22, 2018 @03:23AM
(#18508641)
The thing is that in a big-co, you don't have to become chief architect or CTO to have a healthy career evolution. You can be "just" architect and impact a much bigger team than the 10-people startup.
Re:Ask HN: Why not more hiring of junior devs, then on-the-j...
by TheOtherHobbes on Thursday November 22, 2018 @03:25AM
(#18508644)
Technical Fellow is an academic and/or research position. SMEs don't have technical fellows, although technical fellows sometimes start their own companies.
Senior/Chief Architect is an engineering/production position, with limited scope for game changing R&D. In a typical 10-20 man shop the position is usually taken by the CTO, who will be usually be in it for the long haul for both financial and technical reasons.
Very, very rarely a startup will turn into a unicorn with hundreds or thousands of employees. You can get some way up the ladder when that happens.
But the odds are against it happening in the first place. And at the higher levels you'll still be competing with talent hired from outside.
Considering that only few people get to the top title at a big company (I think there is ~20 Technical Fellows in Microsoft world wide), I think that is a fallacy. If you work at a small company that grows, you're far more likely to become a chief architect.
> Now tell me my experience would be better in a 12 person startup/shop. I dare you.
Only applies to the US. EU citizens don't really have to worry about that.