Chris WiegmanLast week I posted about a job change. After almost 10 years as a developer I made the jump to engineering management where I’ll get to shape the teams that form technology rather than just the code itself.
I made the switch because, while I love writing code, I wanted to work more with people and not just the machines. The change reminds me of many conversations I’ve had as of late.
As people look to tech, or even WordPress, many see an industry where you must write code to survive. As a result many folks I know interested in other aspects of tech and WordPress move on to what they see as greener pastures.
It’s unfortunate. While WordPress is trying to do better our ability, as a community, to communicate all of what is possible is still lacking. Great communicators, managers, marketers and more look past WordPress as the rhetoric around contributing and “building” is still very much looked at as “I need to learn to code” by all too many. We can do better.
I’ve spent the last 10 years writing code and mentoring people looking to make a career in tech. For the most part, they all start out looking at code and many of them end up doing other things including support, project management and more. They find their calling not because they knew about it but in spite of having no idea of the option.
I don’t know how to fix this problem. It isn’t a simple one in a world where it is the developer who is often viewed as the “rock star.” What I do know is there are far more opportunities than the code and I need to do better at helping those who are interested find those.
Are you with me?