Ask HN: What Are the Best Routes for Senior Full-Stack Software Engineers?
As things have changed in the last 5-10 years, I'm wondering what's generally considered to be the best route to take (job-wise) these days. That is, if an Engineer had total freedom/choice, then which would ideally be chosen (and which second, etc)? Consulting (Freelance, TopTal, etc)? Telecommuting / Remote Working? 9-5 at a startup? 9-5 at a mid-sized company? 9-5 at a large corporation? Founding a startup? Something else?
you can successfully do this in any of those places. the real important bit is the individual person. if you only know frontend, listen into the backend conversations. If you hit a bug or feature that requires skills you dont have, instead of tossing it over the wall learn or pair with the the person that does. one thing upper management at my company has complained about is more junior engineers complain about not the company not helping them grow, yet when asked to do something they dont know(with resources to help) theyre too uncomfortable to try. as long as you grow yourself by learning new things, can build relationships with your coworkers(especially non-engineers), and slowly take on more responsibilities you will succeed anywhere. also, keep in mind the higher up the chain you go, the more people and business skills become important(which can put extra difficulties if youre remote/consulting and the company isnt set up to handle that well).