Technical Lead - Is it worth R2I?

catonfence77 · Post by **catonfence77** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:04 pm

I am an application programmer(.NET/C++) who has been working in product companies all through my career of about 10 years. I am in US for the past 7 years and seriously thinking of R2I.

Because of being the one of the youngest and least-experienced persons in the company, I have never had a Project Management role or even a team lead role here in US. But I do have the designation of Principal Software Engineer.

Given these, I definitely want to move up to a Team Lead/Technical Lead position once I am back in India. Now, the thing I am not sure about is what these roles really mean back in India. Are these usually purely technical jobs with no real 'leadership' opportunities? Is it just a fancy title for a developer who ends up fixing problems caused by junior members of team to meet deadlines? What is the difference between Technical Architect and Technical Lead in India? :confused:

Do companies expect people to have some management experience for these roles in general? If so, what would be the best way to acquire these from within US(MSPM/PM certification etc?)

I know this is a lot of questions but I am hoping the experienced guys in these forum will be able to clarify my doubts.

Thanks in advance.

Ace Novice · Post by **Ace Novice** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:39 pm

While some companies do ask for project management experience, it would be unusual for a Tech Lead to require management experience. Tech Leads are required to have serious technical expertise and infinite amounts of knowledge transfer and troubleshooting capabilities as every junior programmer wends his/ her way through the system. If you want to spend more time being a lead/ architect, make sure the team has zero to few newbies/ junior developers.

r2ikyon · Post by **r2ikyon** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:54 pm

I interviewed with 4-5 companies after R2ing and I am currently a tech lead. Tech lead is expected to carry out the project by handling technical details and guiding team members (who most of the time are freshers) technically. Architect is solely (most of the times) into design and coding (if required) core modules.
This distinction might notbe true in all the companies. One thing is for sure, with 7 years you will be considered for tech lead and architect positions. There are some companies which distinguish between tech lead and team lead the later being more managment kind of role.

FreeSpirit · Post by **FreeSpirit** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:52 am

Your best bet is to find job in product development companies in India - Google, Microsoft, Amazon etc or join a company which does contract product development work - Symphony, Persistence etc. If you join service companies like Infy, Satyam etc you'll regret plus they care zilch about your techincal expertise. For 10 years experience service companies expect you be Sr. Manager or above level managing at least 10 people(direct reports).

catonfence77 · Post by **catonfence77** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:43 pm

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions.

I am definitely not looking to join a service company once back in India. I am finding that the roles are not well-defined and differs from company to company, so I guess I have to look at each one and decide.

It is encouraging to see that there are some good product companies in India now compared to 7-8 years ago.

csvirus · Post by **csvirus** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:47 pm

catonfence77;61769Thanks a lot for all your suggestions.

I am definitely not looking to join a service company once back in India. I am finding that the roles are not well-defined and differs from company to company, so I guess I have to look at each one and decide.

It is encouraging to see that there are some good product companies in India now compared to 7-8 years ago.[/quote]

I think I am prompted to write after you wrote "good product" companies. The important thing here is not "good product company", but "good product stuff" you will be working. It is quite likely that you may end up fixing sundry stuff in these companies while the meaty stuff is in the US. Not quite, but very very likely.

Having said that, I was told several times that Sr.Tech Lead, Assoc. Architect, Architect, Sr.Architect all do the same work! Its just appeasement strategies. So don't just go by designations. Go by the actual work, if you can find that out, and the actual pay. If you get pissed, don't hesitate to leave.

Service companies are better left alone. If you are the status conscious type and are interested in "heading" 2000 people then go there. But you won't get involved in anything concrete. Just management( or manipulation) of ground forces...