Slashdot Mirror
How to Become a PHB?
Vagary asks: "There have been quite a few discussions about becoming a system or network administrator or developer, but in light of recent outsourcing trends it seems prudent to aim for something a little less expendable. What is the ideal education (eg: Master's in CS, MBA in Tech Management?) and entry-level career path (in light of today's job market) to become upper-level IT management such as a CIO or CTO?"
It's amusing that major companies are blindly outsourcing their businesses to companies in South and East Asia.
All it takes is an uprising in China or nuke fight between India and Pakistan, and US & European engineers suddenly become a hot commodity again.
Keep in mind that when ever you choose engineering or technology as a career, you are by default subjecting yourself to the cyclical trends that dominate that kind of industry. If you are looking for stability, be a teacher, policeman or accountant. If you want the big money that comes with the engineering & high-tech fields, accept the risk/reward ratio.
If you need to ask "How do I get into senior management?" in a forum like this, you probaly don't have the intestinal fortitude to make it past middle management.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
The article calls a PHB "something a little less expendable"
The economy is leaning out (internal combustion engine expression). They're still cutting jobs while production is going up. I'm guessing that this is mostly by eating their seed stock, but there's still a lot of pressure to eliminate non-contributing positions. One of my few consolations in this current layoff is that the fool who chose me as the person to cut within the two choices he had, then had to pay to relocate a much less-competent replacement for me(the company never brings back discarded talent) is now in a death spiral caused mostly by that stupidity.
I think the current pressure will make the PHB an endangered species. We'll still have good managers (mine got booted in the wave before me, and I spent two months unmanaged), but actual PHB-types will finally be doing what they're qualified for - closing shift at Booger Fling.
So basically: network within your org, and start thinking like a manager long before you need to. Figure out what kind of manager you're going to be in advance. Chose a place where you can enjoy doing all of that. And make sure you really want it. :)
Thanks, that's exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for!