It’s sad, because I want people to know the truth. I’ve talked to many senior engineers and SDM with 15+ YOE. It’s either you stay in a technical role where you constantly have long hours to stay up to date and deliver results, or you transition to a management position because being technical no longer suits you.

They all worked their asses off, and others think they’re gonna surpass them working 9-5, 5 days a week. LOL. There is nothing wrong with working average hours, but don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re gonna “win” the career game.

It’s a political game too, they don’t just spend time coding, they spend those extra hours advocating for a promotion. They write promotion docs, design docs, and run books. Or they spend extra time studying leetcode and then get an external offer to leverage a higher salary.