1/9     I've been out of school working as a programmer for 3.5 years. I
        now have an opportunity to go from being a regular programmer to a
        technical lead and eventually a manager. I know a few people who have
        done this and regretted their choice, and my instincts tell me to
        avoid it even though I think I'd be good at it, since it would
        involve longer hours and more responsibilites and I'm pretty happy
        just coding. But there is the temptation of "getting promoted" and
        making more dough. Any advice? Also, how much more money can I
        expect to make as a manager?
        \_ "technical lead" good. "manager" bad.
           If you're at a company where the only way you can get a
           raise is to become a "manager", time to change companies.
                \_ no, I'm getting pretty good raises just being a coder,
                   I'm just wondering if being a lead/manager will bump
                   my salary up significantly faster, and if I'd get
                   more bonuses and options.
                   \_ I got a 20% raise and 25% more options when I
                      became Lead Sysadmin. YMMV.
                      \_ the original poster has a real job. you don't.
           But DO bring up this issue to them first. In rare occasions,
           companies can be convinced to see the light.
           \_ Depends. You will hardly ever see those $300K+ salaries
              without going into management at some point if that's
              important to you. --dim
                \_ if there's one thing I wish there were more in this
                   consulting and systems integration world that I am
                   currently involved in, it'd be managers who have technical
                   (coding) backgrounds. You would not believe how many
                   friggin' managers out there who love to pull things out
                   of their asses without actually understanding the real
                   problem. Your choice to become a "technical lead" is
                   to be commended, presuming you've done a lot of coding,
                   have good technical knowledge and are a people person;
                   granted you won't be doing a lot of coding in this new
                   position, but chances are you will be involved in helping
                   the junior guys (i.e. the programmers who work for you)
                   with concepts, designs, sometimes even debugging etc. In
                   another word, you will be shifting more of the grunt work
                   to someone else so you can concentrate on managing the
                   tasks you're overseeing. Those who regretted it are usually
                   folks who got stuck being a lead of something (a component,
                   a project, etc.) that they don't like, things that are not
                   relevant to their field of expertise; which often involves
                   going to numerous meetings, face time with (idiot) managers
                   and other things that they're totally overqualified for.
                   These ppl will most likely miss being a regular Joe Program-
                   mer. Salary-wise? You'll probably get a bit more than
                   the top programmer in your company because, presumably,
                   you're a step above your top programmer (and he/she works
                   for you). Is it worth it? You'll be the judge.
                   - someone who's been there done that.
                   \_ There is also the problem of managers who DO know stuff
                      and micromanage the minor things.

        \_ If you're making good money as a coder, you should not think about
           the money involved with management. As a tech lead or manager,
           you'll be expected to put in extra hours, attend stupid, ineffectual
           meetings, deal with office politics on a grander scale, determine
           budgets, keep your group fat and happy, hire and fire folks, support
           the pathetic, guide the senseless, and fight losing battles. The
           perks are there. You can climb the corporate ladder and get nice
           bennies from vendors, customers, and the company. The question is
           do you really want to work that hard? How much more important is
           your career than your non-job life?  That will tell you how far
           you can climb.
           \_ You may find the daily grind of coding for "some other idiot"
              gets you down after a few years and decide you can do better.
              Thus if you'd like to be that "other idiot" giving orders
              instead of taking them, then go for it.  If you're a happy
              hacker you may not like being manager.  Really depends on where
              you are in life.  If more than just the money is interesting to
              you, then give it a try.  You might be sorry a year from now
              that you're still hacking when you could've been managing and
              missed the opportunity.
        \_ As manager, prepare for more bullshit and meetings and people-
           skills, and constant crap pushed down from above, and crap coming
           up from below, with you in the middle & paperwork up the butt.
           At least until you get higher up the ladder, if ever.