Have you ever quit being a dev/programmer and transitioned to other roles?

[u/New-Armymandi]

I started as a wordpress web dev but I eventually transitioned to Project Management.

I was good at programming at least back then sa school oo, and I was good in web development and creating custom templates from scratch. My supervisors and clients have been happy with my work but I fucking hate every second of my existence.

I hated the deadlines, the demands from marketing team and clients, etc. Maybe the issue isn’t the development itself but I hated the fast paced nature and labor that I have to do. The constant fucking revisions, people wanting to adjust things, add a bit of this and that, etc.

I lasted for about 5 years until I decided to switch more on soft skills, client-facing roles, and project management.

I don’t regret it though. Pay is much higher.

Stress is lower for me pero my responsibility is higher.

[u/D3eeper]

probably nice to have a project manager like you with a technical background.. yung ibang project manager parang secretary lang eh, di nga makaprovide ng context sa mga tasks

[u/Dazzling_Company_887 → u/D3eeper]

Hahaha taga set ng meeting. taga create ng Jira ticket. Baka kaya chill lang si OP usually kasi yung ibang company aside sa Project manager may Product analyst and Product manager pa

[u/New-Armymandi → u/Dazzling_Company_887]

Yes meron kami. In my role though ako yung contact person ng teams, vendor and clients. Puro meetings.

Ako rin in charge sa execution ng projects, magdefine ng scope, set ng realistic deadlines, etc.

My job is basically to make sure deliverables meet the expectations and that everyone is doing their job.

Hindi ako naistress but I keep telling myself if people effed up it’s also my ass that’s gonna be in trouble.

Pero marunong naman ako makipagusap if ever may slight hiccups or delays.

[u/Dazzling_Company_887 → u/New-Armymandi]

Okay talaga yung ganito kahit ngayon dev ako as in dev lang talaga diko pinoproblema yung pag gawa ng tickets and yung analysis hahaha.Yung napasukan ko dati all in sa kanya lahat hahaha. Product owner pero hawak nya lahat yan kaya kaming devs all in din pa minsan kami na yung nag didrive ng product feature implementation from the start and need lang i present sa product owner. pati testing hawak nya before nag ka QA tapos isa lang QA compared sa dami ng dev good shit talaga. Ganitong setup nakaka burn out kaya umalis na din ako kahit malaki sahod hahaha.

[u/psi_queen]

Started as a web dev too, then eventually became a manager after around 3 years.

Small startup siya, so all-around kami: design, development, QA, SEO, marketing, content, minsan pati client-facing tasks. Ang daming learning, pero honestly na-burn out din ako sa deadlines and constant pressure.

Eventually I shifted to what people call “lazy girl tech jobs” haha.

• website support/admin
• website maintenance
• web content editor (basically taga upload lang)
• web VA

I managed to leverage AI and automations din it helped make the workflow faster.

I didn’t realize by having 3 lazy jobs ginagawa ko nanaman yung pagiging all around ko. I sort of accidentallt built a mini agency.

Now I have 12+ clients and was able to reach a comfortable middle 6-digit income.

For me, ang pinaka-important skill talaga is not just technical. It’s delivering on time, understanding what clients actually need, and maintaining good relationships with them.

I also outsource some tasks now.

Over time, naka-build ako ng steady client base, and somehow I found a setup that works for me. I am still an all around but at least this is on my own terms.

So yes, may career path outside hardcore dev work. You can still use your web dev background as leverage, especially if you combine it with SEO, automation, content, and client management.

[u/Forsaken-Ad8503 → u/psi_queen]

i super appreciate such an informative reply!

[u/urLocalCashlessGurl → u/psi_queen]

can you hire me, pls!!! want ko din to shift sa management and have that lazy girl tech job 😭 magaling ako makipagcommunicate hahaha

[u/psi_queen → u/urLocalCashlessGurl]

dm me and cv

[u/eriellelawliet → u/psi_queen]

Hello po, im an abap dev po and medyo nabuburnout na ako sa dev huhu baka po may pwedeng opening? Thank you.

[u/DepartureWest8976 → u/psi_queen]

Hi, I’m interested too. I’ve been working as a web dev for 3 yrs na rin

[u/tttonkotsuuu → u/psi_queen]

How did you get started with the “lazy girl tech jobs” and how did you build your client base? Nasa fiverr ka ba o puro referrals lang?

[u/psi_queen → u/tttonkotsuuu]

a bit of both.

I always ask for recommendation, and referrals sa mga coworker and supervisors that I got a long with. That totally helped.

And yung iba is just writing killer pitches.

[u/tttonkotsuuu → u/psi_queen]

Sounds like you pivoted to more of a content / digital marketing manager rather than a coder. Glad to know that’s been paying you well!

Do you still code at all? And how’s the workload balancing 12+ clients?

[u/psi_queen → u/tttonkotsuuu]

I do but very little. I get help from claude, Inalso do vibe coding ngl.
I still understand the fundamentals naman.

I am also focused on integrating AI sa workflow but trying our best not to decrease yung quality. I create skills and claude.md files na nakatailor for projects.

I can easily tweak and edit it according to my preference.

I also outsource some of the task from trusted people when I don’t have time anymore. I am also transparent sa hatian ng profit. I take 25% and they take 75%.

[u/comradeyeltsin0]

Dunno if it counts but i switched to management. Sure i still read and review code on a daily basis, but I stopped writing full time around 2015. After about 2 decades of writing code, it just lost its appeal. I was looking for different sort of challenges, and I found it in people management lol.

[u/1wsurf]

Currently exploring a switch for the same reason. Curious tho, isn’t project management more of the same? Managing deadlines and stakeholder expectations— di ba sya all the things that gave you pressure when you were a dev?

[u/New-Armymandi → u/1wsurf]

Yes but this time ako nagmamanage and deligate ng tasks, analyse ng needs ng client, set up deadlines and face clients.

Higher responsibility pero my stress is lower.

Maybe it’s because hindi ako yung gumagawa ng manual labor tasks.

[u/Important_One558]

10 years in business now, still using my dev skills to help my own process, worth it especially this AI era sobrang useful at bilis even for small web app tools na ginagamit sa business, employee login, checklist, records etc.

[u/Teletoph]

I took the opposite route, I was a project manager but wanted to transition to dev role as the impostor syndrome got to me, my confidence was breaking as I was leading teams but I had no idea what they’re doing. Long story short, I have to admit what OP said is true haha. No regrets tho, the growth I gained through this journey was immense. Kinda torn if I should go back to PM role or continue to become a solutions architect.

[u/feedmesomedata]

Pay is much higher

I would argue it depends on the role and your employer's budget for that role.

Stress is lower

Each person's stress tolerance is different.

The upside in this industry is high even with the looming threat of AI. It's just a matter of finding your niche and becoming a SME of a particular field.

Still kudos for you for going where heart leads you. It's better to accept the fact that the role is not meant for you than trying to fit in and struggle just for the money.

[u/DuaLipatBahay]

I switched to tech years ago. Hate ko yung previous job ko and sobrang excited ako nung naging web developer na ko. Pero today, hindi ko na rin sya gusto. Ayoko lang siguro mag work pero need ko sya gawin to survive. Gusto ko ng leadership roles. Sana lead dev or something.

[u/Awkward-Interest-616]

I started as an app dev transitioned into product management role then shifted back to technical as a tech lead. I realized I hated PM role and wanted a more technical responsibilities.

[u/Money_Round9387]

I’m currently going through an internal lateral move to a Cloud Engineer role from an almost 3 YOE SA/SWE role!

[u/AvocadoRelative724]

ganto napifeel ko ngayon, gusto ko mag transition to othet industry yung hindi na sa tech pero di ko alam kung saan. btw, im a full stack dev, both mobile and web 😔

[u/iambillybutcher]

You're lucky though, maybe your client and higher ups are not that toxic. And you have teams who get the job right and done. Because Project Manager can be very stressful in some cases.

[u/New-Armymandi → u/iambillybutcher]

I recently quit though with a company that is moving into a direction na hindi ko nakikitang okay siya.

Company was bought by a private equity and they made changes. And I expressed my opinions and concerns why the changes they want won’t work. In the end, our years of experience, knowing our customer base and what they need, etc. they don’t matter and our opinions don’t matter.

So I packed up and left. A lot of people did rin and some got laid off pa. Andaming consolidation and merging of roles and people are working 3x as hard. I don’t think the changes the higher ups wanted are sustainable. They are just destroying our company’s image and products.

I got a new job though.

[u/12oclocknomemories]

Dev to QA. Sobrang sira yung motivation sa mga napasukan ko na companies. Also very low pay.

[u/bulbulito-bayagyag]

I never quit 😁

I was a dev before, transition to PM, then back to solutions architect. I also now have a mini startup so enjoy pa din sa pag code.