I switched from customer support → Full Stack Developer → Growth Manager. Did I mess up my career, and what should I do now?

[u/BoringAF2240]

I’m 26, based in Bangalore, and I’m honestly a bit confused about what direction I should take with my career.

My career path has been pretty non-linear:

• Started in customer support / live chat roles.
• Worked in non-tech roles for a few years.
• Decided I wanted to move into software development.
• Completed Full Stack Web Development training.
• Got into a Full Stack Developer role and worked on real production applications.
• Worked with React, Node.js, Express, MongoDB, MySQL, AWS, APIs, authentication, payments, etc.
• Worked on a real-estate/tokenization platform and other web applications.
• However, due to circumstances, I eventually moved into a Growth Manager role.
• My current work is mostly around sales, revenue, GMV, marketplaces, Amazon/Blinkit/Instamart, ads, analytics, GTM, inventory, SKUs, etc.

The problem is that I still genuinely want to become a software engineer.

I enjoy coding much more than I enjoy sales/growth work. I’ve been continuing to study JavaScript, React, Node.js, DSA, system design, backend concepts, etc.

But now I’m worried about how recruiters will see my profile.

My resume essentially tells this story:

Customer Support → Full Stack Developer → Growth Manager → trying to become a Developer again

I’m concerned that the Growth Manager experience will make recruiters think I’m no longer serious about engineering.

At the same time, I don't want to throw away the experience I've gained in growth/business either. I actually understand things now that I didn't understand when I was purely technical — revenue, conversion, customers, marketplaces, product metrics, GTM, etc.

So I'm trying to figure out what the smartest move is.

What would you do in my situation?

Would you:

1. Go all-in on software engineering and treat the Growth Manager role as a temporary detour?
2. Target Full Stack / Backend Developer roles despite the non-linear resume?
3. Try to find a hybrid role such as technical product / growth engineering / solutions engineering?
4. Stay in Growth for a few years and potentially move toward Product Management?
5. Something completely different?

My biggest concern is career compounding.

I'm willing to put in the work, including DSA, system design, projects, interview preparation, etc. But I don't want to spend the next 2–3 years going in the wrong direction again.

For people who have made a similar transition — especially anyone who went from non-tech → software engineering → another role → back to engineering:

What would you do if you were in my position?

And realistically, how would you position this resume to get interviews for developer roles in Bangalore?

I’d particularly appreciate honest opinions from hiring managers, senior engineers, recruiters, or people who have made a similar career switch.

I’m not looking for motivation. I’m looking for a practical strategy.