As an engineer, one of the most effective ways to grow your skills and find long-term career satisfaction is through internal mobility - the opportunity to shift roles within your current company.
New engineers often start in general roles like full-stack development, working on various parts of systems. As they gain experience, many find they prefer specific areas such as DevOps, security, data engineering, or frontend design.
Internal mobility provides a path to pursue these newfound passions without leaving behind the institutional knowledge, relationships, and trust you’ve built at your current company. You can deepen your expertise while leveraging the context and connections you already have.
Major tech companies actively encourage this type of growth:
- Google is known for its “20% time” policy, allowing engineers to explore side projects that often lead to permanent role changes. They also offer formal rotation programs for managers to gain leadership experience across different teams.
- Amazon supports engineers transitioning into product management roles, providing training and mentorship to set them up for success. They value the deep technical understanding these individuals bring to the PM discipline.
- Microsoft has pathways for engineers to move into customer-facing roles like technical sales, acting as a bridge between engineering and the end user.
- Netflix encourages engineers to explore data science through internal training programs, leveraging their engineering foundation to drive insights and innovation.
By exploring different domains, you can discover your unique strengths and become a more versatile, well-rounded engineer. You’ll gain new perspectives that inform your technical decision making and make you an increasingly valuable contributor.
If your company supports internal mobility, seize the opportunity. Be proactive about your growth, deliver in your current role, and don’t be afraid to pivot as you uncover new interests. Your winding path may just lead you to the engineering niche you were meant for all along.
