u/Amazing-Win-1083

This is my honest situation.

I have 14 years of experience in the IT industry, all of it in service-based companies. I work from a small town, so I don’t have many options when it comes to selecting companies. Due to personal commitments, I also cannot relocate. I want to look for remote.

I’ve worked really hard in service-based companies — long hours, constant pressure — and I’ve reached a stage of burnout.

What I would love to find now is a job where I can focus only on development as an individual contributor, without office politics or people management. Working in a team is fine, but I don’t want to move into manager roles or anything that takes me away from coding. I am willing to learn.Just doing my job, without excessively long hours — that is my dream. Is it too much to ask for?

I’m not looking for a very high salary. I’m actually paid below industry standards right now. My pay is quite low. I’m mainly looking for good work-life balance.

Note. Tech stack is java backend

Do you think this is even possible?

Hi folks, need a reality check from people who’ve done this switch.

*Background:* 14 YOE in IT, Java + Spring Boot + AWS + other tools. Currently Tech Lead at a service-based MNC.

*My experience:*

1. strong in hands-on development* — feature development, bug fixes, building modules/apps from scratch based on given specs

2. *Have been involved in solutioning discussions*, but *don’t have much exposure to architecting* or making final tech/design decisions . Those are usually given by architects and I implement

3. Delivered code for Fortune 500 clients, comfortable with large codebases

*Gaps:*

1. No DSA/Leetcode prep

2. Limited formal system design/architecture experience

3. Being pushed to Manager track but I want to stay IC and keep coding

*Looking for:* Remote IC role with decent WLB. Not targeting FAANG. Just want a stable, hands-on coding job where I can stay technical and manage family responsibilities.

*Questions:*

1. At 14 YOE with strong implementation skills but limited architecting exposure, is switching to product-based remote IC roles possible?

2. What level should I target — SDE-2, SDE-3, Senior Dev? Will companies reject 14 YOE for not having design experience?

3. Do I need to learn system design + DSA before applying, or can I start applying now for coding-heavy roles and learn in parallel?

4. Any companies/role types known for hiring strong implementers? Any success stories of similar switches?

Willing to upskill on design/DSA if needed. Thanks