You have been "senior" for 3 years and nobody can tell you what comes next. I can.
Software engineer career coaching
Career coaching for software engineers stuck at their level. Elman Huseynov is a software engineer career coach who interviews for a living. You get a 60-minute call and a written 6-to-12-month roadmap within 48 hours. We name what holds the next step back and choose a direction. Then we script the conversation with your manager.
60-minute call + written roadmap · Online, any timezone
- 100+ technical interviews run
- 10+ engineers hired
- Zalando, previously Shopify
What problem does career coaching solve?
You are good at the job and stuck in it. The title has not moved, and the work feels the same. Every piece of advice is "learn Kubernetes" or "just talk to your manager". Nobody has told you what is actually missing for the next level.
Pew Research Center asked US workers who quit a job in 2021 why they left. 63% named no opportunities for advancement. Source: Pew Research Center, 2022.
What do you get from career coaching?
A career coaching session with Elman Huseynov gives you:
- A diagnosis in plain words: what is holding the next step back, skills, visibility, scope or the wrong company.
- A decision on direction: staff track, management, a switch of domain, or staying and negotiating a bigger scope.
- A written roadmap for the next 6 to 12 months, with the 3 or 4 moves that matter and the order to make them in.
- The exact conversation to have with your manager, and what evidence to bring to it.
How does a career coaching session run?
Elman Huseynov runs a career coaching session in these steps:
- Before You send your CV, your current level and ladder if the company has one, and 3 sentences on where you feel stuck.
- 0-15 min I ask what you have shipped, what you were praised for, what was held against you and who decides your promotion.
- 15-50 min We take the options apart one by one: what each requires, what it pays, what you would have to give up.
- 50-60 min We agree the direction and the first 2 moves for the next 30 days.
- Within 48h The written roadmap: direction, milestones, the evidence to collect, and the conversation script for your manager.
Who is the career coach?
Elman Huseynov runs it himself: a Lead Software Engineer in Berlin with 10 years building software, 100+ technical interviews run and 10+ engineers hired.
- I am a Lead Software Engineer at Zalando, previously Shopify, and I have been through the levelling conversation at both, from the candidate's chair.
- 10 years in, across 2 companies and 27 markets shipped. I remember which moves were wasted and which ones moved the level.
- I have interviewed 100+ engineers and hired 10+. I know what "senior" means at a company that is not yours.
Who should not book career coaching?
Career coaching with Elman Huseynov is the wrong booking if:
- You want ongoing mentorship with a weekly call. This is one session and a plan, and you own the execution.
- You are about to interview and need practice. Book a mock interview, that is what it is for.
- You want to hear that the company is the problem. Sometimes it is, and I will say so, but only if the evidence says so.
I would rather turn down the booking than take money for the wrong thing.
How much does career coaching cost?
€200
60-minute call + written roadmap
The 15-minute call is free and decides whether the session is worth booking. The session itself is paid upfront, and if I am not the right person for your situation I will say so on the call, before any money moves.
Questions about career coaching
Should a software engineer get a career coach?
Only with a specific problem: a promotion that keeps slipping, a choice between staff and management, or 3 years at the same level with no plan. A coach who has interviewed 100+ engineers and been levelled himself can name what is missing in one call. General motivation is not worth paying for.
What does a software engineer career coach do?
A software engineer career coach reads your track record the way a hiring panel does. The coach names the gap between your level and the next, and turns it into a plan with an order of moves. The good ones also tell you when the answer is to change company.
I feel stuck as a software engineer. What do I do first?
Write down what you shipped in the last 12 months and who noticed. If the list is long and nobody noticed, the problem is visibility and scope, and it is fixable inside the company. If the list is short, the problem is the work you are given, and that is a different conversation.
Staff engineer or engineering manager: how do I choose?
Ask what you want to be judged on. Staff engineers are judged on technical decisions that outlive them; managers on the output of people they do not code with. Try the manager side for one quarter as a lead before you commit. Most regret comes from choosing the title, not the work.
Is this mentorship?
No. Mentorship is ongoing and open-ended. Career coaching here is one 60-minute session and a written roadmap within 48 hours. If you want a follow-up after 3 months to check the plan against reality, book another session then.
Free guides on software engineer career coaching
Software engineer career coaching
Roadmap for the next 6 to 12 months lands within 48 hours of the call.