What's next for Principal Software Engineer?
Explore career trajectories based on data from millions of professional social network profiles. See the paths people take, the roles they grow into, and how careers evolve over time.
Career Flow Over Time
Above zero: People still in this role. Below zero: Where they went after (stacked by destination).
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Where They Come From
Previous roles people held before becoming Principal Software Engineer.
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Career Transitions by Time Period
Top roles people move into after Principal Software Engineer, broken down by years after.
| Role | +1 yry | +2 yry | +5 yry | +10 yry | +20 yry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Software Engineer | 35.4% | 36.8% | 36.5% | 35.1% | 31.6% |
| Software Engineer | 16.9% | 16.9% | 20.7% | 19.7% | 17.5% |
| Staff Software Engineer | 12.5% | 11.6% | 10.1% | 11.0% | — |
| Senior Principal Software Engineer | 11.9% | 9.9% | 6.7% | 5.7% | — |
| Software Engineering Manager | 7.0% | 8.1% | 7.2% | 6.6% | 7.0% |
| Software Architect | 5.9% | 6.3% | 6.1% | 5.7% | — |
| Lead Software Engineer | 5.4% | 5.4% | — | — | — |
| Engineering Manager | 5.0% | — | 5.2% | — | — |
| Principal Engineer | — | 5.1% | — | 7.5% | 12.3% |
| Director of Engineering | — | — | 7.6% | 8.8% | — |
| Retired | — | — | — | — | 10.5% |
| President | — | — | — | — | 7.0% |
| Software Development Manager | — | — | — | — | 7.0% |
| Director | — | — | — | — | 7.0% |
Where They Go Over Time
Top roles at each career milestone after becoming Principal Software Engineer.
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Unexpected Career Paths
The Unfiltered Job Title Gallery
Not everyone follows the corporate playbook. Here's what people actually call themselves.
Brutally Honest
- No pretense here
Self-Employed Royalty
- CEOs of themselves
Startup Speak
- The classics never die
Unexpectedly Specific
- Niche is an understatement
Aspirational
- Dream big or go home
Wait, What?
- Not exactly job titles
All titles sourced from real professional profiles. We couldn't make this up if we tried.
Grayed out = real titles, but not enough data to analyze
25 Years of Growth
Jobs That Keep Growing
Some careers didn't just survive the decades - they exploded.
The sexiest job of the 21st century
Getting paid to tweet
Mom, I made it
Plumbers of the data world
SaaS created a whole profession
Unemployed but with followers
SEO, SEM, SMM, OMG
Tech pipelines got serious
Mental health finally matters
We all need someone to talk to
Filling the doctor gap
ABA therapy boom
Destigmatization works
Everyone has a therapist now
Everyone is a founder now
Because founding alone is hard
Unemployed with optimism
Chief Everything Officer
Namaste became a career
Instagram changed everything
Housing boom = agent boom
Getting paid to yell at people
Content hungry internet
Guidance as a service
Everyone needs content
Self-publishing revolution
Creative economy rise
Streaming needs actors
Boomers are retiring
Honesty as a job title
Work-life balance achieved
Reclaiming the title
Growth reflects people listing these as job titles on professional profiles
The Other Side
Jobs in Decline
Automation, industry shifts, and changing consumer habits are reshaping the workforce.
Python ate their lunch
Oh, wait...
Absorbed by other roles
Title went extinct
OCR and automation
ATMs won
Mobile banking happened
Branch closures
E-commerce sends its regards
Stores got smaller
Lean management
Fewer stores, fewer keys
Amazon sends its regards
Everyone is a "server" now
Subway footlong decline
HRIS replaced them
Title consolidation
Now just "ICU Nurse"
Military downsizing
Voice recognition AI
Generic titles fading
Automation in labs
Promoted themselves to "scientist"
Budget cuts
Grad school contraction
Rebranded to BCBA
Doctors stopped listening
Spellcheck came for them
Smaller army
Service programs shrinking
Decline in people listing these as job titles on professional profiles
Data-Driven Insights
The Changing Labor Market
Fascinating patterns from analyzing millions of career transitions over the past two decades.
Top 30 Job Titles
2025, from social profiles
Based on job titles listed in professional social network profiles. Entrepreneurs dominate - "Owner", "President", and "Founder" reflect how people present themselves online. Note: "Retired" and "Student" appear because people list these as their current status.
| # | Job Title | People |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Owner | 2,262,610 |
| 2 | President | 1,054,560 |
| 3 | Retired | 574,340 |
| 4 | Registered Nurse | 556,530 |
| 5 | Project Manager | 552,280 |
| 6 | Business Owner | 533,440 |
| 7 | Founder | 503,560 |
| 8 | Manager | 435,960 |
| 9 | Teacher | 432,820 |
| 10 | Administrative Assistant | 404,690 |
| 11 | Chief Executive Officer | 377,590 |
| 12 | General Manager | 371,410 |
| 13 | CEO | 370,060 |
| 14 | Realtor | 352,780 |
| 15 | Software Engineer | 347,160 |
| # | Job Title | People |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Sales Associate | 326,350 |
| 17 | Office Manager | 313,570 |
| 18 | Director | 308,390 |
| 19 | Account Manager | 305,590 |
| 20 | Operations Manager | 305,280 |
| 21 | Partner | 300,160 |
| 22 | Vice President | 296,400 |
| 23 | Associate | 259,140 |
| 24 | Principal | 256,800 |
| 25 | Customer Service Rep | 250,790 |
| 26 | Real Estate Agent | 248,340 |
| 27 | Student | 242,460 |
| 28 | Co-Founder | 241,110 |
| 29 | Consultant | 240,860 |
| 30 | Account Executive | 235,480 |
Note: 2025 data includes profiles through early December and may be incomplete.
Exploding Jobs
2010 to 2024
Tech titles dominate the growth charts. "Customer Success Manager" didn't exist before SaaS. Mental health awareness drove healthcare roles. Social media created entirely new career paths.
| Job Title | 2024 | Growth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Health Technician | 36,070 | 32x | |
| Customer Success Manager | 35,180 | 28x | |
| Content Creator | 39,200 | 28x | |
| Data Engineer | 38,700 | 26x | |
| Social Media Manager | 72,530 | 23x | |
| Software Engineer Intern | 32,780 | 19x | |
| Digital Marketing Specialist | 23,250 | 16x | |
| Product Owner | 17,210 | 14x | |
| Business Development Representative | 31,390 | 12x | |
| Talent Acquisition Specialist | 30,250 | 12x |
Collapsing Jobs
2010 to 2024
Automation, digital transformation, and changing business models have reshaped entire industries. Banking moved online. Retail shifted to e-commerce. Voice recognition replaced transcription.
| Job Title | 2024 | Remaining | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programmer Analyst | 5,470 | 46% | |
| Crew Leader | 2,850 | 44% | |
| Lead Teller | 2,640 | 50% | |
| Teller | 15,240 | 59% | |
| Medical Transcriptionist | 5,670 | 59% | |
| Customer Service Rep | 8,200 | 53% | |
| Senior Systems Analyst | 3,480 | 61% |
Nearly Extinct
Professions fading away
Peak 2010: 6,100
Peak 2005: 22,100
Peak 2012: 30,400
Peak 2011: 25,500
Peak 2008: 61,600
Peak 2000: 3,100
COVID Impact
2019 to 2021 surge
94,100 → 218,000
32,500 → 76,400
49,700 → 113,200
38,200 → 86,900
15,100 → 32,600
11,100 → 22,800
Cyclical Jobs
Following election and census cycles
The most cyclical job title in the dataset. Spikes every election year, dips in between.
Census workers - hired every 10 years for the national count. Massive spikes, then nearly zero.
Other Cyclical Roles
Title Evolution
Old titles replaced by new
AI Threat Watch
Jobs to monitor
Based on patterns from Medical Transcriptionist's decline, these roles may face similar pressure from AI automation.
Fun Facts
Interesting tidbits from the data
"Various" was a top job title in the 90s - people didn't know how to fill their profiles properly.
Colonel peaked in 1992-93 (post-Gulf War) at 3,290, now down to 1,000.
Enumerator is the most volatile job - 0 to 11,430 and back every 10 years.