You may think a career is an old fashioned concept out of the 80s which could be safely ignored. I sure used to… I thought a career was for banking...
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What a succinct, helpful post!
I think the key to "going against" any of these principles is to do so with self-awareness and intentionality. E.g. taking a step back from networking to be explicitly more relaxed or heads down for a period, or intentionally "getting comfortable" in order to avoid the possible stress of keeping up with the latest everything.
If you stop networking or get comfortable because you're just on auto-pilot and not paying attention, you're going to have a bad time when you notice you're pretty out of touch and grumpy about all the new things that come out.
That's exactly where I was going with this - you should be intentional about whatever it is you want instead of letting things happen to you.
Yeah, great stuff.
Well, I will have to rethink my strategy and long term plan. one thing that stands out here with me is, "blaming others for things I cannot control", I will try to avoid this as much as I can, it is bad energy to me.
Thanks for this article! (4) hits really close to home for me, and honestly challenges me a bit.
I think I have a bit of impostor syndrome, and I tend to reduce my achievements -- sometimes ones that I worked on for a while -- down to a sentence. I'm trying to be super intentional (like you said) about having a todo list, tracking the things I've crossed out, and telling people about what I've been up to. It's uncomfortable, but I'm slowly feeling better about it 😊
Fantastic post, as someone who is coming from another background to a Dev career, I couldn't agree more with you, specially about the underselling and recognition topics.
Being able to manage these two points is a critical part of one's professional life!
What an excellent post!
I'm guilty of falling foul of #4 from time to time, so it's nice to see two contrasting examples from your experience which shows how to position yourself in the best light possible without necessarily bending the truth. This has definitely given me some food for thought!
Just wanted to say thank you for an excellent post, Rina. I've bookmarked this article and will use it as a reference every few months to stay aligned with my goals and values. Thanks again and stay safe!
That post resonates with me so much!
I found myself "going with the flow" for way too long time and it took me quite a few therapy sessions to realize that it's me who has the power and control over my life. It feels so much better to go with purpose and "own" successes and mistakes as well.
Thank you for the reminder and a solid piece of advice!
This is remarkably well written, and coincides with my own learnings over the last 14 years or so.
I strongly like the "[not g]et comfortable" part. An airplane wing is a good metaphor. The wing is the part carrying most of the aircraft's in flight. It's designed to bend slightly under stress. If the wing's not bending, it means that the plane is on the ground, and is not going where it should be going.
Following the lingo a couple of companies I worked for, I typically generalize what you described as "all or nothing outlook" into "playing to my strengths"; i.e., while there are many people stronger than me at their chosen profiles of work (for example: doing UX design), it might still be up to me to choose a position and a work profile for which I'm one of the most relevant people around.
I love modern life and how intelectuals speak philosophy.
This is life advice:
Blame others for things you can control
Blame yourself for things you can't control
I understand we as motor of the capital call it work ethic...
This is a great article, thanks! Not networking enough and not getting too comfortable are definitely things I've had to watch out for in my career as well; networking, especially, does not at all come naturally to me.
The point on being intentional about stuff resonated with me; my therapist has given me basically the same advice, actually. I have to remind myself of that quite a lot.
Good article, i’ve heard some of the same ideas ‘here and there’, but to have them all collected is boon for someone who’s reading these fir the first time.
Also, why do i seem to write in run on sentences?!?!
Excellent read, thanks for the insight.
I liked your tips, some of them I have already picked up, but others I don't think I have heard so eloquently stated. Especially your story about the past 6 years, telling the truth in two diverse ways carries significant differences, one sounds like success, other like "meh". That was big, thanks!
I am going through a bit of a redesign of my career trajectory. I am in my mid-forties, a degree in CS that I have hardly touched, and have been an individual contributor my entire IT career. Currently a sales engineer at a very lucrative software company. I feel like I am ready for leadership, not climbing a technical ladder. And your writing, I certainly hope, is going to help me. Or it's just reading and understanding that I need to be my own cheerleader, and take charge of my own career, not expect others to do it for me.
Thanks again!
Thank you so much for this post! I had a conversation with my manager the other day and realized that I've been under-communicating my contributions and leadership on my team. Especially now, when most of us devs are working from home, it's important to document and communicate your successes. Really, this post was great. I'll be sharing with my network.
Such a great great read!
Loved this part of networking... "Start by thinking of what you can do for them, not what they can do for you." reminds me of a chapter of How to Win Friends and Influence People :)
Super useful advice, thanks for sharing.
'Don't give up, adjust your expectations to what you can achieve and don't compare yourself to others (too much…)'
I resonate with this very much as a parent myself. I do have the tendency to think colleagues without young children have an edge over me as they have all the time in the world to just focus on their career while I pull my hair apart trying to juggle it all.
Nice write-up, I've shared with friends.
Extra point:
Be overly friendly and do bad puns and jokes and push your colleagues and bosses where its hurt.
[tl;dr]
Personal Story ahead:
One of my boss - and investor and CFO in the startup where I worked - had the family name of "Ferrari". He was a well tailored pretty stereotypical young and rich Italian who work with financial and law.
One day, at a Friday casual grilling party, I asked him, how many people joking around with his name, and do he has a porshe or Ferrari in his garage (he was investor and millionaire).
He went from 0 to batsh*t immediately, and asked, how do I know he does not posses a Ferrari? And I answered simply, because then the key would be at my hand and test drive it to not let catch dust in a parking slot. He wasn't pleased with the answer, and I wasn't his favourite after all.
Funfact: After a couple of years I learned, he failed every single investment and startup what he worked with.
[/tl;dr]
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Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed the article. The "Do the work and wait for recognition to come" section really hit home with me.
Great post!
Presenting it in the negative is the right way to have us hold up a mirror. :)
Thank you for sharing examples from your own experience to hammer points home.
Really interesting read. It touched me when I know I've blamed my self for things I couldn't control. But there's always tomorrow.
Brilliant article, thank you!
Very good and comforting text
Great post!
Some of the most useful, relevant and original career advice I've read in years. Like a breath of fresh air! Thank you
Good advice! Thank u.
Whoosh. Interesting points. I like the part about expecting to be recognized for your work. I gotta change my game plan. Thanks very much. Very insightful
Thanks for this post! Super helpful :D
Great post, very well articulated. Thanks for sharing.
Great post and perfect timing ! Thank you very much !
Totally agree on #2
I strongly agree with first item: Don't plan ahead. Success is not created by random. A ship can not find its way if it left to itself.
Awesome post i really like it and is very helpfull to reflect back and keep moving by making the future better.
Brilliantly put together. Loved it. Did felt myself making few of these time to time :)
I got a lot of lessons here thanks for the post.
I am 18 years old and a dev backend. my dream world class developer
That's a nice read.
Great post, thanks!
Very impressive read.
Great, great post! Thanks for sharing such great advice. I am rethinking my career at this moment and all this great information will help me a lot.
Really great post! Full of actionable advice. And so timely, I'm about to have my annual goal setting meeting. And naturally, always thinking about where I'm heading.
Thank you <3
What a great post! Had a minor setback today, but this hit home right when I needed it. Thanks!
No.5 suits me...😩