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Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

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Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#41

Post by verelo »

scarface_74 wrote: post #10

Context: I was an early strategic technical hire by a director/manager/CTO 3 times to help execute process changes and lead new initiatives healthcare SaaS companies between 2014-2020 and then started working in strategic cloud consulting since then where I am brought in to get developer, operations and the “business” to be better aligned and/or to lead new initiatives. I’m currently a “staff software architect” at a…

This is an amazing response. In particular this.

>> "Disrespect current processes. What you call “legacy code” was done for a reason, is generating revenue, solving real world problems, and the reason you have a job"

I'd summarize and simplify your "What to do" by simply saying: Be curious but not annoying.

We have an extremely background (3x Founder/CTO + A bunch of other things). The largest issue I would find with new hires is simply a lack of curiosity and a desire to "perfect" everything without an appreciation for "why". It comes across as extremely arrogant and ignorant, and even more so when the individual becomes frustrated when they're not given free reign to implement their suggestions.

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#42

Post by rolothrow »

jkingsman wrote: post #6

Keep lab notes! I keep detailed daily notes of what I've learned, code I've run, what my todo list is, etc. in markdown. Getting in the daily habit helps you not go "eh I don't need notes for this" and is a GODSEND come review time when you need to write a self eval. When I onboarded at a larger (10k people) company, I asked my manager for people who did a similar role to me across the company and asked for a fifteen…

On the topic of notes: are there any standard formats you prefer: I've been guilty in the past of ending up with a chaotic endless MD and I'd like a bit more process

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#43

Post by mmmBacon »

#1 Listen #2 Listen More and be patient. #3 Resist the urge to fix things that aren't broken. It may not be the way you would do it but recognize this as an opportunity for you to learn. #4 If you do items 1, 2, and 3 you will see where you have an opportunity to contribute constructively.

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#44

Post by jmholla »

rolothrow wrote: post #42
jkingsman wrote: post #6

Keep lab notes! I keep detailed daily notes of what I've learned, code I've run, what my todo list is, etc. in markdown. Getting in the daily habit helps you not go "eh I don't need notes for this" and is a GODSEND come review time when you need to write a self eval. When I onboarded at a larger (10k people) company, I asked my manager for people who did a similar role to me across the company and asked for a fifteen…

On the topic of notes: are there any standard formats you prefer: I've been guilty in the past of ending up with a chaotic endless MD and I'd like a bit more process

Not the OP, but I've ended up on a good note taking pattern that works for me. I create a new folder each week with the week number of my time of employment as the name. Then, all notes for that week get put in that folder. I don't know why, but this works for me. I think knowing there's a place for them that I know I can find them later lowers the activation energy I need to take notes. Also, I put the top-level folder in my `CDPATH`.

It's not a process, but I found this gives some structure to the chaos.

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#45

Post by cjohnson318 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #23
scarface_74 wrote: post #10

Context: I was an early strategic technical hire by a director/manager/CTO 3 times to help execute process changes and lead new initiatives healthcare SaaS companies between 2014-2020 and then started working in strategic cloud consulting since then where I am brought in to get developer, operations and the “business” to be better aligned and/or to lead new initiatives. I’m currently a “staff software architect” at a…

On point 4: keep these work-focused. Don't ask about families, hobbies, "what are you passionate about," what sports they follow, etc. Fine to discuss that if it they volunteer it, but as an developer I always felt put on the spot by those sorts of questions, even if they were meant with friendly intent.

Very important to be able to read the room on this one. Some people love to talk about themselves, and are turned off if you do not engage with them. Others are very private and don't want to discuss anything outside of work. A fair number of people are right in the middle.

A good strategy is to listen to other person, read what they want to talk about, and ask follow-up questions in that direction. Is the person only talking about work? Fine, talk about that. Did they mention their favorite team, or offer up an anecdote about their partner? Then follow up on those.

I find this all very difficult. I don't like asking personal questions because it feels like prying. I don't like talking about myself or my family until, like, at least a year goes by. But, everyone is different, and it's important to meet people halfway, not just wherever you are, on the social spectrum.

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#46

Post by valbaca »

verelo wrote: post #41
scarface_74 wrote: post #10

Context: I was an early strategic technical hire by a director/manager/CTO 3 times to help execute process changes and lead new initiatives healthcare SaaS companies between 2014-2020 and then started working in strategic cloud consulting since then where I am brought in to get developer, operations and the “business” to be better aligned and/or to lead new initiatives. I’m currently a “staff software architect” at a…

This is an amazing response. In particular this. >> "Disrespect current processes. What you call “legacy code” was done for a reason, is generating revenue, solving real world problems, and the reason you have a job" I'd summarize and simplify your "What to do" by simply saying: Be curious but not annoying. We have an extremely background (3x Founder/CTO + A bunch of other things). The largest issue I would find with…

I'm curious what word was missing from this

> We have an extremely ??? background (3x Founder/CTO + A bunch of other things).

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#47

Post by bloke_zero »

Try and talk to the other seniors? Last time I joined (fully remote) I asked all the other seniors for a 1 to 1 - not all replied but I learnt a huge amount about past projects, what people would have done differently and where the pain points were. Meant I could get a jump on the issues rather than find out slowly. You also get a sense of the weather and who you can vibe with. Oh yeah, taking notes about everything!

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#48

Post by ryandvm »

scarface_74 wrote: post #10

Context: I was an early strategic technical hire by a director/manager/CTO 3 times to help execute process changes and lead new initiatives healthcare SaaS companies between 2014-2020 and then started working in strategic cloud consulting since then where I am brought in to get developer, operations and the “business” to be better aligned and/or to lead new initiatives. I’m currently a “staff software architect” at a…

Great list - especially the "what not to do". The most self-destructive thing you can do is be the new guy that shows up talking about how everything is shit and needs to be rewritten with your favorite stack. I have seen so many autist senior engineers come in and completely self-sabotage their employment with that move.

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#49

Post by scarface_74 »

lmeyerov wrote: post #20

Assuming not management track: - Make a token commit day 1 or 2 to show you can and will deliver, even if just docs. Ensure you can go end-to-end on a real code PR week 1, even if a trivial one. Identify which area of code is most important for you to learn, vs not learn, and focus there. - Get agreement on week 1 / month 1 / q1 goal for you+team+co with your direct peers, manager, skip level. Assuming a startup, als…

> Make a token commit day 1 or 2 to show you can and will deliver, even if just docs. Ensure you can go end-to-end on a real code PR week 1, even if a trivial one. Identify which area of code is most important for you to learn, vs not learn, and focus there.

Even if you are not on the management track, as a “senior” developer, your first goal is to understand the business, the organization, etc.

I would not be committing code until I had a good understanding of the “why”.

For a senior developer thinking about the leveling guidelines I’ve seen first hand and the ones that are publicly available, coding is not the highest value you should bring to the company.

If I were to priorities your bullet points it would be the second, third and then the first.

Re: Ask HN: How to approach first days on a new job as a senior engineer?

#50

Post by dave333 »

Building a reputation is important. Can you make a contribution immediately? I was pulled into a firefight where the biz folks were micromanaging the tech folks with twice-daily meetings, with little progress being made. Two or three obvious and immediate fixes later I was able to cut the meetings back to daily and after a few more to weekly.
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