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Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

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Re: Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

#91

Post by rabidrat »

snorkel wrote: post #70
hb3b wrote: post #34

Strategically burning bridges when appropriate, putting forth a will-do attitude even if it means doing things outside scoped responsibilities, and just being kind to people.

strategically burning bridges? Sometimes it’s tempting but I always tried to leave each gig on good terms, no hard feelings, no matter how good or dysfunctional the situation was, since you never know when past connections can be helpful later on. Curious to know when is it helpful to burn the bridge.

If a manager was mean to the woman on your team, and you stood up for her and called him out and maybe taken it to HR and thus burned the bridge with that manager, the woman and her team might be much stronger connections in the future.

Re: Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

#92

Post by kamaal »

snorkel wrote: post #70
hb3b wrote: post #34

Strategically burning bridges when appropriate, putting forth a will-do attitude even if it means doing things outside scoped responsibilities, and just being kind to people.

strategically burning bridges? Sometimes it’s tempting but I always tried to leave each gig on good terms, no hard feelings, no matter how good or dysfunctional the situation was, since you never know when past connections can be helpful later on. Curious to know when is it helpful to burn the bridge.

If you have enemies, or for that matter people who just hate/envy you, the bridges are burnt no matter on what terms you leave. They will just be happy to see the end of you.

Don't burn bridges is for relationships where people like each other.

Strategically burning bridges is cya in a way that you benefit while leaving, leave others wondering before they deliver a blow.

Re: Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

#93

Post by pragone »

profalseidol wrote: post #79
pragone wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely! I found that I was spending an inordinate amount of time in front of a computer and not interacting with anyone. I also was extremely disappointed with a general lack of self-improvement; I think part of that was that I just graduated, where I was used to everyone constantly studying and working to improve themselves. These experiences may have also been in the minority in the industry, but they were my e…

Most doctors I've talked to, my Pulmonologist, and doctors that do the checkup during company required medical checkups talked like robots. Saying the same sentences every patient every day gets old fast. I remember one doctor playing his gameboy while waiting for the next patient in his very small examination room. That looked to me very uninteresting. What do you think? Edit: My Dad however long ago, a GP, had his…

Very interesting observation! I would say that that is definitely a stereotype - accurate, but not as common as you might think.

For me, the real difference is every patient's response - some (many?) doctors treat the job as a job. For me, this is a calling. I'm there to help every individual (in my case, in the emergency department). So every interaction is unique because every patient is unique. I go through roughly the same questioning and physical for most patients, but the interaction, their responses, how we get along, etc. is always, always different. I could see two patients with the same exact problem and do the same exact things, and take away two completely different experiences.

To analogize to computers, its as if you ran the same program on different computers and got a slightly different result each time. Or perhaps that each terminal responds slightly differently. Though I suppose in those contexts it'd just be annoying/frustrating... it's not a great analogy lol

Re: Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

#95

Post by pragone »

wallflower wrote: post #73
eragone wrote: post #39

Changing careers. Left software to become a doctor. I'll graduate in 7 months.

Congratulations! How did you make it through Orgo? I assume you had to take some undergrad courses in Biology and Chemistry prior to applying. I have a relative who did the same thing. She is now a doctor.

Thank you!

I was fortunate to have completed all prereqs through my bachelor's degree. I worked in software for 3 years or so, then left to go to med school.

Re: Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

#96

Post by dudeinsf »

Leaving my small(ish) town and taking a chance in the Bay Area.

I wanted to validate my skills after being passionate about building software as a kid; it worked, I convinced a unicorn startup to hire me and moved into management where I'm able to save much more money. I went from 60K to 285K with over 500K in options vested in 4 years.

I've had so many growth opportunities and now I manage multiple teams with influence over the strategy for the company. This has allowed me to develop the skills to see software as more than just engineering, but a business, and understand the hard problems of motivating very smart people around me. I would never have guessed this was possible for myself.

You'd be surprised what you will learn if you just "go for it".

Re: Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

#98

Post by sdenton4 »

sidcool wrote: post #87

Is a Master's degree worth it in Computer science? I am very interested in operaing systems and distributed computing.

Grad school is a great thing to do if it suits you. If structuring your own time leads to side projects and deep diving in a technical area, then you've probably got the right drive and self determinism to do decently in grad school.

Just avoid dreaming too much about tenure track jobs and you'll have a great time. (Well, so long as the program doesn't suck. Do your research...)

Re: Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

#99

Post by snorkel »

phakding wrote: post #25

There is no loyalty in business. Keep your loyalty for your family and may be friends, not for the company you work for. The company will never be loyal back. Have an opportunity to make more or work more interesting? Grab it with both hands. If you are 99.99% of the workforce, you are not indispensable no matter how much you think you are.

So true! When you experience sudden group layoffs you realize rescuing the balance sheet matters far more than retaining good talent. I once had a boss tell me “Working here should be your career. Don’t treat this place like just another notch on your resume.” Sorry boss, but it might be just a footnote on my resume. I’m only staying here as long as the work and the pay is satisfactory otherwise I’m already interviewing someplace else. Nothing personal boss, it’s just good business.

Re: Ask HN: What was the best decision you made in your career?

#100

Post by twblalock »

iopuy wrote: post #58
hackanewz wrote: post #40

Teaching myself to program. Nothing caused such a hockey stick in opportuinities. I was able to make way more money in a very short time period and work in much more interesting companies. I never took anything so seriously in my life as when I decided to become a programmer. I bought dozens of used textbooks, read and meticulously underlined them, relentlessly wrote code and read all the programming interview books,…

Wow 360k is insane. Are you still hands on keyboard or strictly a manager? Mind sharing what industry this is that can afford that salary? Thanks.

As a salary, that would be high. As total compensation (salary + bonus + RSUs/options) it’s not uncommon for managers or senior individual contributors at large tech companies.

The stock compensation is a big deal after several years if the stock does well. The initial grants can become worth a bit more than they started at. Also, at senior or management levels the raises get smaller and the stock grants get a lot bigger.

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