511–520 of 783 posts
You don't try to get promoted in engineering. You do a kickass job, and those above you notice and promote you or at least give you a raise/bonus. Now that sounds naive, but the reason this works is because you are actually in power. You can easily find another job granting you more pay, especially with something like Google on your resume. In my 20+ years of software development I've never asked for or even pursued…
(either new Senior hire, or joined Google within the past 2 years)
Google is changing the promotion process such that managers have much more power (for all promotions up to level 5 == senior swe). Previously it used to be, as Michael says, very much in the hands of the committee members who never heard about you or even your team. Now the committee will be composed of your manager and some other two managers from a related team. The committee will not see your own promotion rationa…
To author: you lost the political game. I busted my ass at a startup for years and also lost the political game. So I'm speaking from experience here. You can either get all mad and worked up and pissed off about it, and waste years of your career (as I did) being pissed off, stubborn, and refusing to change. Or figure out how to play. I'd like to think there are places with better politics but I think it's pretty en…
"In the first place, nobody "works for themself". You might work for customers, or clients, or whatever, but not "yourself"." nail on the head... so many people don't get this simple fact that if you DO NOT have clients, you DO NOT have a business. You can't ever "pay yourself", some outside entity have to pay you for your product.
To author: you lost the political game. I busted my ass at a startup for years and also lost the political game. So I'm speaking from experience here. You can either get all mad and worked up and pissed off about it, and waste years of your career (as I did) being pissed off, stubborn, and refusing to change. Or figure out how to play. I'd like to think there are places with better politics but I think it's pretty en…
As a junior engineer, what the best way to learn about and master the political game? I feel like it all goes way over my head. Does anyone have any recommended reading?
My advice would be to just try to keep people happy, primarily your manager and your manager's manager. Some people are saying to focus on metrics that make you look good, and that might work at some places, but it won't mean people enjoy working with you.
My advice? Be honest, don't be scared to admit when you're at fault, solve problems, help people when you can. Networking is great, but don't be the guy who only BSes and doesn't get things done. You need to be someone people like to work with. If someone needs to send someone else to you for whatever reason and they say "Go check with popcat, he's awesome and knows this really well", that person is going to see you in a positive light from the get-go. Reputation is more valuable than any metrics can be.
Also, communicate with your manager often. Suggest improvements, mention problems, and ask for advice. Put yourself in their shoes - What you you want them to tell you if you we're the boss? Listen to podcasts like Manager Tools if you want to gain knowledge of large companies operate. It will be a huge help when trying to land a big raise or promotion.
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"In the first place, nobody "works for themself". You might work for customers, or clients, or whatever, but not "yourself"." nail on the head... so many people don't get this simple fact that if you DO NOT have clients, you DO NOT have a business. You can't ever "pay yourself", some outside entity have to pay you for your product.
I know people who have quit full time jobs to write algo trading software for themselves to use -- the market pays them but I wouldn't call it a customer.
To author: you lost the political game. I busted my ass at a startup for years and also lost the political game. So I'm speaking from experience here. You can either get all mad and worked up and pissed off about it, and waste years of your career (as I did) being pissed off, stubborn, and refusing to change. Or figure out how to play. I'd like to think there are places with better politics but I think it's pretty en…
The difference is, you don't have one boss... So your risk(s) are well diversified (or, at least better than if you're an employee).
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I think the author said it in the article: Optimize for promotion. Work from day 1 to game the metrics. If it helps your metrics, do it, if it doesn't approach with caution. If you start that from day 1 you'd be 2 years ahead of the author. Honestly, it sounds like a really shitty way to live. I personally prefer doing great work and having faith that it will work out. It has, a lot slower than that, but I'm proud of…
To add on to this, many jobs won't have good metrics in place, so promotion will depend on emotion and cognitive biases. Learning how to work these two factors is crucial.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suppose that depends on what you categorise as 'high reward'. I basically mess around writing software—something I like doing—for 6 hours a day, attend a few meetings, and every month somebody deposits a ludicrous amount of money into my bank account. And I'm not even working for one of the larger companies with correspondingly better salaries. I'm certainly not going to become a cash millionaire off the back of it…
Just clicking on your profile I see you work in London. From what I can tell most programmers don't get paid 'ludicrous amounts' there. Though maybe you have a rare role, or maybe you just have a very low threshold for what you consider ludicrous.
People routinely get paid £100k straight out of university to write code in London, just not in the tech scene. Total comp in the financial sector with 5 years experience is commonly £200k.
Which is not 'ludicrous' but more than you might imagine from seeing £40k job postings in the web dev sector.