121–130 of 179 posts
create a text file, and write down every piece of information you hear. server names, where documentation is, who knows what, etc... I simply call mine "life.md" . This will be invaluable because you won't have to ask twice about a piece of information that you've learned because you'll already have it written down.
Up until now, educators have been required to be clear about expectations (rubrics, curricula, syllabi) and outcomes (grades, certificates, report cards). It varies a bit by profession, but that sort of structure goes away very suddenly once your career starts. In some ways, that structure is already an illusion because many professions utterly ignore grades after only a few years of experience are added to a resume.…
Agree. Not always of high quality, but also for "reality check". For example, you'll have to write a feedback tool yourself (i.e. for a B2B, private software that hundreds of people can use daily), so you get how the users value the product (typical star system with optional comments, etc).
In the corporate world that one skill is what separates the adults from the children in the room.
1) Properly understanding what motivates yourself. What were the key parts of past jobs and activities that made you forget the time of day, do it for free, enjoyable.
2) Seek jobs with lots of the parts identified in 1) that you are confident you can be _bloody_ good at and people will pay you enough for.
3) When you apply for those jobs; apply for the job - tell the recruiter that you have read their advert, what it is that motivates you and that you are worth them spending time on.
For life in general; keep learning.
You'll be fine, but good luck anyway
Set up a financial plan before you accept your first dollar, if you wish to be most efficient. Use percentages, such as saving 10% for long term wealth, and 5% for a fun account so you don't sabotage your financial plan. Learn enough of the tax code in the country you live in so that when you make financial (and employment/business) decisions you are doing so while obtaining the best treatment in taxes, one of our bi…
Also, no matter how hard things get, keep a positive attitude, or at least don’t become negative. People wanna work with people they’d like to spend time around.
Start saving money now and planning for retirement now. The earlier you start the more of an advantage you have. Stick to the 50/30/20 rule: When paid, put 50% into an account for bills, 30% into a savings account, and 20% into an account for spending. Setup auto-billing and never touch bills and savings accounts. Live on less than 50% income and let the extra money in bills account roll over as additional savings. O…
Instead, work to free yourself from needing that system at all. Then you don’t need a life of playing politics and keeping CYA emails from your manager.
2. Work like there is no tomorrow and save like you will live forever. Max the fudge out 401k.
3. Learn about office politics and stay the fudge out of it. Co-workers are human and they will make human mistakes and might hurt you intentionally or otherwise. Grow a thick skin don’t take everything others say or do so personally.
- work on projects you actually care about. I can’t stress this enough. If you take a project or a role for the money, make sure 1) you’re honest with yourself about your reasoning, don’t lie to yourself to sugarcoat it 2) you have a plan for leaving (e.g. taking a role with a high signing bonus so you can pay the down payment on a house or buy land, and leaving after the 12 month probation period so you don’t have to pay it back), 3) consistently checking in with yourself about how things are going. Which leads me to...
- go to therapy regularly, even if you don’t think you need to. and journal regularly. like...on paper, in the morning, with a cup of tea, about your feelings. don’t let things fester, don’t live with regrets or sacrifices.
- have creative hobbies. don’t let your guitar gather dust, don’t let your paint dry up
- enjoy having a lucrative job, but don’t let it turn you into a yuppie. I’m a terrible person to take financial advice from, but I could never do the “high paying job, save 95%” thing - it’s soulless and you want to have fun whilst you’re young or you’ll just be old, financially independent, and bitter about all the things you missed out on. Have fun, eat at fancy restaurants, travel as much as you can. But don’t waste your wealth on expensive yuppie materialist goods either - especially if you end up in London, NYC or SF it seems hard to not blow your money on all of the trendy expensive things that everyone else in tech buys. Spend money on experiences.
- live in community as much as you can. live with lots and lots of roommates because you’re excited about living a life together, and then invest your time in them. Cook with them, hang out with them, do wacky art projects with them, put on events, raise kids with them, build something greater than yourself. Isolation is a disease. The Bay Area has an excellent co-op community - imo no one in the Bay should be paying $3500 to live by themselves in a nice-but-boring studio apartment. It’s SO nice to come home to a house full of people who care about how your day was.
- party more - your 20s will go extremely quickly and I promise you won’t look back wishing you spent more time in an office. seriously. go to that party.
A motto I picked up from a dear coworker at the one Big Corporate Job I had: “tell good stories”. Live a life where you amass interesting anecdotes to tell at dinner parties, or to your grandkids, or to your roommates when you’re stuck in isolation because of a pandemic. “And then I spent 5 years in an office” isn’t an interesting story.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I may suggest (only because I have become a fan of the guy's principles), check out Dave Ramsey and his 7 baby steps. I wish I knew these 35 years ago, I could have avoided most of the "stupid". I know that his ecosystem is about sucking you in and but all his books, but still, if you can phase out the too-much-Christianity bits, he gives some solid advice. (YMMV)
Dave Ramsey is good but I think a sane mortgage can be healthy. Another thing I like about him is being wise with money instead of being cheap. Some places like /personalfinance are focused on being as cheap as possible and I feel like you can’t have fun.
He looses steam when you’re in the actual wealth building phase. Boogle head and other resources are better there. Tax law is hardest and for that it’s probably worth paying someone (once you have >$200k in assets).