Live data from Hacker News

Veteran engineers (10 yrs exp+) advice needed

news.ycombinator.com

41–44 of 44 posts

Re: Veteran engineers (10 yrs exp+) advice needed

#41
Treat each job as a university course you're being paid for. Most jobs, if you fuck up, nobody dies. In other words, don't kill yourself over it, it is not war. You're there to learn the material and get a passing grade.

And once you are finished learning, it is time to move on. Ask yourself regularly: What did I learn today? When day after day for several weeks your answer is "nothing", it is time to move on.

Make one or two close friends, and make friends with everyone else.

Re: Veteran engineers (10 yrs exp+) advice needed

#42

Treat each job as a university course you're being paid for. Most jobs, if you fuck up, nobody dies. In other words, don't kill yourself over it, it is not war. You're there to learn the material and get a passing grade. And once you are finished learning, it is time to move on. Ask yourself regularly: What did I learn today? When day after day for several weeks your answer is "nothing", it is time to move on. Make o…

this is great advice, its so easy to get caught up in doing that you forget that you actually aren't learning much.

Re: Veteran engineers (10 yrs exp+) advice needed

#43
Going on 22 years or so, but the best move was going to a small, bootstrapped startup. I was Engineer #2, and after a couple years, also was the lead for the "org" which included a few other Engineers and a couple offshore people.

My responsibilities ran the gamut from zero to one architecture and software development, answering the phones, product management, running our infra, managing the budget, and everything else. I gained such a broad view of how things work, what customers want, sense of product, etc. that it's helped every other job I've had since.

Re: Veteran engineers (10 yrs exp+) advice needed

#44

You are a mercenary. * Loyalty does not exist (company, coworkers, etc) * You dictate pay for the work you do (or leave the job) * You dictate your own hours (overtime is your own choice not company's) * Strive to always provide maximum value (efficiency not time spent) * Focus on keeping a core set of skills sharp * Quit if conditions are untenable When a person does the above, they start focusing on how to provide…

> Loyalty does not exist (company, coworkers, etc) I can't quite call myself a veteran engineer yet, but loyalty and positive relationships with coworkers is a huge boon. I agree that companies will often screw you. Manager and policies can change in an instant and they only look out for their self interests. But coworkers? Find great coworkers that you work well with and you will always have job opportunities. If a…

A network of current and ex-co-workers is valuable. The point I was trying to make was that a person shouldn't stay in a position solely out of a sense of comradery or loyalty to one's co-workers.
Post reply on HN