Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content for other roles

matthewgrohman.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 259 posts

Re: Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content for other roles

#11

Post by scarface74 »

Maybe I’m either a cynic or a realist. But in my old age (49) I would tell in CS grad who wanted to optimize their compensation

1. “Grind LeetCode and work for BigTech” (c) r/cscareerquestions

2. Read through the leveling guidelines and figure out the politics of the organization.

3. Get on the right teams so you can show “scope” and “impact”

4. Get good at system design and behavioral interviews while you keep your coding interview chops

5. Diversify your RSUs when they vest and save/invest

6. Job hop when needed

Re: Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content for other roles

#13

Post by isaacremuant »

scarface74 wrote: post #11

Maybe I’m either a cynic or a realist. But in my old age (49) I would tell in CS grad who wanted to optimize their compensation 1. “Grind LeetCode and work for BigTech” (c) r/cscareerquestions 2. Read through the leveling guidelines and figure out the politics of the organization. 3. Get on the right teams so you can show “scope” and “impact” 4. Get good at system design and behavioral interviews while you keep your…

To be honest, it's very direct and practical advice.

I'd also add that you have to find a way to enjoy what you're doing or none of those points make sense, but being too passionate/involved can also be a mistake if you forget to be smart around the politics and marketing of career advancement.

Re: Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content for other roles

#14

Post by calvinmorrison »

nickvanw wrote: post #5

I would put it even more simply: just knowing Engineering isn't enough if you want to excel past a certain point, unless you're going to go extremely deep and become a subject matter expert in something (storage, hardware, etc). That is something most people are not going to do, because it requires dedication and to be extremely intelligent. Instead, you can go very far by understanding a job one "hop" from your own…

This is one of the reasons a good ERP tech is often someone who started in business and shifted into consultant role.

Areas where domain specific knowledge outweighs the technical aspects, you need to be cross functional.

And overall - the biggest take away for me is that Computer Science is probably not the right degree for most people. Understanding object notation or algorithms, in my experience is interesting but much less useful than understanding business terms or learning use cases.

Re: Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content for other roles

#15

Post by JohnFen »

I don't "consume content". I read, watch, and listen to a wide variety of things, though, and highly recommend that practice.

My apologies. "Consume content" has become a pet peeve of mine. It's a dehumanizing and overly reductionist phrase, and isn't even technically correct (the best kind of correct).

Re: Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content for other roles

#16

Post by groby_b »

tmnstr85 wrote: post #8

The PowerShell Podcast had Doug Finke on back in mid February of this year, he made a great point at the end of the discussion. Don't be afraid to drive in another lane. Take the opportunity when you see it. In a previous life, I had a management who told me to, "stay in my lane" and this led to a series of events where I ultimately left. Anybody who tries to keep you down or limit you ability to learn and think need…

As a manager who told folks that maybe they should consider what their main lane is: There's nothing wrong with learning a different lane. There's a lot wrong with showing up in a different lane as if you had all the answers.

Our industry is prone to the latter. By all means, explore other lanes, but don't be that guy. By all means, learn, but please do this from a place of curiosity and humility.

Ask people who live in that lane how you can grow. Volunteer for the scut work until you deeply understand it. Be a partner to the people who spent a lot of time growing in that lane, not an antagonist. (I'm sure PP is aware of that, I'm using the generic 'you', not the personal)

Re: Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content for other roles

#17

Post by nickpeterson »

scarface74 wrote: post #11

Maybe I’m either a cynic or a realist. But in my old age (49) I would tell in CS grad who wanted to optimize their compensation 1. “Grind LeetCode and work for BigTech” (c) r/cscareerquestions 2. Read through the leveling guidelines and figure out the politics of the organization. 3. Get on the right teams so you can show “scope” and “impact” 4. Get good at system design and behavioral interviews while you keep your…

I don’t know anything about SV or big tech hiring so I’m sure it’s reasonable hiring advice, I don’t know. That said, boy it sounds like a recipe for burnout.

Re: Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content for other roles

#18

Post by frutiger »

groby_b wrote: post #16
tmnstr85 wrote: post #8

The PowerShell Podcast had Doug Finke on back in mid February of this year, he made a great point at the end of the discussion. Don't be afraid to drive in another lane. Take the opportunity when you see it. In a previous life, I had a management who told me to, "stay in my lane" and this led to a series of events where I ultimately left. Anybody who tries to keep you down or limit you ability to learn and think need…

As a manager who told folks that maybe they should consider what their main lane is: There's nothing wrong with learning a different lane. There's a lot wrong with showing up in a different lane as if you had all the answers. Our industry is prone to the latter. By all means, explore other lanes, but don't be that guy. By all means, learn, but please do this from a place of curiosity and humility. Ask people who live…

> (I'm sure PP is aware of that, I'm using the generic 'you', not the personal)

The English language has a specific word for that: “one” instead of “you”, but sadly this word has become more and more antiquated.

Post reply on HN