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

A career-ending mistake

bitfieldconsulting.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 211 posts

Re: A career-ending mistake

#111

Post by mckn1ght »

mettamage wrote: post #62
tossandthrow wrote: post #2

This approach to careers fails to take into account that we inherently change as people. In periods of ones life other things matters - maybe it is taking an education, starting a family, etc. Other periods work matter. It should be entirely fine to switch it on and off and change tracks throughout life - and in my view it seems like it is! To reach a peak it takes roughly 10 years, but these 10 years can be started…

Well said: I think in this sense, flexibility is key.

As well as knowledge of, and honesty with, oneself!

Re: A career-ending mistake

#112

Post by rakejake »

tossandthrow wrote: post #103
rakejake wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the OP is talking about whether to focus on running the race or not, but rather which race to run. As you grow older, the number of open tracks diminishes and that is the point the OP is trying to make. While one can change tracks at any time, success is far from guaranteed. Being a distinguished engineer at 40, one cannot suddenly decide to enter the track for CFO or CEO. The track for that accepted en…

I don't think the number of open tracks diminishes. But I do think we generally focus. When one is 55 it is probably not too interest to attempt to go into the race to become and investment banker. Not because it is inherently impossible, but because there are more interesting opportunities. Or at least: I think this narrative is the most productive, and the one I will stick to.

Depends. If one had been planning to shift tracks earlier in life but something got in the way, there would be some disappointment that the window for that track had passed.

But your narrative implicitly signals acceptance of one's station and a realistic assessment of the tracks still open which is probably the right way to go.

Re: A career-ending mistake

#113

Post by K0HAX »

dbish wrote: post #100
BurningFrog wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OTOH, this can be a case of the "if everyone around you is a jerk, the jerk is really you" rule. If you can't work well with any manager the common denominator is you. It's also the only thing you can change.

This. I’ve known many an engineer who thinks their manager is bad because they don’t do what this IC (who has never been a manager or knows that is happening at the company above them) would do. The kind of people who think Elon is a bad CEO. Results are what matters first and foremost in tech

An employee not knowing what's happening at the company above them is a fault of the manager. There are some things that need to be kept secret, but if it's not one of those things, secrets are not a good thing.

Re: A career-ending mistake

#114

Post by ghaff »

CooCooCaCha wrote: post #45
paganel wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with that is that it drains away your life energy in your late 20s and throughout your 30s, and in fact it's not only about draining one's energy, let's say that would be fine up to a point, but it drains away your purpose in life, and, in the end, your will to live. I refuse to believe that there are people whose purpose in life is to be a manager/VP, and, if they are, they might as well be walking corps…

The only way I know how to deal with this is FIRE. Investing as much as possible and working towards early retirement or semi-retirement so that you can at least live a good chunk of your life. The world we live in still sucks away the best years of your life but at least you don't have to wait until your 60s to live the life you want. You can also work on side projects in your spare time that will hopefully accelera…

>you don't have to wait until your 60s to live the life you want

But, at least at some point in your life, doing work within a company may provide that life. At some point, you're done. And that point may vary. But many people wouldn't really love (or at least benefit from) a bunch of money dropped in their lap when they graduated from college.

Re: A career-ending mistake

#116

Post by tolciho »

madeofpalk wrote: post #13
tschellenbach wrote: post #3

It's not true that in all companies you have to chose between tech and management. It's true in some companies. But at many companies lead and director roles are very hands on. At Stream a lead is 80% technical, a director roughly 50% sometimes more. And even VPs and up are still somewhat technical. I think the idea of management without technical excellence track is just misguided. Small teams, technical excellence,…

There is also a difference between being a capital-L Leader, and leadership. Healthy companies have space for technical leadership that is different from being on the management track to being CEO.

Healthy companies may have CEO with domain specific knowledge of the field. Airbus, for example. Unhealthy companies may have capital-L Leaders living off in capital-L Lalastocklandia who have not done so well by various measurements, such as their planes falling from the sky, or stranded lowearthorbitnauts. Boeing, for example.

Re: A career-ending mistake

#117

Post by reshlo »

frmersdog wrote: post #75
Ancalagon wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is IC offensive? I’ve never considered it to be. “Resources”, on the other hand, feels very offensive.

Well, taken at face value, it is a bit of an oxymoron. To contribute is to be part of a group; by definition, a contributor can't be wholly independent, because they're adding to a corpus, not producing it by themselves.

It stands for Individual Contributor, not Independent Contributor.

Re: A career-ending mistake

#118

Post by bitwize »

sokoloff wrote: post #60
paganel wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very fact of calling "computer programmers" as "ICs" is part of this syndrome, I'm not sure exactly when it started showing up, I'd say it was popularised by FAANGs, so maybe 2015-2016-ish?

I've heard the term (or "individual contributor") since at least the first dotcom boom in the late 90s.

It's been in use in engineering for decades now. My father was familiar with the term in his career, and he's pre-boomer.

Re: A career-ending mistake

#119

Post by ghm2180 »

Does someone know how to find good IC coaches that can mentor a mid-level(ish) engineer 8+ YoE? I have issues with rejection and I am working on them.

I am a generalist, and I have been struggling with how to find opportunities myself by connecting to people 1:1 and discussing first hand the nature of the problem and whether I can help them with it. I imagine a coach help me typically with forming a coherent career statement and pointers on how to have these conversation.

Re: A career-ending mistake

#120

Post by cushychicken »

I like this authors frame of reference. Independence is definitely my goal.

I want to get to a point where I can start an independent EE consultancy, then slowly get more and more selective about my clientele, until I choose to stop working.

Post reply on HN