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Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

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Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#21

Post by candiddevmike »

lolinder wrote: post #13
candiddevmike wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is where we as an industry need to embrace unions and let folks like you mentor and train younger developers.

I'm curious if you are relating these two ideas or if you're treating them as separate. Is there a connection between unions and mentorship?

Giving folks a path into IT via apprenticeships would be a lot easier with a union to support/enforce career growth/mentorships. Unions could also help create more developer co-ops that can offer onboarding and retirement.

Somewhat unrelated, I'd love to see some kind of code dividend for folks where you keep earning money from code you wrote (that hasn't been rewritten). I think the IP assignment stuff we all have to sign is ridiculous when it creates so much value. We are signing away our right to future profits.

Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#22

Post by h1n99 »

ramesh31 wrote: post #2

After ten years of reading these articles and imagining what it would be like to reach that level, I now find myself there and asking "what next?". What is the path for a staff level IC maxed out on the payscale? Seeking principal is a political battle I have no interest in. And management simply isn't in my skillset. Am I stuck just slinging Javascript into retirement? Are there any other lateral moves that could pr…

I’m one level ahead of you (L7) but, like, why does there need to be something “next”? I’ll make a seven-figure TC this year. That’s enough! I spent about $50k last year, and I live in New York.

My manager talks about getting me to L8 all the time and it’s exhausting. I’m done! I’ve won the income game! She is very career oriented and cares about climbing the ladder, I do not.

I’ve never actually cared about “career goals” or done “growth” really, I don’t think I’d actually be unhappy if I was stuck at L5 making a mere $400k forever. That’s a really high income, an integer multiple of what my parents ever made.

So my “what’s next” is keep throwing it into VTI and then retire in a few years.

FWIW there were very little politics involved in my L7 promotion, I just wrote a lot of good code and mentored some people to do the same.

Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#24

Post by OkayPhysicist »

candiddevmike wrote: post #21
lolinder wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious if you are relating these two ideas or if you're treating them as separate. Is there a connection between unions and mentorship?

Giving folks a path into IT via apprenticeships would be a lot easier with a union to support/enforce career growth/mentorships. Unions could also help create more developer co-ops that can offer onboarding and retirement. Somewhat unrelated, I'd love to see some kind of code dividend for folks where you keep earning money from code you wrote (that hasn't been rewritten). I think the IP assignment stuff we all have t…

That's literally what we're being paid so much for, and what those stock options we're showered with are for. The idea is that developers build future value of the company, so instead of being rewarded in commission like sales people, we get stock grants.

Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#25

Post by r2_pilot »

h1n99 wrote: post #22
ramesh31 wrote: post #2

After ten years of reading these articles and imagining what it would be like to reach that level, I now find myself there and asking "what next?". What is the path for a staff level IC maxed out on the payscale? Seeking principal is a political battle I have no interest in. And management simply isn't in my skillset. Am I stuck just slinging Javascript into retirement? Are there any other lateral moves that could pr…

I’m one level ahead of you (L7) but, like, why does there need to be something “next”? I’ll make a seven-figure TC this year. That’s enough! I spent about $50k last year, and I live in New York. My manager talks about getting me to L8 all the time and it’s exhausting. I’m done! I’ve won the income game! She is very career oriented and cares about climbing the ladder, I do not. I’ve never actually cared about “career…

I'm not jealous (we've got a great work/life balance and a good mission), and I've heard of those compensation levels before, but something about the way you said "merely 400k" made me realize that those single salaries are more than my entire team(5 sysadmins and a manager)'s compensation.

Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#26

Post by giantg2 »

The real lesson is to join a company poised for rapid growth (bonus points if it turns into a mainstream name like Facebook) and getting lucky as they expand. Try that at a mature company and you'll get nowhere. Do it at the small companies that never blow up and you'll get nowhere. Even if you're in the right company at the right time, there's a good chance someone else will be given the opportunity over you.

Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#27

Post by SwSwinger »

ramesh31 wrote: post #2

After ten years of reading these articles and imagining what it would be like to reach that level, I now find myself there and asking "what next?". What is the path for a staff level IC maxed out on the payscale? Seeking principal is a political battle I have no interest in. And management simply isn't in my skillset. Am I stuck just slinging Javascript into retirement? Are there any other lateral moves that could pr…

You advance in either lifestyle or risk (maybe both). Managers are better equipped to optimize and climb established business structures. ICs are better equipped to create new products or at least jump into a nimble team. Maybe you should take more risk on special projects in your organization, spearhead new technology shifts, or join a startup (giving substantial due diligence to understand the feasibility of a startup business plan from a technical perspective).

Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#28

Post by giantg2 »

mertd wrote: post #3

The article does mention this but worth noting that riding two rocket ships back to back is not going to be a typical career experience for majority of people. So this doesn't strike me as a typical career growth story.

I also wonder how good the advice is coming from atypical experience when the majority of people will never be in those situations.

Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#29

Post by siliconc0w »

I feel like you have a choose your own adventure at these companies:

* climb the ladder - try to be 'in the room' with L+1&2. Get assigned high visibility work, define and deliver some intermediate milestone, declare success, groom perception, etc.

* get hired at a competitor at L+1.

* start a side hustle/lifestyle/real estate business. Subscribe to the FIRE subreddit/podcasts.

* have kids, develop increasingly esoteric personal hobbies, get into fitness/longevity.

Re: Engineer’s guide to career growth: Advice from my time at Stripe and Facebook

#30

Post by giantg2 »

71a54xd wrote: post #16

What if my career history isn't perfect? I'm trying to overcome this now and it's been a real struggle.

If you're in America, you're fucked. One mistake and your marked for life. Be that legal issues, work history, etc. We'll hold that shit against you until you die.

Edit: why disagree?

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