My learning about attaining corporate software employment, and I know there are numerous exceptions, is:
* Make yourself as replaceable as possible.
* Plan B, enter management and be good at managing people.
bdangubic•19m ago
> Make yourself as replaceable as possible.
On the list of top-100 things SWEs need focus on to have the most prosperous career this one is 1 through 95
denismenace•16m ago
Can you expand on that? Seems very counterintuitive
austin-cheney•3m ago
A couple of things:
* Employers do not heavily invest in training. They over invest in hiring/firing. If you want to shine at candidate selection time you need to look like that perfect guy who they can fire with minimal risk and replace you with a 22 year old.
* Employees that over prioritize in retaining their current employment, such becoming that irreplaceable center of attention that keeps all the lights on, you are high risk. Nobody likes high risk.
* Software developers tend to prioritize all the wrong things. They tend to prioritize things that make their own lives easier at cost of everything else. You can label that immaturity, autism, sociopathic, or whatever. The result is the same. Employers have real product decisions to make and you aren't on that same line they will consider you as a potential redundancy for elimination, because you consume more resources as an employee than you deliver as a developer.
rvz•22m ago
It never was.
The lies we continue to keep telling the next generation.
entropicdrifter•8m ago
For real. My dad got his MBA and proceeded to lose his job within 4 months and never got another one in the tech field again thereafter. Everyone said they couldn't afford him. He went on to do SAT test prep, blackjack dealing, and nowadays teaches bridge on cruise ships as his retirement job.
llbbdd•7m ago
Most degrees are just advancing levels of verifying you can walk and chew bubble gum simultaneously, follow instructions, show up on time. Being able to attain a Master's is a side-effect of having that skillset but doesn't necessarily instill it, and employers generally don't care as long as you've demonstrated that capacity outside of school.
austin-cheney•30m ago
* Make yourself as replaceable as possible.
* Plan B, enter management and be good at managing people.
bdangubic•19m ago
On the list of top-100 things SWEs need focus on to have the most prosperous career this one is 1 through 95
denismenace•16m ago
austin-cheney•3m ago
* Employers do not heavily invest in training. They over invest in hiring/firing. If you want to shine at candidate selection time you need to look like that perfect guy who they can fire with minimal risk and replace you with a 22 year old.
* Employees that over prioritize in retaining their current employment, such becoming that irreplaceable center of attention that keeps all the lights on, you are high risk. Nobody likes high risk.
* Software developers tend to prioritize all the wrong things. They tend to prioritize things that make their own lives easier at cost of everything else. You can label that immaturity, autism, sociopathic, or whatever. The result is the same. Employers have real product decisions to make and you aren't on that same line they will consider you as a potential redundancy for elimination, because you consume more resources as an employee than you deliver as a developer.