Don't End The Week With Nothing

You don't have to optimize for "sexy" projects. You know, sexy projects: I don't know how to describe them but I know it when I see it. Most engineering work isn't intrinsically sexy. I would, however, optimize for impact and visibility.

Write about those lessons as you learn them. If at all possible, publish what you write. Even if it is published to an audience of no one, you will be able to point people back to it later.

This could mean working on particular projects within the organization which like external visibility (e.g. Android) rather than projects which don't (e.g. AdWords)

Human capital -- the skills you've built up over time and the value you're able to create as a result of them.

Reputational capital -- the way your name rings out in rooms you aren't even in, simply when your topic of expertise comes up. (Hopefully in a good way!)

Thus my first piece of advice: if you have the choice between multiple jobs, all else being equal, pick the one where you are able to show what you've worked on.

Social capital -- the ability to call on someone who trusts you and have them do something in your interest, like e.g. recommend you to a job.

If you cannot gain exposure at your day job, try to get some exposure outside of it. Network actively. You don't have to have an audience of thousands for an audience to be worthwhile -- for landing a new job, having an audience of one hiring manager is a darn sight better than having no audience at all. Blog and collect an email list. It's old and... See more

I realized something which is fundamentally true of a lot of day jobs. Nothing I did at the job mattered, in the long run. No matter how much I spun, nothing about my situation ever changed. I worked my week, got to the end of it, and had nothing to show. The next week there would be more emails and more tickets, exactly like the week before. The w... See more

A lot of day jobs structurally inhibit capital formation.