Advice
Miscellaneous advice
Advice
- The first rule of career planning: Do not plan your career.- The world is an incredibly complex place and everything is changing all the time. You can’t plan your career because you have no idea what’s going to happen in the future. You have no idea what industries you’ll enter, what companies you’ll work for, what roles you’ll have, where you’ll... See more
Marc Andreessen • Pmarchive · Pmarca Guide to Career Planning: Opportunity
It's all obvious in hindsight.
I had a very detailed career plan when I started my first job in oil and gas. In fact, the company encouraged us to make these plans. Then they'd make their own plans for you. It was probably only possibly because the rate of change there continues to reduce… at least with regards to the things that are important for career planning.
5 years later, I don't have a career plan. I feel liberated.
Don't Call Yourself a Programmer, and Other Career Advice | Kalzumeus Software
Patrick McKenziekalzumeus.com
People early in their career should learn from computer science: meander some in your walk (especially early on), randomly drop yourself into new parts of the terrain, and when you find the highest hill, don’t waste any more time on the current hill no matter how much better the next step up might appear .
cdixon.org • Cdixon | Climbing the Wrong Hill
How to Be Taken Seriously
open.substack.com
Yep, this goes for just about everyone. The CEO of that hot shot new company that everyone loves? He’s probably never run a company before. That director who just started managing other managers? She’s probably only managed individual contributors before. We are all constantly being asked to step up to new challenges and help lead. This is just as... See more
Makinde Adeagbo • Nobody Knows What They’re Doing
Do It Scared
I believe many young people struggle with the insecurity of being intelligent. They often feel the need to prove their intelligence by overthinking, excessively planning, and acquiring knowledge before taking action. However, this approach is a waste of time. The more you research, the more you realize how... See more
jason liux.com
Recently I’ve gotten a lot of inbound from new grads asking for career advice, so I wrote down a list of things I wish I’d internalized sooner.
The key thing: being precocious has an expiration date. Threading the note in its entirety: https://t.co/dW7DAcmyng
Timeless advice:
You need to be good, not good for your age
Be wary of personal mission creep, both IRL and online
Prioritize finding friends and collaborators you'd like to have in your life for a long time
Avoid chasing the red herrings of success
Interesting life paths are generally non-repeatable
Keep your standards everything—but especially for your own conduct—high
Own your mistakes
Forgive your parents, and get to know them. Especially if you are the child of immigrants
Embrace commitment in work and personal matters
Mutual obligations are a gift—cherish them and run towards them
Take your work seriously, but yourself less so