10 years at AWS... Thankful

Today marks my 10th work anniversary with AWS and I get my red badge. From starting my career here as a new college grad, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with amazing and talented people who have taught me more than what I have learnt my entire life. So humbled to have had good teams, managers, and mentors who have helped me grow these 10 years and continue to be my pillar of support. Cheers to many co-workers who turned good friends and everyone for supporting me throughout this journey.

I also decided to share some learnings that I do internally here. These have helped me along the way and I hope it will help you in one way or other.

1. Always continue learning: If there is one thing with technology, it changes so rapidly. Challenge yourself and learn every day. This will help you in the long run. Use the internal resources available to learn a new skill, improve your writing etc.?

2. Build your network: Take time to connect with people on a regular basis. These can be folks from your team, cross-org etc. We are a large company and it is important to build your network.?

3. Learn to balance yourself: As you grow, your scope of role increases, more people will come to you for opinions, help. It is completely upto you on how you balance your work and personal time. Dont expect someone to help you in this area, ensure you take breaks, vacations and have time to do things like interviewing, speaking or whatever you enjoy doing. A number of folks get burnt out easily not doing this. Your calendar is in your control and you have to take some time each week to prioritize and manage it.?

4. Talk to customers: At the end of the day, the innovation we work on or the products we build is for our customers. Talk to your partners and customers to ensure you get their feedback. This is the base of everything we do here at AWS so ensure you are talking to your customers.?As your role changes or scope of work changes, make a conscious effort to have these conversations.

5. Dive deep: No matter what role you are in, you are expected to dive deep to understand our business/technology etc. Surface level knowledge is not going to help you here, make the time to dive deep and know your business.?

6. Ask questions: A number of us including myself tend to be shy in meetings. Ask questions, get things clarified. Imposter syndrome can kick in and it takes time to speak up. If you are invited to a meeting, that is because you feedback is valuable, take the time to ask questions and provide feedback.?

7. Get comfortable disagreeing and being challenged: If you dont agree with something, be ready to speak up with data. People welcome your challenge as it lets them think in an area they probably havent thought before. At the same time, be ready to disagree and commit and move forward when needed.?

8. Be willing to take new opportunities: Last year, I was at a point where I needed to challenge myself and I am happy I decided to take a new opportunity to explore this path. I moved away from my comfort role into this role and I cant tell you how much I needed this. It has in the short time showed me new paths can be challenging but incredibly valuable.?

9. Get yourself a mentor: I am incredibly grateful for the support I receive from my mentors. I talk to most of them on a quarterly basis and some more regularly. They are my sounding board, people who I can go ask for feedback or share my crazy ideas. And take time to mentor others and pay it forward.?

10. Have fun, Be empathetic and build relationships: We are all hard-workers. Take time to have fun with your team/peers. You need to enjoy your work for it to be sustainable. Be empathetic and build relationships. I have more friends at AWS than anywhere else. Some have become very close family-friends.

It is Always Day 1. I am looking forward to 2023 and all the innovation ahead.?