Computer Science Courses You Missed (Part 6: Career Calculus)

The typical college curriculum does not cover what a career in software looks like in general, and neither does it teach you how to select from and tailor the many possibilities based on your interests and strengths in particular.

Much has already been written about the distinctions between IC (individual contributor) and manager roles and you would do well to read a book such as "The Manager's Path" which condenses the topic and can serve as scaffolding as you educate and orient yourself. The book's title may be a bit misleading in this context: it will be relevant to your career regardless of whether you actually plan on becoming a manager.

In the rest of the write-up I will talk about three dimensions of "fit" to explore, which will help you navigate your options and ask the right questions of yourself as well as of prospective employers. The dimensions are: the company, the career trajectory, and your manager (NB: these are equally important and interdependent).

1. The Company

A company has many attributes that directly or indirectly affect your experience on the job, both on a small scale (quarter to quarter happiness) and long-term (growth and fulfillment):

• What is the company size? How quickly will it grow? Which products at the company are growing most rapidly? Which products bring the most revenue?
• What is the company culture like? What behaviors are rewarded? What kind of work is most visible and most rewarded?
• What is the job leveling system in use and which level are you starting at? How long does it take to get a promotion for the next two levels? (What is the minimum as well as typical amount of time? Assuming you are just starting out, you are looking at several promotions that are expected until you reach a level where you can stay through the rest of your career, typically called the "Senior Engineer" level; find out how many years it takes to reach that level from the one where you are starting.)

Small companies often don't have a rigid leveling system in place and such environments require additional due diligence on your part to convince yourself that the company has a good shot at becoming successful (it will be very difficult for your to find career success at a company that is failing). The other side of the coin is that unlike at a larger organization, smaller, rapidly growing companies can indeed offer a strong performer increased impact with minimum bureaucracy; such impact can then be a meaningful signal for leveling even at a more established employer. For example, you may find yourself building a major part of a product at a startup company in your first two years out of college, and then leading a small team (say, 4-10 engineers) in the next couple of years as the company business sees traction; performance like this could easily map to a Senior leveling at a larger company, where it may have taken you 6-8 years: (a) for the right opportunities and scope to open up and (b) for you to prove yourself with increasing levels of responsibility.

2. The Career Trajectory

Just like no two companies are alike in terms of size, growth prospects, and culture, no two positions are the same in terms of the opportunities they will offer to you. In order to make an intelligent choice, you must go beyond the published decription of the role and understand:

• What does it mean to meet vs. exceed expectations in this role? How can your scope and impact grow over time? Note that most modern software companies measure your performance based on your job level relative to demonstrated impact. Impact in turn invariably links back to organizational and company goals. This is why it is important to understand what matters to the company and tie that to your role.
• How is the team positioned relative to other teams in the company? Which other teams are your "customers" or "suppliers"? Is your team directly responsible for revenue and how much? In larger companies, the influence individual teams wield is often related to the revenue they bring in, and this can dramatically affect your individual career prospects.
• Who calls the shots when it comes to product and technical decisions? What are their qualifications?

3. Your Manager

Your manager is quite possibly the part of your job that will make the biggest contribution towards your success or failure. While you can not always select your manager directly, starting a new role is a special opportunity for you to do exactly that, so seize it! Be thorough when interviewing, and make extra time to speak with your hiring manager before accepting your offer. Consider the following:

• Is this someone you can get along with for X hours every day? Does their working style fit your needs and expectations? How autonomous will your work be? How clear are the requirements and overall direction? What kinds of people fit well within the team? Are there particular personalities that tend to be most successful?
• What will you learn from them? How will they support you along your growth path? What is their growth path? Over time you will find that your growth prospects are often correlated with those of your manager: even at a company that allows engineers to switch teams freely, your best bet at growth within a single corporation is demonstrating strong performance under a manager who is themself "high potential" and on a rapid growth path.

Best of luck! ???? The early years of your career are a great time to "take some risks" (the main risk you are taking is the opportunity cost of not doing something else great!). Find what kind of work brings out the best in you, and thrive. ??