Enduring the Proper Struggle as a Software Engineer
The November 15th, 2021 edition of The New Yorker published an article that got my attention and I wanted to share my thoughts on it as it relates to the careers of software engineers amid the Great Resignation. It is a book review titled "What Doesn't Kill Me" in which Meghan O'Gieblyn speaks to how adversity is the price we pay in return for the wisdom and personal improvement we earn in our lives. It's a really well written review and she speaks a little to clinical trials where researchers have studied something called "post-traumatic growth". If we are able to navigate through certain crises in our lives, the end result can be higher psychological function and finding more joy out of life. So with all this said, let's dive into the careers of software engineers and see what kind of value they would get in return for their struggle.?
We start out with the encouragement and aspiration to get good grades in school. As children, the goal of most parents is to create a loving and fun world that is void of any form of struggle. Economics and household stability certainly play a role in that. We enter high school on the path of developing our identity and looking to discover what we are good at and what we enjoy doing. If college is in the picture, we hope to pursue a degree in a field of study we find interesting and brings out our special talents.?Upon graduating from college, we search for a job at a company that we like and a role comprised of duties that we enjoy doing every day. We collaborate well with our co-workers, we believe in the company mission and we hope for a bright future where we get promoted nicely over the course of 7-10 years. Ultimately, we find ourselves in a position of leadership. We all know that life has its ups and downs but whether it be career coaches, the media or even our family members, the message is embedded into us that we must find a job that brings us a good amount of happiness on a regular basis. To a degree, being happy at our jobs correlates with a sense of accomplishment.?If we go a period of time not being happy in our jobs then we have conversations with ourselves and others close to us about making a change and finding something else.?
Make no mistake, in the current world we live in, being happy at your job is critical. In no way am I discounting that. However, I wanted to comment a little on the valuable benefits that software engineers can realize when they experience the right form of struggle and adversity.?The classic "What do we get for our pain?" argument.?I recently caught up with a web developer that has a CS degree with six years experience and already at his third employer. He was on another active search and when I asked him why he was looking and here was his reply,?
Well, there has been about 50% attrition in our software engineering org, including our Engineering Manager, so I figured I might as well leave too. As for money, I'd like to get 180k base.?
In this labor market where money is being thrown around like wildfire, his request wasn't too much out of line. But this engineer is now looking for his fourth employer in six years so it's starting to be clear that the minute something goes wrong at his job, he's out the door. We all want to be happy at our jobs. I couldn't agree more with that. But as a software engineer, I do ask you to seriously consider the adversity and hardships in your career and make the distinction between the ones prompt an immediate job search and the ones that warrant sticking in and seeing things through to the finish line.?
It can be pretty easy to identify reasons to immediately start a job search. It could be a greenfield project you were working on that has been paused and you're put on maintenance. It could be that your company had plans to upgrade from Angular to React.js but that was cancelled. If either of these events happened at your company, I wouldn't blame you for getting antsy and wanting to look around. After all, your own professional development is being stalled and if you find a company that gets you back in the trenches, why not interview with them? I've said it many times over the past year but we are in a period of the Great Resignation and there is a lot of motivation for engineers to quit their jobs and find something new. That said, let me share a quick hypothetical with you and discuss what it could mean for your career.?
You're 26 years old and you're a midlevel engineer with a company that you have employed at for two years now. Things are going well but just last week, your company's VP of Engineering received a massive offer from Google that just couldn't be turned down. To immediately address this void, the CEO promoted your Director of Engineering into the VP role. But now who is going to run the day to day operation of the team??Someone needs to become an engineering lead for your group and while you're wondering who this is going to be, before you know it, the company promotes one of your teammates. He is 28 year old and his name is Nate Forman. He is the new Technical Lead.?
You and Nate have always gotten along just fine but historically, you've been peers and now he's your boss. You have been pretty happy at this company but with all of these changes happening so quickly, this definitely qualifies as a shakeup. A peer has been promoted to your team and you're not sure how things with go with him as a boss. To further add to this turmoil, there have been two more resignations on your team.?A couple of engineers were sour grapes about this because they felt they were best qualified for the promotion and thus sought out another company.?
So Nate's taken the reins and is running the show. In addition to your workload and stress levels having gone up, you now feel a sense of risk by staying at this company.?Would this be a good time for a fresh start? Every evening when you log out of work, you begin processing the following events in the context of what impact it will have on your career,
The adversity and hardship you're experiencing is made up of exertion in the name of a more demanding work schedule as well as the risk that comes with remaining loyal in the face of this leadership turnover. There is no crystal ball to predict the future and you have no idea what you are getting yourself into by staying at this company. But I'm here to tell you right now that the end result of this adversity and hardship would be an amazing victory for you. Sticking in and working as hard as possible while putting your faith in Nate's leadership, 12 months from now, you're set for life. I'm serious. This would be classic case of enduring a form of struggle that would result in a great career going forward. You took a big risk by putting your trust in a new engineering leader and doing everything asked of you. This included working longer hours for the same pay. But because of all this, your level of function as a software engineer has increased significantly. Not only have your technical skills gotten much stronger but you've been able to manage your stress and keep your focus throughout this entire time. In a moment when other engineers would panic and flee, you maintained your cool and kept the ship moving straight ahead. Years later, you will look back at this specific period and realize it was a seminal moment in your career. Another huge benefit from this hardship you've endured is that your sense of happiness as a software engineer has greatly increased. Quite frankly, you will be a lot happier in your job. A strong argument can be made that the only way to find this kind of happiness in your chosen profession is to endure the proper form of hardship. Such as the example I describe above.?
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The first paragraph of this post made a reference to post-traumatic growth. Now, if we encounter some changes in our job, I would not label the events as "traumatic". I save that term for personal events that happen in our lives. However, the example I describe here is definitely one of adversity and hardship. Any engineer under 30 years old who experiences something like this at their job would be thinking seriously every evening about what he/she was going to do. Hop on Indeed and start applying to jobs or stick in and follow Nate's lead? If you went on trust, swallowed a little pride and endured this struggle, it would represent a life changing moment for you. Instead of running out the door, you took on adversity and you won.??
We have a hot labor market going into 2022 and I continue to see software engineers looking around for a variety of reasons. They might be doing it simply to make more money or there was a small hiccup in the Engineering org and they feel it is time to go. If you do encounter some changes at your job, I urge you to privately discuss your feelings with any close friends or colleagues whose opinions you value. If you aren't growing in your career and you feel like you have stagnated then yes, make the move and get out. However, if this period of adversity is defined by a more demanding work schedule and putting your trust in another individual, I suggest viewing this as an opportunity to take your skills to greater heights. What kind of engineer will you be once you emerge from the other end of this tunnel? See where this extra level of effort and trust in another human takes you.?
Look at it this way:?You really have got nothing to lose and you'll only come out a stronger and yes, happier software engineer with a true sense of accomplishment under your belt.?
Thanks,?
Mark Cunningham
Technical Recruiter
512-699-5719
Accomplished Engineering servant leader with cross-functional Executive experience.
3 年With vacuums, there are opportunities. Of the new leader, I encourage asking the question "What can I do to help make you successful?". This not only shows your support, but helps to build that relationship and likely creates new opportunities for yourself.
Founder @ NimbusAI
3 年Great article, Mark. I'd go a step further and say if you're not putting yourself into situations that challenge you like this, you are likely not growing into a leader (if that's what you care about). When things are going smoothly, it's easy to get complacent about growth.