Career tips for our 2020 interns

Speaking to our intern class is my favorite talk of the year. While this year I missed having the connection in-person, I still felt the same excitement on the Teams call – excitement for the future of tech and the world. There is so much knowledge, energy and passion coming from our interns which makes me hopeful even under these challenging circumstances.

Although I end up learning more from the interns than they ever will from me, I thought I would share the advice I gave them when they asked me about tips to grow their career.

Let me preface this advice by first saying that it has been my experience that there is no magic plan or strategy to grow a career. I have seen people go from team to team, or company to company, with the goal of growing skills and climbing the career ladder, while I have seen others stay in the same type of job for many years, and there are plenty of successes either way.

At the same time, there are some tactical tips that I consider when I’m assessing my own career, which I’ve distilled down to these 3 questions:

1) Do I enjoy what I do?

You will spend a lot of time at work. It’s easy to get caught up chasing a salary or cool perks, but most people will tell you that the novelty of that will wear off and what you’re left with is your day-to-day responsibilities. You want to spend your time doing something that interests you and that gives you purpose.

When you are in college, it’s difficult to predict the skills and areas that will be most successful many years from now. When I was a PhD candidate in the AI Lab at the University of Michigan about 25 years ago, I was actually told that I would never get a job in that field. At the time AI was a pipedream. While it’s easy to laugh now at how wrong they were, I was taking a career risk, but I chose to keep an AI minor since it sparked my curiosity and challenged me.

Looking at my job now, often people ask me why I have worked on search for so long, as it’s been over 10 years. Sometimes I ask myself that question. Ultimately, working in search has brought much purpose and meaning to my life. I have been able to apply AI skills that I learned in college and, more importantly, I have a strong conviction that search is a critical technology for humanity and I don’t think it’s good for any single company to dominate. Search quality in markets where there’s little competition is significantly worse. As I’ve experienced this dynamic over the years, I’ve been more and more motivated to help bring competition and innovation to search and remain passionate about the space.

So, my first and most important tip is that you ask yourself this question, find something you enjoy and are passionate about, and stick with it – at least for a good while!

2) Am I fairly recognized and valued?

Whether it’s a job offer or your compensation once you’re in the workforce – you should be fairly recognized for the work that you’re doing. You’re going to encounter moments where you get passed over, where your peer gets promoted and you don’t. It won’t ever feel good, but sometimes, if you really examine the circumstances, you’ll acknowledge that you have more work to do to get to the next level. At other times, your situation will truly be unfair, and you will need to advocate for yourself. If that doesn’t lead to a change, and you feel that something is off and you’re not getting the recognition or the compensation you feel is truly deserved, then you should look at other opportunities and start a new journey.

3) Do I have sponsorship?

Your network is one of the most valuable things you’ll develop over your career. And it starts while you’re in school. Keep in touch with friends and classmates, it’s amazing how helpful it is to have a network to reach out to for advice, recruiting and career development. I like to have different types of people that I get advice and help from. I have peers, mentors and even reverse mentors – people early in their careers with a fresh perspective. As I grow in my career, I find reverse mentors offer some of the most insightful and valuable advice and that’s why I so enjoy meeting with our interns every year.

Sponsorship really needs to be from a leader or someone senior to you and who has visibility to your work. These relationships need to develop over time and somewhat organically which can be frustrating – you should be able to find a mentor easily, but you’ll need to earn a sponsor. That said, look out for those leaders in your organization who value and champion you. If you have someone like that, make sure to cultivate the relationship, and if you don’t have anyone yet, work with your manager and start by finding a mentor.

Please keep in mind that you may not have checks on all items on the list at a given time, and that’s OK, as long as you believe you’re close, or on a path to improve across all of them.

These tips can be helpful as you reflect upon your career, but do not over-optimize or worry too much about them or about designing an optimal strategy. Again, there is no such thing as a magic career plan. It is more important that you focus on working hard to make an impact in your area, and that you never stop learning. Furthermore, living with values and principles, like being respectful, honest and generous is, in my opinion, just as important as product or business results. Though there may be some ups and downs along the way, with a strong work ethic, constant learning, and positive values, careers usually take care of themselves and will ultimately grow in the long run.

What career advice do you have for the intern class of 2020?