Hello Post

This article comes from a recent self-reflection on the things I wish I had started doing earlier in my career and the things I wish I had done differently.

What I am sharing here may be useful to any junior to mid-level developer who wishes to improve and progress toward the title of senior and beyond.

Table of Contents

· My Career Evolution
· Things I Wish I Had Started Doing Earlier:
∘ Write a Work Log
∘ Leave the Comfort Zone
∘ Be Curious About Other Teams and Projects
∘ Join the On-call Team
∘ Change Teams
∘ Write Blog Posts

· Things I Wish I Had Done Differently:
∘ Be Careful When Introducing New Things to the Team
∘ Do Not Let Your Emotions Take Over in Front of the Team
∘ Dip a Foot Into the Hiring Market
· End Thoughts

My Career Evolution

Before diving into the main subject, here is my career evolution:

1. I interned for three months at a startup (which quickly became a scale-up) company.
2. After that, I did a full year of work-study, spending three months at school and nine months at work.
3. Then, I got hired as a full-time software engineer and kept this title for three and a half years.
4. Quickly after the introduction of the tech career ladder, I got promoted to senior software engineer. I kept this title for three years until I left the company, at which point the tech teams accounted for approximately 200 people.
5. I joined as a software engineer 2 at a company with thousands of tech employees. Despite the title downgrade at the second company (see Big Tech Hiring is Conservative — But Why?), I have been trying to keep the same responsibilities (and more) as before.