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Career

About working in a job.

To some, the concept of career is controversial. It's also awkward how people identify themselves with their job title. As if work and career is the most important thing as an adult, like which subject a kid is studying in school. On the other hand, some might suggest the biggest growth and the biggest aspect of life for an adult is work and career development. Sometimes not just for the money, but a way of life-long learning and education.

Related pages:

Resources​

  • Pmarca Guide to Career Planning
    • Towards a tech career aiming for a significant impact on the industry
    • View the career as a portfolio of skills and roles, and examine whether the opportunities fit strategically into the portfolio
    • Become the best at one specific thing (hard), or be in the top 25% at two or more things (easier)
    • 5 important skills: public speaking, managing people, sales (convince people), finance, international exposure
    • Challenge yourself, expose yourself to risk, and make tough decisions without good information, without the safety net. Failing and getting back up is the most valuable skill to learn. Start learning it early.
    • At last, never be afraid to be a small fish in a big pond, go where the actions are happening
  • 80000 hours career guide
  • YC Ultimate Startup Job Guide
    • Understanding startup, picking startup, resume, interview, compensation

Sites​

Job Board

CV maker

Salary

  • levels.fyi — tech focus
  • Glassdoor — relatively complete, but I hate it requires an account
  • What I learned at Stripe (HN)
    • Practices in Stripe that the author thinks are good/bad
  • The Underground Economy of Company Reviews
    • The underground economy of adding, removing and analyzing company job reviews on sites like Glassdoor, ranging from freelancers to different online reputation management agencies/services
  • Give a lot of notice when you quit
    • So to leave on a positive note, do only the part of the job you enjoy most, eliminate stress, take unused vacations, and vest more stock while getting paid the same and getting the bonus. Given that you have a good reputation in the team.
  • Inside the Fight for Kickstarter's Union | The Verge
    • The story of creating a labour union in a technology company
  • What workers care about, according to a Post-Ipsos poll | WSJ (2023)
    • People who can work remotely prefer the home office
    • Majorities of workers (>80%) say pay, as well as good bosses, is 'extremely' or 'very' important
    • 61% of workers seek to excel and advance, 33% do their job well but don't go beyond what they're paid for
  • An epilogue to my time working at Twitter | Esther Crawford (HN)
    • Talks about before and after Elon acquisition, what it's like to work there and the danger of being in an echo chamber
    • Before the acquisition, the bureaucratic culture makes engineers to be politicians rather than builders
    • It's like a good reflection of the awesome and terrible things in company culture and working with Elon Musk
    • I like one insight, knowing what you are good at and what you are not:

      Elon has an exceptional talent for tackling hard physics-based problems but products that facilitate human connection and communication require a different type of social-emotional intelligence.

  • My first 5 weeks as an Engineer turned Product Manager
    • How did the 5 weeks go? What did he do? What are the mistakes he made? And what did he learn?

      It's easy to see a good PM do their job, without realizing all the parts they have to keep coordinated in lockstep.

  • Salary negotiations for job offers (HN)
    • Never reveal too much information and negotiate too early
    • Gather information, find leverage, and negotiate at the right time
    • Some examples and sample phrases to use at different stages of job application
  • Why I don't want to grow my freelance design studio into an agency | Nela Dunato (HN)
    • Being freelance is very different from working in an agency, as part of or leading a team
    • Agencies/directors require a degree of accountability and responsibility for others' life
    • Lifestyle business: another form of life, another form of growth, self-expression is also a necessity
  • Working at a Startup vs in Big Tech | Gergely Orosz
    • Startup: learning and impact, with more financial risk, stress and possible failure
    • Big tech: specialization, networking and financial stability, but might feel a lack of purpose, more bureaucracy and misaligned incentives
  • How (not) to apply for a software job | Ben Hoyt (HN)
    • No AI, avoid flowery prose, show your work, don't be too generic and full of buzzwords
    • Some resume tips: don't include all skills, make it stand out
  • 3 ways to balance money and meaning
    • Deferred life plan: solve money problem → do what you want, but it might be later than you think
    • Being bivocational: job for money + side projects, but you might never allocate enough time or never make the jump
    • Integrate: monetize what you enjoy, but values and money might be pulling in different directions
  • How to Choose a Startup
    • Stage: understand what stage of a company to look for
    • Team: founders, the team, talent density, culture
    • Company metrics: user retention, revenue retention, growth rate, etc.
    • Role: role that maximize impact, a fit between expertise and company needs
    • Compensation: important but could be the last to consider
  • Breaking into VC: The Rough Guide
    • One takeaway: top-tier VCs are sell side not buy side, they are selling capital and add value to founders in return for equity in startups. Founders are the one picking capital
  • The undercover generalist
    • Marketing as a generalist is hard, especially as an independent contractor
    • Marketing as a specialist build trust, yet can still put generalist skills to use. Branding makes a difference.
  • Breaking into Silicon Valley | Twitter @andrewchen
    • Tips: meet people, ask for advice and new connections, have a project on hand, build an audience, etc.
  • Finding a New Software Developer Job (HN)
    • A good write up from laid off, to searching, interviews and assignments, salary and offers
  • I ran a background check on a startup
    • Companies often run background check, what about the applicant run background check on the employer?
    • Three areas: legal, financial (valuation & business model) and cultural
  • Salary Negotiation
    • Mindset of salary negotiation, don't be afraid to negotiate
    • Advices and example responses, how to not give out information too early
  • The end of Airplane.dev (HN)
    • Just a nicely written story about working in a startup
  • Choosing startup life
    • The usual comparison, likelihood of success, money, learning opportunity, etc.
    • I found a few tips helpful: deeply introspect and reflect on what kind of startup to work for
    • Follow startup funding announcement to find startup companies
    • It's not startup vs big tech, each company or even each team is unique
  • Why you need a "WTF Notebook" (HN)
    • When joining a new team, write down the WTF moments and observer rather than complain
    • Cross out items that have good reason for it, or it's already known or irrelevant
    • Be the one that solves problem and help the team make progress rather than the one complaining
  • Responsibility Over Freedom: How Netflix’s Culture Has Changed
    • The latest Netflix's memo on the culture that Netflix is famous for
    • The keeper test — "if X wanted to leave, would I fight to keep them?"
    • "The key about the Netflix culture is we really try to systematically think what generates long-term excellence"
  • Postmortem of my 9 year journey at Google (HN)
    • L3 to L6, what worked, what didn't, what's changed, factors that make Google less attractive over time
  • A layoff fundamentally changed how I perceive work (HN)
    • A bit cynical, read HN as well, a bit more balanced
  • From web developer to database developer in 10 years
    • 7 years in web dev but building side-projects on demystifying the web server black box
    • Startups and side projects drive interest into poking at the database black box
    • Write blogs, host community and learn, joining a company that is one of the biggest contributor to Postgres
  • The Ideal Candidate Will Be Punched In the Stomach (HN)
    • What is work for? A long fictional story reflection of modern work
    • A well paid "job", where the only job is to get punched every day, is that OK?
    • That feeling of boredom, dissatisfaction and lack of interest over time

      The way you felt at this most recent job, it wasn’t all that different from the way you felt at previous places. That sense of not knowing what value your work provided, the inkling that maybe you were getting paid a lot of money to do nothing of any real consequence, while at the same time feeling a very real stress and anxiety that the whole thing was just a hair’s breadth away from collapsing and taking you down with it, all while quietly suffering abuse under people who would happily climb over your still-warm corpse to get slightly closer to their own selfish goals. The stomach cramps at this job were novel, yes, but these emotions have been there ever since you started in the industry.

  • Why Work in F1 | Dan Fallows
    • For the purpose, racing, some perks and top level get paid well
    • But stress and pressure can be high, no competition, low starting salary, not as glamorous actually
    • Choose a job because of the job, the day-to-day-work, not the business