Ask HN: How do you become more "responsible for your own career?"

5 pointsanoojb1y ago1 comments

"You are responsible for your own career."

I've been told this by multiple people at the large tech company I work at, mostly by former $AMZN employees who have come to expect little/marginal investment from managers in highly competitive markets.

This is a stark contrast from my time in startups. (I guess I count myself lucky). The only difference I can perceive is that the two environments have different constraints.

I wonder if anyone has been able to thread the needle between being lost in a large company and still growing, while also not quite being ready to do a startup again?

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AnimalMuppet1y ago

I'm not sure I'm quite answering your real question, but:

1. Look around at your job and people in nearby jobs/careers. What do you need to learn now for the next five years of your career? (What do the people five years more senior know that you don't, plus where is the whole industry moving?) Learn that. You make sure that you learn that - don't depend on on-the-job training or a job assignment. (If you get a chance to learn it on the company dime, of course, take it.)

2. Places are good places to work only until they're not. You don't have to stick out a terribly job for 50 years. If your BigCorp (or your startup) has an environment that you find soul-draining, wait a few months to see if it can improve. If not, leave. Don't wait forever for them to fix it for you. Go find something that fits you better. (There are companies that are somewhere between FAANG and startups.) Take a bit of time - you want to go somewhere that will be better for you than where you are, not just somewhere different.

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