Build a career in a large organization. Tips & tricks

I wanted to share with the community my own observations on the career of a techie.

Information is based on experience in large western offices that make real products. Everything stated below does not claim to be absolute truth.

Let's start over: you are a fresh graduate of those. high school. You are 22-23 years old, all life is ahead and she is beautiful. In this beautiful future there is, most likely, a wife-model, a house — a full bowl, several cars, and the first million by the age of 30.

Career seems a bit vague, but in general, it is clear: we are beginning to work actively and efficiently, we are undoubtedly noticed and promoted. Many films and books promise us exactly that: work a lot and work well -> and everything will be fine.
')
You get a job, your title is an engineer or a developer. You have colleagues. Almost all of them are older than you. And here you may notice that at the same level as you, there are very old people. Right 30-40 year old men, maybe even 50 year old “old man”. And many of them also graduated from similar universities, and many are not stupid at all, but somehow did not work out with career growth ...

It turns out a good university, diploma, intelligence, performance, a good first job is not a guarantee that you will grow in the hierarchy.

What is needed in order to "grow"?

To begin to choose a direction . They really are not very many. I would say only three:

• A) Technical path => chief engineer, architect. Responsible for technical decisions and understanding of what needs to be done. Constant search for the “least evil”, search for a balance (no perfect solutions). A lot of talk and struggle to reduce technical debt.
• B) Managing people => people manager (team lead, group lead). Responsible for the development of people and their productivity, the resolution of internal conflicts, talk about wages, dismissal, hiring, etc.
• C) Project Management => Project Manager. The ultimate responsibility for the product. Planning and planning a plan to follow and compel others. Decision making with incomplete information. Ability to be calm under stress.

It is necessary to realize that each next step in a career brings buns in the form of a higher salary, but it also brings more hemorrhoids. Therefore, in the beginning it is necessary to find out, and how much will the income increase? Maybe it will not even cover the cost of sedatives and antidepressants ?:)

But suppose that indeed, you will enjoy the next step. (This is actually a necessary and most important condition!) How to get there?

First, we will dispel the myth that "there comes through hard work, which will undoubtedly be noticed and appreciated"

To do this, put yourself in the place of your manager (person from point B.) He has people like you 30. He has his own bosses, his own goals, budgets. He physically cannot know in detail about what you are doing and how. Now the end of the year is coming up and the question of evaluating employees, promotions, and salary increases must be addressed. The first thing that the manager does is looking at the list according to estimates. For some, this will be news, but in large offices the norm comes down: how many% of workers should stay at their level, how much to get a salary increase, how much should be transferred to the next group, and how much to be reprimanded. After that, he looks at what he knows exactly about the employees: all the feedback from other people and especially managers.

This is the main argument in raising and lowering: what others are saying about you!

You can be super-expert and do a great job, but if it is imperceptible from the outside - your rating will be “normal, nothing special . ” You can work for 20 hours a day and get this comment for it: “I see that you work a lot. Others have time to do everything in normal time. It seems to me that you have very low efficiency, since you need to stay so long. ” (this is not a theory, it is from real experience)

Summary: to increase the need for positive feedback from the colleagues of the manager, and even better from the head of the manager.

Your real work successes are secondary . Especially if someone else could "cash them". Example: you made / decided / saved, and someone else sent a letter with this news to high management. That's all! Now his name will be associated with success, and yours (which was mentioned in the letter) will be forgotten, because the high manager only read the subject of the letter and remembered the one who sent it.

Another important point: you are trying to grow in a large organization -> a lot of people around. You need to learn to behave with them, so as not to annoy, but ideally like and be respected . Therefore, the ability to keep up the conversation, listen carefully, imperceptibly give a compliment, read and express non-verbal signals is very much more important for a career than learning newfangled one-day technology. The same applies to the appearance and neatness. Try to dress and look like people in the position to which you aspire. It also awakens the ancient instincts of the type "he is his."

By the way, about instincts, they cannot be ignored and you need to know yourself . If you are “omega”, and tagging into a group where all real “alpha” => makes no sense. Even if you get there, happiness will not be added. Conclusion: one should try to “pump” the signs of alpha: do not lower the eye, speak slowly, do not fuss, keep shoulders straightened, do not slouch, do not make excuses.

The higher you go, the bigger the policy will play . Things like: never go to a meeting to discuss an important issue if you know that your allies are not there. Do not expect that you will be able to convince everyone at this meeting. In fact, before the meeting, you should discuss the topic with one another, get the agreement from the majority. And the official meeting itself will be only a formality. If you do not do this, and your opponent does, then you will be really discouraged as your ideal logical arguments are broken by a simple “no” from the leadership.

One more thing: fear stagnation . Once you start, it is fairly easy to get a positive momentum. From junior to regular engineer - easy. We must try to maintain a positive vector, if it is clear that the dynamics have stopped and there are no chances to develop (they don’t trust the responsible tasks) => change the group, department, and boss. To get stuck on the plateau is easy and after several years on it => it is almost impossible to get out. This is exactly how the old developers, who have not caught the wave and will stay in their places until retirement, turn out. And this is terrible. Due to the fact that if the office is covered with a copper basin, then it will be difficult to find work outside the same salary level. After all, sitting in one place your salary is somehow, but growing. You become an expert in the product of your company (this is taken into account in your salary), but if the office does not, then nobody needs this experience. And you will compete with much younger people who are willing to work for less money. And these young people will know not only those technologies that you know, but also many new ones. If you are in a position that physically cannot be trusted with young people, then you are much more protected when moving to another office.

Therefore, this brings us to the next point — your boss . Look at it carefully, feel if there is a “click”. If not, if he looks at you simply as a "resource" that works more or less well in its place - there will be no growth. Your manager should promote you, if he does not do this - change the manager.

UPDATE to the last point: it makes no sense to swear with the manager. Even with care. He will give you a good recommendation, and if you leave with a scandal => nobody would be better off

Something like that. I hope someone will help.