Piaw on Careers
It's a strange decade. Workers get laid-off everywhere, while
others seem to be making more money than ever. As a technical
guy, I've seen some good times, and had the fortune to have good
friends pass on advice that's served me well. Here it is:
- Negotiate from a position of strength. When do you have such
strength? When you're first negotiating to work for some place,
or when you've got an offer from some other place. Never try to
improve your current situation by threatening to quit without
an offer standing by. It puts you in a bad spot to negotiate.
- Always keep your resume up-to-date. This is self-explanatory.
- If management acts stupid, then it is stupid. You can try
to change things, and if that doesn't work, start looking for
a job elsewhere. Unless you're an executive, it's very hard to
change things.
- Never give up long-term gain for short-term gain. It's very
easy to get suckered into a comfy job that pays well but does
not give you room to grow. Never let this happen to you. As a
technical guy, your technical growth is dependent on having a
chance to do new stuff and exercise more responsibility. It is
sometimes worthwhile to take a pay cut for that opportunity, especially
if stock compensation is available.
- Always accept an offer of management responsibility. This
is because 90% of the time, if you don't accept it, they'll find
someone else to manage you. And 50% of the managers out
there won't do as good a job as you will, because most managers are stupid.
I've lost count of the number of times I've seen technical guys
refuse management jobs, only to find that the manager that ends
up getting hired just isn't any good, and then they have to leave
a job they used to like anyway. If it turns out that you hate
management, then you can always quit.
- Keep your technical skills up to date. Enough said. This should
be obvious.
- Network. Spend time with friends and other co-workers. This
is long term stuff that should never be neglected. You never know
who the next offer will come from.
- Be nice to people. Nice guys finish first!
- Subscribe to technical (and other) magazines in your field
and read them!
- Whatever it is that you're getting paid, you're not getting
paid enough. But that's ok as long as you like your job.
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