←back to thread

413 points martinald | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.24s | source
Show context
BigHatLogan ◴[] No.46196834[source]
Good write-up. I don't disagree with any of his points, but does anybody here have practical suggestions on how to move forward and think about one's career? I've been a frontend (with a little full stack) for a few years now, and much of the modern landscape concerns me, specifically with how I should be positioning myself.

I hear vague suggestions like "get better at the business domain" and other things like that. I'm not discounting any of that, but what does this actually mean or look like in your day-to-day life? I'm working at a mid-sized company right now. I use Cursor and some other tools, but I can't help but wonder if I'm still falling behind or doing something wrong.

Does anybody have any thoughts or suggestions on this? The landscape and horizon just seems so foggy to me right now.

replies(13): >>46196851 #>>46196962 #>>46196968 #>>46196974 #>>46197019 #>>46197168 #>>46197251 #>>46197415 #>>46197469 #>>46198271 #>>46198452 #>>46202024 #>>46204332 #
1. rramadass ◴[] No.46202024[source]
> but wonder if I'm still falling behind or doing something wrong.

This is normal with all that is going on in the industry and the AI/ML hype. But, one should not allow that to lead to "analysis paralysis".

> specifically with how I should be positioning myself. ... Does anybody have any thoughts or suggestions on this?

You have a stable job; hence your entire focus (for now) should be to "grow" in your job/organization. This means taking more responsibilities both technical/non-technical and demonstrating your long-term commitment to management. On the technical side, start with "full stack development" both frontend and backend so you can contribute end-to-end to the entire product line. Learn/Use all available tools (AI and otherwise) to demonstrate independent initiative. Step up for any tasks which might not have a owner (eg. CI/CD etc.). Keep your boss/higher-ups informed so as to maintain visibility throughout the organization. Learn more about the problem domain, interact more with Marketing/Sales so as to become the liaison between Engineering and rest of the organization/clients.

Generally, all higher management look for initiative and independent drive so that they can delegate work with the assurance that it will be taken care of and that is what you need to provide.