Role of timing in careers

Applying to the proper role at the right time in the software industry is crucial for several reasons:

  1. Maximizing career growth: Applying to the proper role at the right time can help maximize career growth opportunities. It allows individuals to gain the necessary skills and experience to advance their careers.
  2. Job satisfaction: Applying to a role that aligns with one’s interests and career goals can lead to job satisfaction. This is because individuals are more likely to enjoy their work if it is aligned with their passions and goals.
  3. Competitive advantage: Applying to the proper role at the right time can give individuals a competitive advantage in the job market. It can help them stand out from other applicants and increase their chances of landing a job.
  4. Avoiding burnout: Applying to the proper role at the right time can help individuals avoid burnout. This is because they are more likely to find fulfillment in their work if it aligns with their interests and career goals.
  5. Learning opportunities: Applying to the proper role at the right time can provide individuals with learning opportunities. It allows them to gain new skills and knowledge, which can help them progress in their careers.
  6. Work-life balance: Applying to the proper role at the right time can help individuals achieve a better work-life balance. It allows them to find a role that meets their needs, whether flexible working hours, remote work options, or a better commute.

Applying to the proper role at the right time is critical for career growth, job satisfaction, competitive advantage, avoiding burnout, learning opportunities, and work-life balance. It is essential to take the time to research roles and companies thoroughly and apply to positions that align with one’s interests and career goals.

Timing and roles 101 for tech recruiters and software engineers

Recruiters play a crucial role in the hiring process for software engineering positions. As the demand for software engineers continues to grow, it becomes increasingly important for recruiters to have a strong understanding of the field of software engineering.

Recruiters who know software engineering are better equipped to evaluate technical skills and experience in candidates. They can better understand the specific requirements of the role and what qualifications are necessary for the position.

Additionally, recruiters with software engineering expertise can help bridge the gap between technical and non-technical teams within a company. They can communicate effectively with both sides, making the hiring process smoother and ensuring that the right candidates are being considered for the job.

Furthermore, software engineering is constantly evolving, with new technologies and trends always emerging. Recruiters knowledgeable in software engineering can keep up with these changes and adapt their hiring strategies accordingly.

In summary, recruiters with a good understanding of software engineering are essential in hiring for software engineering positions. They can ensure that the right candidates are being considered for the job and can effectively communicate with both technical and non-technical teams.

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Concurrency and career growth

Concurrency is the ability of a computer system to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Beginner programmers may face several challenges while learning about concurrency. Here are 10 common challenges they may encounter:

  1. Understanding the concept: The concept of concurrency can be difficult for beginners to grasp, especially if they are new to programming.
  2. Debugging: Debugging concurrent programs can be challenging, as it is often difficult to identify the source of a bug or error.
  3. Race conditions: Race conditions occur when two or more threads access shared resources at the same time, leading to unpredictable results. Beginners may struggle to detect and avoid race conditions.
  4. Deadlocks: Deadlocks occur when two or more threads are waiting for each other to release resources they are holding, resulting in a deadlock. Beginners may struggle to identify and resolve deadlocks.
  5. Synchronization: Synchronization is essential to ensure that threads access shared resources in a controlled manner. Beginners may find it difficult to implement synchronization correctly.
  6. Performance issues: Concurrent programs can suffer from performance issues due to excessive synchronization or contention for shared resources.
  7. Scalability: Scaling concurrent programs to take advantage of multiple processor cores can be challenging for beginners.
  8. Testing: Testing concurrent programs can be difficult, as it is hard to reproduce and isolate concurrency-related bugs.
  9. Choosing the right concurrency model: Beginners may find it difficult to choose the right concurrency model for their application, as there are several models available.
  10. Complexity: Concurrency can add significant complexity to a program, making it harder to understand, debug, and maintain.
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Overall, while learning about concurrency, beginners may encounter several challenges. However, with practice, they can overcome these challenges and become proficient in writing concurrent programs.

Importance of learning concurrency

The curse of a software generalist

Software, by nature, is becoming diverse with every passing year. Education systems, by design, are meant to follow fundamentals, but with the internet, the mentality of educators has become trend oriented as well. A degree is reduced to a tool to get a salary. The software has gone from a tool to execute engineering to a hack to become rich. As expected, the term generalist itself is too vague to be defined!

Software “Generalism”

Software development is often paired with education in some computer science courses. The arrogance bred by such ignorance can last a lifetime. “Expert” developers who cannot tell why a BIOS message coming up has nothing to do with a hard disk failure are common. The IT experts who cringe at the Linux command line in an enterprise are also available in abundance. The percolation of expertise into identity is the root cause. The notion of expertise leading to prosperity in a corporate environment has created a mass hysteria around certificate worshiping. Unfortunately, the notion of generalist is diluted to someone who says yes to every task and hit the search engine immediately to understand what was just told.

Specialists can be manufactured. Generalists evolve.

Anyone with more than five years of experience has crossed the point of no return. Building expertise takes at least 2-3 years. A framework that changes every year is not a candidate to build expertise to start with! The expertise is like homes built on a glacial mud deposit with an imminent expiry date.

How does one explain this risk to someone with a 30-year home loan already in process? Indeed they are obsessed with debt, just not technical ones. Let me explain with an example. The notion of an expert is misconstrued as someone who knows a lot about one topic.

Hire generalists not generals!

Expertise, in my opinion, is about asking why and continuing to learn. Some people are blessed with the skills to be knowledgeable about many topics in one lifetime, but finding them among noise is getting more challenging by the second.

The following video will walk you through an end-to-end example. I have been through this stack firsthand across various projects.

The generalist’s perspective

The curse of generic perspective

Software engineering at the last mile is as political as democracy. Everyone can express their opinion, but the hierarchy decides the facts. The education system conveniently distances itself from reality with the help of theoretical jargon. The students are handed off from theory into corporate jargon with the help of interview portals. I am more comfortable believing in an astrologer than a recruitment site hiding as an education platform. Circumstances forced me to understand the value of being a generalist.

People + Programs = Software

The curse of a generalist approach stems from respect for correctness and completeness. The specialists are good at or rather can only provide one piece of advice in detail, irrespective of the context. With the way power is distributed in corporate hierarchies, the context is molded to suit expertise, not the user experience. User experience is something to yell about on social media platforms, not caring about during design. It becomes an obstacle pretty soon. Forgetting about the people in the process of building software continues to sink unicorns and market leaders alike. The compassion for fellow humans cannot be sidelined under the cloak of statistics and capitalism.

Conclusion

The metrics of a successful career as a generalist are hard to define. The growth paths are polluted with vanity. I still believe grooming a generalist is the only way to build value over time. Experts will drag the system into a rut of their egos; generalists will avoid that pitfall by survival instinct. The probability of building a diverse culture in software around a team of generalists is much higher. Invest in people who care about solving problems instead of simply building a reputation.

As my two cents, I have built a course that can help early stage professional upskill independently. The journey takes time but results in a scalable career.

How to succeed in software without computer science degree?

How to succeed in software without computer science degree?

20 topics necessary to become a complete software professional. Software as a business is a lot more than coding.

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Interview process duration and system design

When it comes to the system design interview preparation, one variable is often overlooked: the duration of the process. This refers to when you first apply for a job and receive a response. The duration can vary greatly depending on the organization and the role you are applying for.

Sometimes, the interview process may only take a week or two. Startups, for example, may move quickly through the hiring process and make an offer within a few days. However, in other cases, the process can take up to 12 weeks or even longer. It’s important to remember this when preparing for an interview, as it can affect your preparation.

One of the main reasons for delays in the hiring process is what is known as “analysis paralysis” on the part of the hiring organization. They may collect a lot of data from the interview process and the candidate pool, which can take a long time to analyze. This is particularly common in larger organizations.

How much can one really prepare during the application process?

Another mystery of life.

Another factor that can play a role in the process’s duration is the candidate’s notice period. If the notice period is very long, the organization may need to negotiate the interview process accordingly. However, this is not always the case.

It’s also important to remember that in some cases, recruiters may simply “ghost” you, meaning they don’t get back to you with a response. In these cases, you should assume that the process is over.

Interview process duration matters!

Overall, the duration of the interview process can vary greatly depending on the organization and the role you are applying for. It’s essential to be aware of this and to inform your recruiter upfront if you have any notice period constraints. By keeping this in mind, you can better prepare for the endgame phase of the interview process.

This article is an excerpt from my course about system design interviews. The course connects daily engineering to the interview through a knowledge-driven preparation roadmap. Do check out the course!

System Design Demystified

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Thundering Herds of Empathy

The empathy post tsunamis after layoffs are imminent. This post is inspired by some technical issues that tend to transpire in reality as human behavior. The post is my personal opinions with links to facts wherever necessary. The fake empathy consuming the professional world is alarming.

If you are someone affected by recent layoffs, I am helpless in making a difference to your situation. As someone who has been through some uncertain times in past, I understand why next few days will be hard. Just remember, this is about survival, not victory.

Tune out the noise, ask for help clearly, get it done and move on in life.

What’s wrong in “faking” empathy?

A lot. Sending mixed signals to networks and colleagues is not the best way to make a integrity driven career. Many people going through the experience will be facing a failure for the first time in life. Top ranks, top US universities, Top company, Top compensation and load of attention on any portal by uttering employer name. The social media has become a snowflake creation factory. The last 30 seconds of the movie Peepli Live are etched in my memory since I never saw that coming.

I got a taste of reality quite early in life in 2001. The refills keep coming too. Its circumstances, I neither chose them nor wish them on anyone else but the way systems are structures it imminent for someone. The best way to stay in touch with reality is to read the offer letter every six months. Trust me, the day the termination clause stops striking fear in your mind either you should retire to pursue some social cause or seek help!

Getting fired is hard, realizing your network was fake is harder!

RougeNeuron

The ” I am so sorry for your situation” posts are waste of readers time. There are only two things one can do to make a statement, give the person a job without interview or quit one’s job in solidarity. Rest is just optics. Harsh, yes. But true. The “CFBR” assumes your network is vast enough to help everyone.

Atleast 300K+ people in tech were affected by layoffs since 2020. Guess what? I know at least 200 people who are not on that list, because I was one of them! No one can help everyone. LinkedIn seems to have missed biggest opportunity to innovate in hiring space since 2008. The field is ripe for disruption. It doesn’t need innovation, just integrity.

The Thundering Herd

Thundering herd problem is a perennial bane for system programmers. In essence, when everyone tries to do the same thing when only one can, the system freezes. The social network feeds filled with opportunist posts buries the posts of people in need. The people in need have been inactive in their romantic bubble of perks. I am suddenly seeing posts of second degree connections who have repeatedly ignored connection requests for years because I didn’t belong to a big brand company or post memes to keep everyone entertained.

The sentiment is moving but after a scroll its superficial nature is evident. Employment is a contract. Showing being a “good person” gets easier by the day and hence doing the right thing to be a good person gets tougher. The 300K+ who got affected will make it back to the workforce within a few months. For most the experience will help them stay afloat even if they end up losing visa. But the real ripples will be felt by the people waiting in queues with fresh degrees and big dreams. The last mile stories will never even make it to your feeds until some of them work at a brand you choose to be associated with on Linked.

Do I have a solution or just rant?

Yes, I have a partial solution and its already reaching people as well. We never learn software as a business before it hits us hard. Learning by trauma has become a habit. The last mile of software engineering jobs is becoming brutal with every course launch that promises expertise in close to no time. I even have the whole life of software engineer in third world available as a book. That’s how confident I am about my findings!

I take the unchartered path. I create courses with an ethos my mentors chose.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”

Anon

Does is work all the time? No. Does it work sometimes? Yes. That’s enough to stay at it.

The reason for not creating traditional courses is simple, I have lived a life where the traditional ceased to exist. I have “failed” at projects people couldn’t dream of. Technology is a tool to shape reality nothing more, nothing less. Software as a business converts that tool into a mirage of prosperity. We all have our rendition of that mirage.

On social media we like to be Dorian Gray but every EMI take a slash at our principles like the portrait he locked away. Please don’t fake empathy. Don’t post unless you can make a difference. DM first, before broadcasting. Majority of people have good intentions, some even act on them but unless its all we have a problem.

Do checkout the solutions and help some people getting started in industry with facts instead of fiction about layoffs. Udemy has a 30 day refund guarantee. If you feel like trying out teaching do reach out and I will be happy to be a sounding board. Saving people from burnout is a worthy investment of time!

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New year Resolution Framework

New year resolutions are prone to become redundant within the first fortnight of the new year. Millions of posts explain how the human mind works causing this debacle. This piece will not delve into the postmortem of human psychology. Instead, the post will focus on presenting a practical framework to develop a sustainable resolution design.

Why Resolutions?

Resolutions around key dates are easier to track. Besides social obligation and sentimental value, the resolution date is immaterial to the outcome. The sentiment-triggered goals are reactions and hence end up being over-ambitious and result in baggage. Being objective about the outcome and then reverse engineering the resolution with milestones can help us become better at getting things done in general. Move beyond the motivation addiction to bias for actions.

Why a Framework?

Getting things done is necessary. However, in a fast-paced lifestyle, the window of opportunities is closing down quicker than in the past decades. A framework to convert ambitions into plans can help one get rid of doubt and anxiety upfront instead of the misery caused by an unbounded resolution.

For example, a famous resolution is “going to the gym every day.” I have been guilty of this resolution as well. But after the first few failures, I corrected my resolution to a plan. I set up a real challenge instead. Increase the weight by 5 pounds every fortnight. Once the date was out of the equation, I had more frequent goals to achieve, measure progress, and tune the process. After four months, I had to move the target to 3 weeks since the body needed more time to build muscle. Now I had a framework with metrics I could control, and then on top of that, I could set resolutions like losing 3 kg per quarter or doing 75 push-ups in a day by the end of this year. I achieved both eight years ago, but once the regimen broke, I moved to different routines to keep myself healthy. The resolutions change the framework remains.

Resolution suggestions

Career

“I will get a new job this year” cannot be a resolution. It is just a distraction and a source of anxiety. Instead, ask the following questions before you decide on the outcome.

Jobs are scalars. Career is a vector.

Direction of career is vulnerable to many external forces. Aim responsibly.
  • Do you need to switch in declining market conditions with thousands of skilled competitors forced back into the recruitment market?
  • Are you tired of toxic working place?
  • Are you not happy with your salary?
  • Are you ready to start something of your own?
  • Are you sensing an impending layoff? Remember, the layoffs can be unrelated to your performance when cost-cutting is triggered. Be sure to know the actual trigger!

Asking more specific questions will help you come up with intermediate milestones. Don’t jump into the market out of boredom or anxiety. Following are limited-time discount coupons for Udemy courses to shape your career and prepare with a knowledge-based framework.

https://www.udemy.com/course/rookie-coders/?couponCode=YEAREND-2022

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Personal Finance

A job change becomes imminent if the salaries are insufficient to keep up with your expenses. But is that a necessity or a fixable situation? For example, being unable to take international vacations is not the same as being unable to pay rent. The vacations are desires, and the rent is a necessity. The new year is an excellent opportunity to set up measurable goals.

“I will get richer this year” is a dangerous resolution that might push you to make untested short-term decisions resulting in wasting your capital. Come up with something measurable like “I will pay off 15% of my mortgage this year,” “I will save for the year-end vacation within the first six months of this year.” or “I will cut my expenses on entertainment subscriptions by 20% this year.” Give yourself time to adjust and succeed.

If you are planning to take any kind of loan in the next 12 months, planning its down payments has to be part of your resolutions!

Personal finance and career go hand in hand. Planning is crucial. There is no surprise that these two factors are significant contributors to stress and anxiety in your life. Focus on necessities. Following is a limited-time discount coupon for a primer in personal finance fundamentals. No product placement, pure practical knowledge.

https://www.udemy.com/course/financial-awareness-for-students-and-professionals/?couponCode=YEAREND-2022

Self Learning for Growth

Learning is integral to growth irrespective of the field of work. Self learning is as abstract as working out goals.

Everyone has different needs, some do it for vanity and some for sanity.

Setting up time and costs is crucial for self learning. There is ton of free content but the time it takes to get the accurate knowledge is just too much. As search becomes faster the time it takes to sort the results also becomes higher. We still have only limited mental capacity to learn on a daily basis. Making most of everyday is crucial.

For example, if you have to change job to increase your salary to ensure you can afford a high mortgage, then the FAANG class employer is the best opportunity. An employer who pays a lot in return for nothing but excellence. Excellence in production grade environments comes with a high risk of burn out as well. To be prepared for high stress jobs takes practice. Only clearing interviews might get your foot in the door but survival is purely based on knowledge.

A resolution of self learning as hobby is different from one that impacts your future. If you need to take a loan then understanding personal finance becomes a prerequisite. Similarly, if you want to move to an organization that has lean software engineering teams then you need to upskill on multiple fronts. To save yourself from burnout you need to build expertise systematically. Think beyond certifications and focus on fundamentals. Interview prep is best done 6-8 weeks prior to actual onsite.

Limited time discount coupons for value based self learning and interview preparation.

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Reading matters

Reading is still the most relevant mode of acquiring technical knowledge. Podcasts and Youtube videos can help acquiring knowledge as well but for some deep technical topics books are still the best source of facts.

Fundamentals change over decades. Hence books about them remain relevant for decades as well.

Following articles will help you get started with your technical reading. Reading fast with comprehension is a habit. Sharpening your reading skills will help you irrespective of field of work.

TL;DR https://rougeneuron.in/books-recommendation-for-career-bootcamp/

300+ resources, books + Youtube + Podcast : https://rougeneuron.gumroad.com/l/bibliography

Conclusion

Even if resolutions have become a fashion, there is no harm in utilizing the euphoria to your advantage. Look at it as an opportunity to connect with like minded people based on sincerity of their resolution announcements.

Please do check out our offerings : https://rougeneuron.in/shop/

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Metamorphosis of software engineer

Layoffs have gone from taboo to fashion after the pandemic. The world is becoming skewed in terms of opportunities. The engineers chasing trends, and the corporate juggernauts trying to survive the trends. How is this transformation affecting the profession?

Why so many layoffs?

The pandemic remote hiring on steroids seems to be the prominent factor. The governments were pushing cash into the markets to alleviate the pandemic-created crunch. The liquidity ended up in the coffers of the conglomerates who chose to believe the show would continue. But there are caveats yet to be understood.

Looking at the posts on social media portals seeking jobs, it is evident the pruning was across the hierarchies and years of experience. The trends suggest an attempt to pivot. For someone like me who has seen three earlier sudden transitions of job markets in 2001,2008, and 2020, the current events were imminent. I cover these basics in my course about personal finance (reach out the discount coupons).

What are the takeaways from uncertain times?

Understanding your necessities and then choosing a professional is the only solution. The talks about passion and motivation to improve by 0.1% every day are nice, but the speakers never pay the bills of the audience. Being aware and prepared is possible to survive. In recessions, survival is victory.

A career in software is high paying but short. The longevity of a career has to be compensated with an investment. People who take risks on both fronts might not get a second chance. For example, consider a recent graduate on an H1B visa who got the dream job with a ton of equity that will only vest after a year and starts dumping money in crypto markets, receiving news about getting laid off.

Conclusion

The metamorphosis of the ad fuel tech seems to be pivoting to leaner infrastructure-heavy roadmaps. The software engineers are no longer the beautiful butterfly; they are the cocoons. Following courses can help you pivot in your career.

Discount coupons

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S.D.L.C: Third World Programmer's Life Cycle

S.D.L.C: Third World Programmer’s Life Cycle

A book about the career decisions made by a programmer in the third world explained by a third world programmer.

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Software self learning roadmap

Software engineers often obsess about trending topics and limit their growth. In addition, the interview process slows down the learning process further.

Software = People + programs

Treating people like “resources” with predictable behavior is disrespectful. The tendency to automate human interactions in professional environments leads to an unfulfilling career. Often the blame is targeted toward technology, but the real culprit is ignorance. 

There are more non-computer science-trained programmers in the industry than CS degree holders. The gap leads to unfair competition and often a conflict-prone career growth trajectory. In addition, software engineering brings the human element of the profession to the center stage. With all these variables in play simultaneously, getting overwhelmed is only human. 

But that sounds like an excuse. Is it?

No. Unfortunately, the hyper-growth of online learning tools has created a false bubble around trends. If getting certified gets easier, getting a job with it becomes that much more difficult. The only solution is knowledge—diverse and relevant awareness. 

Dealing with teams needs a broader perspective and understanding of fundamentals. Knowing computer science fundamentals takes time. Job changes disrupt the learning processes. 

Solution: https://www.udemy.com/course/fundamentals-software-programmer-career-engineering

This course provides a lifelong learning roadmap and references you can keep following up on to build a solid foundation for your career. Long-lasting careers don’t depend on a framework or a language; fundamentals forge them. 

Book recommendations for professionals: https://rougeneuron.in/books-recommendation-for-career-bootcamp/

Course Topics

  • Engineering
    • Algorithms and Data Structures 
    • Compiler Design 
    • Computer Architecture 
    • Programming Language Language 
    • Databases
    • Distributed Systems
    • File Systems 
    • Mathematics 
    • Networking
    • Operating Systems
    • General Programming and Design patterns
    • Software Engineering
    • Security
  • Non-Engineering
    • Advertising and Marketing
    • Business Management
    • Economics
    • Finance and Behavioural Economics
    • People management, including introspection
    • Psychology
    • Evolution, History, and Philosophy

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Layoffs and reality

Layoffs are becoming a common element of discourse within software engineering circles. The recent Twitter layoffs have triggered a lot of emotion. I choose to look beyond the sentiment and ponder some realities. The post will have more questions than answers.

This post might sound like a rant; if it doesn’t, it is supposed to be one.

Most people in software engineering jobs do so for money. Those who don’t care about the money aspect can do it as open source as well very few do so. My journey of becoming part of the software ecosystem is captured in the following episode of my podcast.

Layoff, Recession, and me

I lost my F1 visa after applying for 4000+ jobs in the US for over 18 months during the 2008 meltdown. I was part of a team let go on 31 March 2020. The rest is part of my podcast episodes based on the context of the episodes. For example, during the pandemic, our team got news on a call during lockdown with zero seconds’ notice.

On both occasions, I have been an active LinkedIn user, and on both occasions, I had to find the resources to survive on my own. In 2008 most of my friends didn’t have enough influence to get me an interview, and now they have too much influence to touch my radioactive resume. I understand. In 2008 I finally realized the difference between Arjuna and Eklavya in Mahabharata — branding.

It’s not about the intent of people to refuse help; it’s about how news feeds build up and how your networks might never get your broadcast message. The DM’s go cold in a recession as well. Only “jobless” people are most active on the professional network!

Layoffs messiah syndrome

The news about layoffs suddenly has filled my feed with reposts of Tweep profiles seeking to save their visas. The trend has been rising for other famous valley names or India-based unicorns throughout the last month. The wave of support that often follows such events is beyond the comprehension of my third-world programmer mindset.

Unicorn in bad health sitting on top of computer peripheral trash.

I have my answers, do you?

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

Daniel Patrick Moynihan
  • Tweeps knew about the change in leadership as a real possibility for over six months. Were the tweeps who chose to stay back willing to carry out all orders if not fired?
  • Do you believe that a 2000th repost is going to make a difference?
  • How many layoffs affected people have been helped by the tweep you are supporting in the last 90 days?
  • If the court overturns the firing and demands the tweeps return and at least serve the 60 days notice period. As someone who has hired them, will you be happy about it?
  • Are the tweeps going to take salary cuts? Will they opt for positions outside the US, like places in India?
  • Will you trust their stories of contributions if the outcome app on your phone tells the opposite story?
  • As a hiring manager, will you prioritize your sympathy over skills?
  • Is fast-tracking the application of a tweep to protect their visa status bypassing the candidates in the pipeline fair?
  • If the job seekers are surprised at layoffs, then there is a high possibility there are not “leetcode hard problems in 20 minutes” ready. They will still get hired. Do you think that is fair?
  • The top payers are all on a hiring freeze, yet you will see the valley layoffs resulting in people getting hired there. Is it fair?
  • The magnanimous engineering managers can DM the candidates from the posts, yet they choose to post a comment among hundreds. Is that PR?
  • How many thank you messages are you expecting to receive for your spamming?
  • Will the favor be returned if you are employed in a city like Pune and seeking jobs in the valley?
  • Will you take a salary cut if it saves jobs in your company?
  • Why are you doing the reposting?

Be honest with yourself. Please don’t post the responses to the questions on my profile or this post; remind yourself whenever you hit like, share or repost. Hypocrisy is avoidable.

I am on a break from motivation and bureaucracy to figure out the next career stage, till then, I am teaching everything I know to people who might be in a position to avoid burnout.

https://rougeneuron.in/shop/

Role of designation in career

“Software engineer” has become synonymous with a get-rich overnight scheme. The reality is that a software engineering career often begins with this lie, leaving many burnt out and, in the worst case, broken. I have designed a couple of courses to help people understand the gravity of the situation and navigate the maze.

Software Engineer role is not the same as designation!

Most aspirants on the FAANG bandwagon have no clue about software engineering. It isn’t part of the curriculum. The interview portals don’t like to talk about reality. In the course I offer, I explicitly answer the following questions along with the roles and responsibilities the aspirants and recruiters should be talking about during the interviews. The course caters to both participants equally without diving into code and focusing on the processes.

Course link

https://www.udemy.com/course/rookie-coders/

FAQs were answered during the course.

  • Why do product companies demand a different skill set than service companies?
  • What is the difference between engineering managers in product companies and project managers in service companies?
  • Does a designation like “Senior software engineer” translate to the same responsibilities across all companies?
  • Why do service companies have many more designation levels than product companies?
  • Why do product companies tend to pay more?
  • Does getting an onsite opportunity mean massive progress in your career?
  • Should working in product companies be the sole purpose of a career in the software industry?
  • Do managers control my career?
  • I didn’t get a promotion. Should I focus on improving my skills or look for a new job instead?
  • I have three years of experience. Can I move from testing to development?
  • Why do certain companies insist on certifications in job descriptions?
  • Why is having a computer science degree essential to thrive in the software industry?
  • Should I focus on trends or fundamentals?
  • Should I stay at one company for a long time or keep switching jobs?
  • Is it better to be a generalist or a specialist?

Planning a career is essential.

The period of a career as a Software engineer is much shorter than people want to believe. List down all the 50+ years older developers in your office, and you will get the answer. Being promoted is often mistaken as career growth, which is not the case on most occasions. The following course takes a deep dive into factors leading to choosing a software engineer job and then growing to a CXO level. Every software professional must read the post following post once every year https://norvig.com/21-days.html!

Course link

https://www.udemy.com/course/software-career-planning-bootcamp/

The financial aspect of being a Software engineer

The affluence associated with the designation makes one a target for misselling. Loans and subscriptions will target software engineers till they either subscribe or leave the industry altogether. The most significant factor, though, is the ESOPs.

Not understanding the best of ESOPs can leave one in a huge mess. To understand ESOPs, one must first learn about stocks. Again personal finance is always sold to us as a bouquet of products and rarely as awareness. Knowing the fundamentals of income, insurance, inflation, and investment is mandatory. The following course covers the basics in a couple of hours without any ads or product placements. This a simple reminder that the home loan of 30 years cannot be knocked off overnight with ESOPs in CTC.

Course link

https://www.udemy.com/course/financial-awareness-for-students-and-professionals/

Following books will guide you better than any posts and newsletters.

Books recommendation for Career Bootcamp

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