Learn the key strategies for becoming a go-to person in your team as a software engineer and how it can lead to career advancement. Unlock the secrets to getting promoted in tech.
Just sharing some of the things that worked for me:
About deciding what work is important, a mentor of mine talked to me about finding the critical path of the org. If there are layoffs, if the work is re-prioritized... which parts are more likely to stay as they are? They are usually profitable parts that still have a big potential. The parts that enable many other people to function properly.
About doing stuff to increase your value, I love engineering groups. There are some roles you can have outside your team (I guess in all companies there's something like this). I started being part of a design review group in my org. Around me, I find roles like this for operations, infrastructure, postmortems, and even document reviewers. Whenever the topic arises, people will ask the closest person to them who is part of these groups. They have a magnet effect, you can become the go-to person for design reviews :)
Yeah, there is some element to the type of company you are at. I think in my case I'm mostly speaking for very tech driven companies where there's usually someone to take your place, and you showing your ownership and impact shows you are ready for promotion to the next level
Thanks for writing this, Jordan. I will be sharing this.
I prioritize web accessibility in the applications I build but have never thought to be the go-to guy for that. I am going to improve on that while being visible. The goal is to ensure that, if someone thinks of web accessibility, I should be the go to guy.
That's awesome, Kehinde. And I hope the tips in here help you with becoming that. The main thing really is leveling up others! Then you will be seen as the go-to person at the same time as growing the people around you.
Accessibility was an area for me too that this happened. Wishing the same for you :)
Very true. It changes the way how people think of you. If you are the go-to person of a certain area -> You automatically build a reputation of a responsible person who can get things done and at the same time help others.
Good points and like in everything in modern life, engineering is no exception. If you want to climb the ladder it is all about Marketing, self Marketing - manipulation of the mind of the audience. It's 80% Marketing 20% actual talent/knowledge/contributions/etc. By Marketing I also mean networking as well.
I've met so many mid avg devs marketing their way up to upper positions meanwhile highly talented quiet engineers would go unnoticed.
Great article, Jordan! I particularly enjoyed the mini-framework for identifying one's area of expertise. Also, thank you for mentioning my latest newsletter article, I appreciate it!
Thanks, Nicola. I appreciate that and so glad to mention your article. It was super in depth and really helpful for thinking about feedback effectively
Amazing visuals! Especially the table, I will borrow it to use with my team :)
A very good point about visibility. A few months ago, one of my developers was frustrated by a bad performance review. She felt she was doing much more than we gave her credit for.
She said she hates bragging, and that she feel she doesn’t need to promote herself to be appreciated. There is some truth in that, but there is no way to be appreciated for things nobody knows you do!
100%. Well said, Anton. And if nobody knows you do it, depending on that thing, it might be missing out on the value it could have.
Documentation is a good example. If nobody knows there's a beautiful set of documentation you wrote and people can refer to, only you do, then it's not that valuable of documentation in the first place!
I was afraid a little bit to post my comment since it doesn't bring any value to the discussion, but I know I would like to get a praise when I do something good :)
Great article, Jordan.
Just sharing some of the things that worked for me:
About deciding what work is important, a mentor of mine talked to me about finding the critical path of the org. If there are layoffs, if the work is re-prioritized... which parts are more likely to stay as they are? They are usually profitable parts that still have a big potential. The parts that enable many other people to function properly.
About doing stuff to increase your value, I love engineering groups. There are some roles you can have outside your team (I guess in all companies there's something like this). I started being part of a design review group in my org. Around me, I find roles like this for operations, infrastructure, postmortems, and even document reviewers. Whenever the topic arises, people will ask the closest person to them who is part of these groups. They have a magnet effect, you can become the go-to person for design reviews :)
Or, it will permanently solidify in your current positions, because that is where you are needed. 😅
Yeah, there is some element to the type of company you are at. I think in my case I'm mostly speaking for very tech driven companies where there's usually someone to take your place, and you showing your ownership and impact shows you are ready for promotion to the next level
Even at Google, I felt this was a detriment for going L4->L5. But of course, you mileage may vary.
Thanks for writing this, Jordan. I will be sharing this.
I prioritize web accessibility in the applications I build but have never thought to be the go-to guy for that. I am going to improve on that while being visible. The goal is to ensure that, if someone thinks of web accessibility, I should be the go to guy.
That's awesome, Kehinde. And I hope the tips in here help you with becoming that. The main thing really is leveling up others! Then you will be seen as the go-to person at the same time as growing the people around you.
Accessibility was an area for me too that this happened. Wishing the same for you :)
Definitely. I will keep that in mind.
Very true. It changes the way how people think of you. If you are the go-to person of a certain area -> You automatically build a reputation of a responsible person who can get things done and at the same time help others.
Great article Jordan!
100%. Agreed, Gregor.
Thanks for the read and for the kind words on the article
Good points and like in everything in modern life, engineering is no exception. If you want to climb the ladder it is all about Marketing, self Marketing - manipulation of the mind of the audience. It's 80% Marketing 20% actual talent/knowledge/contributions/etc. By Marketing I also mean networking as well.
I've met so many mid avg devs marketing their way up to upper positions meanwhile highly talented quiet engineers would go unnoticed.
Great article, Jordan! I particularly enjoyed the mini-framework for identifying one's area of expertise. Also, thank you for mentioning my latest newsletter article, I appreciate it!
Thanks, Nicola. I appreciate that and so glad to mention your article. It was super in depth and really helpful for thinking about feedback effectively
Amazing visuals! Especially the table, I will borrow it to use with my team :)
A very good point about visibility. A few months ago, one of my developers was frustrated by a bad performance review. She felt she was doing much more than we gave her credit for.
She said she hates bragging, and that she feel she doesn’t need to promote herself to be appreciated. There is some truth in that, but there is no way to be appreciated for things nobody knows you do!
100%. Well said, Anton. And if nobody knows you do it, depending on that thing, it might be missing out on the value it could have.
Documentation is a good example. If nobody knows there's a beautiful set of documentation you wrote and people can refer to, only you do, then it's not that valuable of documentation in the first place!
Straight to the point advice with good examples. I like it.
Thank you, Ionut! That means a lot to me
I was afraid a little bit to post my comment since it doesn't bring any value to the discussion, but I know I would like to get a praise when I do something good :)
Not at all! I love comments like that. It makes me even more motivated to keep going and realize what I write is helpful