You are not growing as a software engineer

Summary

In this insightful video, software engineer Uta discusses the common challenges faced by software engineers in their career growth. She offers seven key strategies to overcome these barriers, emphasizing the importance of mentorship, curiosity, a bias for action, personal responsibility, continuous learning, stepping out of one's comfort zone, and focusing on marketable skills over job titles. Uta also shares her personal experiences and provides resources for further learning, aiming to guide viewers towards a more fulfilling and progressive career path in the tech industry.

Takeaways

• 🎓 Early career success can stall, and it's common among software engineers to hit a plateau after initial promotions.
• 🤔 To overcome career barriers, it's important to understand the factors that may be hindering growth and take proactive steps.
• 👨‍🏫 Finding a mentor is crucial, especially for new software engineers, as they provide guidance, insights, and support for professional development.
• 🧐 Curiosity is key for career growth; it drives learning and adaptation in a constantly evolving tech industry.
• 🦸‍♀️ Overcoming impostor syndrome is vital for new engineers to embrace their curiosity and ask questions without fear of appearing uninformed.
• 🏃‍♂️ Having a 'bias for action' means being proactive and taking initiative, even when faced with ambiguity or lack of direction.
• 📈 Personal responsibility is key in driving career growth; one must seek out opportunities and lead conversations about promotions and goals.
• 🛠️ Continuous learning and skill development are necessary to stay relevant and competitive in the tech industry.
• 🚀 Stepping out of your comfort zone is essential for growth; it's where true learning and innovation occur.
• 🏆 Titles are less important than the skills and experiences gained; focus on marketability and personal growth rather than job titles.
• 🔗 Building a professional network through mentorship and taking initiative can open doors to new opportunities and collaborations.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is the discussion of seven things that can block career growth for software engineers and how to break through those barriers.

Why is mentorship important for software engineers, especially early in their careers?

Mentorship is crucial for software engineers as it helps them learn new skills, gain insights into best practices, and enhance their knowledge in areas like coding and design. It also accelerates onboarding, improves productivity, and provides emotional support and guidance throughout their professional journey.

What is imposter syndrome and how can it affect a software engineer's career growth?

Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern where individuals doubt their skills and accomplishments, leading to a fear of being exposed as a fraud. This can inhibit natural curiosity, limit learning, and hinder career growth by preventing engineers from asking questions and seeking opportunities to learn and grow.

What does the term 'bias for action' refer to in the context of software engineering?

'Bias for action' refers to the preference for taking action over inaction, even when information is limited or ambiguous. It is a valuable trait for software engineers as it encourages them to be proactive, make decisions promptly, and take ownership of their projects.

Why is it important for software engineers to take responsibility for their career growth?

It is important because while managers, mentors, and peers can provide support, the ultimate responsibility for seeking growth opportunities and driving career progression lies with the individual. This includes initiating conversations about promotions and leading projects.

What role does continuous learning play in the career of a software engineer?

Continuous learning is essential for a software engineer's career as the field is constantly evolving. Staying updated with industry trends, technologies, and market shifts helps engineers adapt, avoid hitting a career plateau, and maintain their marketability.

What is the significance of stepping outside one's comfort zone in the context of career growth?

Stepping outside one's comfort zone is significant for career growth as it promotes learning, growth, and the development of new skills. It also helps in building confidence and intuition to deal with unknown challenges and can lead to personal and professional rewards.

Why should software engineers not focus too much on job titles?

Software engineers should not focus too much on job titles because titles are not standardized across companies and can vary significantly. Instead, they should concentrate on their learning, growth, and marketability, which are more indicative of their career progress and value in the job market.

What is the role of curiosity in the career growth of a software engineer?

Curiosity plays a central role in career growth as it drives software engineers to ask questions, learn new technologies, and explore different processes and cultures. It is especially important for new engineers to be open about what they don't know and to continuously seek knowledge.

How can software engineers ensure they are on the right track for career growth?

Software engineers can ensure they are on the right track by setting clear career goals, having regular check-ins with their managers, taking on leadership roles in projects, and continually investing in their skills and knowledge to stay relevant in the industry.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Overcoming Career Plateaus in Software Engineering

The paragraph discusses common challenges faced by software engineers, particularly the stagnation in career progression despite early success. It introduces seven potential barriers to career growth and suggests that the video will provide solutions for both new and experienced engineers. The speaker, Uta, a software engineer with 20 years of experience, emphasizes the importance of mentorship for career development, sharing insights into company culture, processes, and teamwork. Mentors can also offer guidance on industry trends, technologies, and career paths, and help align personal goals with company objectives, ultimately aiding in professional growth and network building.

05:00

🤔 Embracing Curiosity and Action to Foster Growth

This paragraph highlights the significance of curiosity and a bias for action in the career growth of software engineers. It addresses the issue of impostor syndrome that can inhibit new engineers from asking questions and learning. The speaker encourages engineers to maintain an open mind, embrace learning, and document their accomplishments to overcome negative thoughts. Furthermore, the paragraph advises against passivity, urging engineers to be proactive in seeking work and opportunities for growth, even in the absence of clear direction. It stresses personal responsibility for career advancement and the importance of continuous learning and adaptation to industry shifts.

10:02

🛠 The Importance of Continuous Learning and Stepping Outside Comfort Zones

The final paragraph focuses on the necessity for continuous self-improvement and the avoidance of complacency in a software engineer's career. It discusses the rapid changes in technology and the need for engineers to continually update their skills to remain marketable. The speaker recommends resources for learning, including books and online platforms like educative.io, and shares a personal anecdote about overcoming the fear of starting a YouTube channel. The paragraph concludes by advising against an overemphasis on job titles, suggesting that the focus should be on the sum of experiences, skill set value, and marketability rather than hierarchical positions within a company.

Keywords

💡Promotion

Promotion refers to the advancement of an employee to a higher position in a company, often accompanied by increased responsibilities and pay. In the video's theme, it is mentioned as a common early career milestone for software engineers, but the script discusses how this progression can stall, leading to a need for identifying barriers and finding ways to overcome them.

💡Mentorship

Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or knowledgeable individual guides and supports the development of a less experienced one. The video emphasizes the importance of mentorship in career growth, particularly for new software engineers, as it provides insights, accelerates onboarding, and enhances productivity and quality of work.

💡Impostor Syndrome

Impostor Syndrome is a psychological pattern where individuals doubt their skills and fear being exposed as a 'fraud'. The script identifies this as a common issue among new software engineers, which can inhibit curiosity and learning. Recognizing and overcoming impostor syndrome is suggested as a way to foster natural curiosity and growth.

💡Bias for Action

Bias for Action is a concept that encourages taking action rather than inaction, even when information is incomplete or ambiguous. The video script highlights this as a valuable trait for software engineers, as it leads to proactive problem-solving, calculated risk-taking, and swift decision-making, which are crucial in a fast-paced tech industry.

💡Career Growth

Career Growth refers to the process of advancing one's professional career through increased responsibilities, skill development, and higher positions. The video's main theme revolves around identifying and overcoming barriers to career growth, emphasizing personal responsibility, proactive seeking of opportunities, and continuous learning.

💡Technical Skills

Technical Skills are the specific abilities and knowledge required to perform a job, particularly in technical fields like software engineering. The script mentions that mentorship can help enhance these skills, which are fundamental to a software engineer's growth and productivity.

💡Continuous Learning

Continuous Learning is the ongoing process of acquiring new knowledge and skills. The video emphasizes the importance of continuous learning in adapting to industry shifts and maintaining career progression, suggesting that software engineers must continually invest in themselves to stay relevant.

💡Complacency

Complacency is a state of being satisfied with the status quo, often leading to stagnation. The script warns against complacency in a software engineer's career, suggesting that stepping out of one's comfort zone is essential for true learning and growth.

💡Comfort Zone

Comfort Zone refers to a state of minimal stress and risk where one feels at ease. The video encourages software engineers to push beyond their comfort zones to embrace challenges, which is where significant growth and learning occur.

💡Titles

Titles are formal designations of an individual's position within a company. The script advises software engineers not to focus too much on job titles, as they can vary by company and are not a true measure of one's career or skillset's value in the broader job market.

💡Marketability

Marketability refers to the quality of being desirable or sellable in the job market. The video concludes by emphasizing the importance of focusing on learning, growth, and marketability rather than job titles, as these factors determine the value of one's skills in the current job market.

Highlights

Seven factors that can hinder career growth for software engineers are discussed.

Importance of finding a mentor for career guidance and skill development emphasized.

Mentorship helps in understanding company culture and accelerating the onboarding process.

Mentors provide emotional support and constructive feedback, aiding in building confidence.

Cultivating curiosity and asking questions is crucial for career growth, especially for new engineers.

Imposter syndrome is a common issue that inhibits curiosity and should be addressed.

Having a bias for action and being proactive is recommended over waiting for assignments.

Personal responsibility for career growth and seeking opportunities is highlighted.

The necessity of continuous self-investment in learning new technologies is underscored.

Adapting to industry shifts like data science and AI is essential for career progression.

Titles are not standardized and should not be the primary focus of one's career.

The value of stepping outside one's comfort zone for personal and professional growth.

The speaker's personal experience with overcoming fears to start a YouTube channel.

Continuous learning and growth are more important than job titles for career advancement.

The recommendation of educative.io for software engineering education and skill development.

The importance of tracking accomplishments to combat negative thoughts and boost curiosity.

Leading projects and driving conversations for promotions requires proactive behavior.

Titles are less important than the sum of experiences and marketable skills.

Transcripts

so you graduated college landed your

dream job and got off to a great start

by getting promoted a few times within

the first few years of your professional

career but then everything slowed down

to a halt the promotion stopped rewards

weren't that good and now you're left

wondering where you went wrong if this

is you you're not alone many software

Engineers have a very good career growth

early on but they eventually struggle to

keep up with that progression so in this

video I'll talk about seven things that

can completely block your career growth

and what you can do to break those

barriers I'll talk about some points

that apply to new software Engineers as

well as points that apply to experienced

Engineers all right let's get

[Music]

started hi folks my name is Uta if

you're new here I'm a software engineer

based in Seattle I have about 20 years

of experience in the industry where I've

held diverse software engineering roles

and created a few Tech startups and I'm

currently at Microsoft if you're new to

this channel my goal here is to help you

get the best out of your career by

mentoring you around five key pillars

technical skills engineering efficiency

mindset entrepreneurship and Financial

Freedom so if that sounds interesting

please consider subscribing and follow

me at engineering with UTA for behind

the scenes and monthly

q&as the number one advice I give to

software Engineers is especially if

you're early in your career is to find a

good Mentor mentorship plays a crucial

role in your growth and development

through a mentor you can learn new

skills gain insights into the best

practices and enhance your knowledge in

areas like coding and design new

software Engineers benefit the most from

having a mentor with the help of a

mentor you can also quickly familiarize

yourself with the company culture its

processes and teamwork principles this

accelerates your onboarding process

enabling you to deliver higher quality

code faster and because you receive a

lot of guidance on problem solving code

reviews and best practices you will also

become more productive and produce

higher quality work compared to non-

mentored software Engineers mentors can

also provide insights into industry

Trends Technologies and career paths but

mentorship isn't just about improving

your technical skills one of the key

goals of mentorship is to ensure

employee retention for the company so

good mentors also make the effort to

understand your career goals and help

you align them with the company's core

objectives essentially guiding you

through your professional Journey you

get emotional support encouragement and

constructive feedback this helps build

your confidence getting mentorship is

also a great way to build your network

as your Mentor will share their

Professional Network with you and

connect you to valuable people within

the space and finally mentorship isn't

limited to your tenure for the company

or the team good Mentor menty

relationships last a lifetime mutually

benefiting both parties so as a new

software engineer if you don't have a

mentor already finding one should be

your top priority let me know in the

comments below if you need tips and

guidance on finding a good Mentor and

also feel free to share stories of how

your Mentor helped you grow in your

[Music]

career curiosity is at the front and

center of your career growth this is

true for all levels but especially true

if you're just starting in your career

because as a new software engineer there

would be a lot of things that you will

not understand like various Technologies

processes and the culture so it is very

important to be open about what you

don't know and ask a lot of questions

but the issue I see so frequently is

that most new software Engineers have

impostor syndrome if you don't know

already imposter syndrome is a

psychological pattern where you doubt

your skills talents and accomplishments

which leads to a persistent internalized

fear of being exposed as someone who

does not belong this inhibits your

Natural Curiosity forcing you to limit

yourself within your bubble which feels

your imposter syndrome even more it's a

vicious cycle just remember that even

the most accomplished Engineers have

uster syndrome it has nothing to do with

your accomplishments so instead of

dealing with it emotionally just keep an

open mind it is okay to not know

everything no one knows everything focus

on learning as much as possible and when

you do deliver keep a track of your

accomplishments to remind yourself of

the things that You' have done well this

will help curb any negative thoughts and

over time your curiosity will take over

and even if it feels odd or difficult at

first don't feel bad about being curious

ask a lot of questions and take notes

and iterate this process to grow as much

as possible remember that the only bad

question is the one that never gets

asked

look things can get hectic sometimes

your manager or your Mentor can get busy

and you're left with nothing to work on

this happens quite frequently and I keep

seeing many new software Engineers just

sit and wait for someone to assign them

something don't do this have a bias for

Action which basically means that you

should always prefer action over

inaction and even times where there is

not much information available or what

is available is very ambiguous you

should do something about it a bias for

Action compels you to be proactive about

Gathering the missing pieces or

disambiguating uh what is available uh

this is a trait that is incredibly

valuable as a software engineer see

software engineering and Tech in general

is very fastpaced where acting swiftly

is often way better than waiting for

complete certainty Innovation thrives

when Engineers take calculated risks and

make decisions promptly not doing

anything or the opposite overthinking

often referred to as analysis paralysis

both yield lesser results compared to

taking Swift educated decisions

embracing action also Fosters personal

growth making mistakes is part of the

learning process and being comfortable

with making mistakes allows you to

experiment and take ownership of your

projects so the next time you think that

you don't have enough information or um

you don't have work to do think about

bias for action and do something to

progress even with limited or no

information this will help you a lot on

the long

run this point sort of Builds on the

previous Point while there are many

resources like your manager and your

Mentor there to help you grow ultimately

your career growth is your

responsibility so you need to be very

proactive about seeking growth

opportunities for example at some point

in your career you'll have to start

driving entire projects and act as a

lead whether that is just as a project

lead or an engineering manager but the

opportunity to drive and Lead isn't just

going to magically appear on your lab

you will need to display enough evidence

to your manager and others around you

that you can lead so the process of

leading projects starts long before you

actually get to lead the project

officially in the same way promotions

aren't going to magically happen your

manager May promote you the first couple

of times because you're so new but

eventually you will need to drive that

conversation so talk to your manager and

explain your career goals sync with them

on what is a reasonable timeline and map

that out once the plan is set do monthly

check-ins to see if you're on track and

if not your manager should give you

advice on how you can improve this will

open up various growth opportunities

that you should take and Excel at and

every time you get promoted make a road

map for the next step in your career

whether you're getting promoted or not

should never come as a surprise during

the review so communication here is key

think of it this way you drive the

growth of your career your manager

mentor and peers are there to help you

navigate that path smoothly but

ultimately the responsibility is

yours software engineering is one of

those fields where you'll have to

continually invest on yourself whether

that is just so you can adequately

perform your job duties or for your own

personal growth as you can see just

within the past few years we've seen a

big industry shift towards data science

machine learning and artificial

intelligence job openings that have gen

AI terms in the description have gone up

500% just within the past year you might

have done something completely different

for your entire career and might have

done that very well but in order to

continue that upward career trajectory

you will need to adapt to the new

industry standards and how the market

shifts you don't have to completely

switch your career track but at least

familiarize yourself or educate yourself

on those things this responsibility is

yours and sometimes if you have a busy

work schedule you might have to take

this initiative of upleveling your skill

set on your own time without that you

will start to hit a career Plateau or

worst may get laid off if you're unsure

on how to grow your skill set check out

some of my previous videos where I've

shared my recommended books as well as

free courses from some of the best

universities but if you want some

something with a bit more flexibility

and a much larger catalog try educative

this is what I personally use as well

whether you're trying to get better at

distributed systems or machine learning

or just interested in leveling up on any

other area educative will have a skill

path or a course for you this video is

not sponsored by educative I'm

recommending them to you because I have

been using them for past four years now

and I generally think that they are one

of the best software engineering

education platforms out there when it

comes to value for your time and money

and if you like what you see you can

always visit educative.io engineering

with utof that will give you 10% off

your subscription but regardless of what

you use books free courses or paid

platforms like educative or something

entirely different the important Point

here is to continually invest on

yourself so that your career can also

continue to progress

upwards we all get complacent at some

point in our career I think it's natural

to feel comfortable with something after

you've done it for a long long time

however complacency is usually the start

of the decline of your career if your

job feels too easy in relation to the

paycheck you receive then you have most

likely stopped stepping outside your

comfort zone true learning and growth

happens just outside your comfort zone

so it's very important to push yourself

beyond that boundary and get comfortable

with the idea of being uncomfortable

don't just take projects that are easy

push yourself as I mentioned previously

don't wait for everything to be fleshed

out by somebody else have a bias for

Action back in 2020 when I considered

starting a YouTube channel I had a huge

fear of the camera I also kept

questioning myself why would anyone

listen to me or what I have to say but

if I had not overcome those fears I

wouldn't have this Channel with almost

200,000 subscribers today that was

literally me stepping way out of my

comfort zone and having a bias for

Action I did not have many answers and I

had a lot of doubts but I chose to

publish the videos and take it one video

at a time and well rest is history so I

highly encourage you to stay outside

your comfort zone people will notice

that you go above and beyond and in a

good system you will get rewarded for it

but outside of just career returns

spending time outside your comfort zone

can be extremely helpful in improving

your confidence as well as your

intuition on how to deal with the

unknowns I remember the pride I felt

when my title changed from software

engineer 1 to software engineer 2 the

first thing I did was update my LinkedIn

profile but after working in various

different companies starting my own

companies and spending a long time

within the system I've come to realize

that titles don't mean much getting

promoted is a recognition of your hard

work so by all means you should be happy

and proud but what I'm saying is it is

instinctive for us to focus more on the

title the issue with that is that titles

vary by company a senior in one company

could be only level three in another

company or a principal or a staff in

some other company titles aren't

standardized so getting bogged down on

that hurts you more than it helps you

your career isn't tied to a title at a

company your career is the sum total of

all your experiences so focus more on

learning growth and marketability how

valuable is your skill set in the

current job market how do you rate your

own expertise in the space that matters

way more you could end up in a niche

team working on proprietary Technologies

and still climb your way up that ladder

but that would not mean much unless that

skill set transfers to the overall

technology space if you haven't already

check out this other video where I share

the 10 most valuable software

engineering lessons I've learned or if

this video gave you motivation to invest

in your personal growth check out my top

book recommendations for 2024 please

like the video if you found it useful

and let me know your thoughts in the

comments below also consider subscribing

for more videos aimed at helping you

holistically grow your software

engineering career I'll see you in the

next one cheers

[Applause]

[Music]