Brief History of Nearly Everything I Learnt in Corporate So Far

I felt like writing this out of nostalgia and reflection. Looking back, I've come a long way since those early days when I was fresh out of college, eager to build something meaningful. This is my journey through the ups and downs of corporate life, the lessons learned, and the growth that came with it. 😊

The fresher & the first job

May 3rd, 2021 was the first day of my first job as a software engineer. It was during the full swing of COVID lockdown in India. I joined remote from my hometown in Himachal Pradesh. Even though I was making a fraction of money I am making from today, it was a great time. I had all the time in the world to adjust to corporate life. It was a great place to learn. There was no fear of AI taking jobs. ChatGPT was 1 year further. I learnt what it means to write code which translates to a product that gets used by people. During my college time, I had worked on numerous small projects which went to my graveyard of GitHub account, never to be used by anyone. I was scared at times when I did not understand things talked about in the meetings. I did not want to seem dumb. Slowly but surely I understood what my job is. C#, React, APIs, Databases. 💻

So this is what I learnt in my first year in industry.

Imposter Syndrome is REAL

The biggest thing which stands in the way of growth is Imposter syndrome. Every single software engineer that I know of has doubted himself one time in his career. You feel like you are surrounded by smart people.

Communication is the key to learning

During COVID, when everyone was working remote, an introvert like me felt shy slacking someone. I wanted to ask questions. I wanted to understand business decisions but I had a hard time mustering courage.

• How can you grow if you do not ask questions? 🤔
• People might think you are dumb. So what?
• You are not bothering anyone. You are paid to work. So treat it as a part of the job.
• Take time out to upskill yourself
• Find a better place. The first job is always a hard bargain.

A few months in, I knew I could do better. I was always ambitious. I woke up every morning at 6 and grinded Leetcode before my 9-5. It took some time but after tons of interviews, I landed my first career jump. 🚀

First Switch & The Big Players 🏢

I landed a job at a big MNC in Data Integration space. My pay jumped by more than 100%. It felt amazing 💰. All the hours of grinding had paid off. Now that I had a comfortable pay, what next? What's the next milestone?

This place was not my last company. The codebase here was a behemoth of Java services. There was so much code I did not understand. Heck, I had not even worked in Java before this. There were so many moving parts. So many services to get your head around. Departments, bureaucracy, product catalogs, shitty documentation. I was overwhelmed with information once again. 😵

KT after KT, I started getting comfortable here. The work-life balance was great. The product I was working on was very interesting. I started being more open, asking questions and eventually became more comfortable. To date, it is one of the best places that I have worked at. ✨

So what did I learn here?

Java - the undisputed king of Enterprise development ☕

So here's my two cents for everyone fresh in the industry. My unfiltered opinion is this: if you want to be absolutely irreplaceable in the industry, master Java. All these big companies working on security-critical projects have services running on the JVM. There are tons of jobs available and the industry needs Java experts. You may not like it but it's not going anywhere.

Do less and communicate more 📢

You are not your work. Your colleagues are not your family. Do what is required, and move on to build your empire. Stretch out your work when you describe your work.

Never Stop LEARNING 📖

Somewhere along the line, your job starts to become comfortable. You will get used to shutting down your laptop lid in the evening and go out and have drinks with your friends. In a job that requires your eyes on a monitor from morning till evening, do you really want to use your time after work for more time on screen? Well, say what you must, but to really stand out as an engineer, to be among the top 10 percent, you need to put in extra effort.

That involves doing another 5 to 9 after 9 to 5. ⏰

NEVER SETTLE, NEVER REST

Because any day, you can get an email saying that your role has been terminated along with hundreds of other people in your organization. And that is what happened. When I had settled, I received one such mail in the morning exactly 2 years ago. And just like that, the job I had worked so hard to get was taken away. 😢

Third Time's the charm 🎯

Here's what no one tells you about the Computer Science industry. When you are a fresher, studying Data Structures and Algorithms is basically a cheat code. Every place you apply will have a technical round where you will be asked a LeetCode-based question. It has been so for several years because there is no better way to filter out candidates for companies.

Study DSA, think of it as a ROI 💡

After being laid off from my job, I somehow landed an interview with another company which was in the same domain. And within 2 weeks of being laid off, I landed another job paying higher than the one I had. Call it luck, hard work, whatever, but locking in when NOT necessary kept me ready for this situation.

This company I worked at next, I went on to work here for another 2 years or so. It was a roller coaster of experience 🎢. I learned more about "Corporate" here than anywhere else. I learned things I thought were not necessary for an Engineer. I feel like my time working here deserves a whole different blog altogether. To be honest, it was not a very enjoyable period. Sometimes you feel like you landed in a place which takes you back in time and does more damage than good. That's what the last 2 years felt like. There were good times in between. Some interesting bits of engineering, but it left me burnt out and uninterested.

Here's what I learnt in the past 2 years 📝

Voice your opinion 🗣️

Software engineering is a lot about communication, as I said earlier. You need to voice your opinion or you will be forgotten in the churn. You will become the guy who is okay with everything.

Highlight your contributions 🌟

Don't assume that your good work will always be recognized by itself. Take the initiative to bring attention to your accomplishments. Advocate for yourself, and make sure that your real impact on the team and product is visible to your peers and leadership.

Enjoy the Process 😊

There is a saying that if you enjoy what you do, you will not "work" a single day in your life. At the end of the day, no matter what you are working on, where you are working, just enjoy the process. If you are not satisfied, hustle the hell out. Find an escape, find a better place, or build your own little castle. 🏰