Am I wasting my time at this company?
Hey all So I started working at this company not too long ago (less than 8 months). We deal with the front end for toll applications that are used all across the United States. Now we mostly work in Angular but dabble in backend (oracle DB) and some middle ware (SOAP and REST) but since this has been my first job as a SWE I am unaware if I am wasting my time here... It feels like I'm not really doing anything too challenging I guess. We use Jira for tickets, I go down the list and do them. I have 3 projects I work on right now (the only UI dev doing it) and usually sit through my lunch and work because I like being all caught up. What do you all think? Am I wasting my time and skills here? If I look for another job will I even be competitive? Tldr; I don't want to waste my time at company if I'm not competitive for a better job. TC: 77k and SWE I
Leetcode and FAANG. Start now.
Im not particularly interested in working for a FAANG company to be honest. I want my work to mean something and I feel with FAANG anything I contribute is miniscule relative to the number of SWE there
That’s okay however given that you just started it’s very hard to do work that makes a big difference. My advice would be to have the FAANG stamp on your resume so that when you get an opportunity to make a difference somewhere, you’re taken seriously.
People will tell you a bunch of things like LC, jump now etc. But just think about it, when you go to a new company you will feel the same after some time. What you really need to do is to grow- take the confidence of your managers and try to lead a team. That will make you a well rounded person - both in technical aspects and as a qualified leader as well. It might not pay off immediately, but in the long run, it definitely will.
If you’re bored then move on! You’re wasting your own life if you’re bored every day
Sounds like grunt work. If this is your first SE role, I’d leave as soon as you feel like you’re no longer learning/evolving as an engineer.
Should I wait till I hit my first year then go look around?
Start now, leetcode.. getting a good offer takes about a few months time anyways. You’ll hit a year mark no matter what.