I’m a senior iOS/Android engineer in my mid-twenties who’s been working at established startups (15-50 people) in a large Midwest city. I’m trying to figure out what I should be striving for in my career. What have you all done that’s been really rewarding? Some ideas I’m considering: 1. Stay on my current path, help my current company grow, own the app I’m working on, and become a leader as we add more people 2. Pursue remote work, and give the digital nomad lifestyle a shot 3. Work toward founding my own startup 4. Get a job at Evil Corp and rake in the high salary and benefits 5. ?? Thanks in advance for your insight
Where do you want to be in 5 years? Which of those options takes you there?
That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I feel like figuring out a path to a goal is very doable, but when the goal is hazy it’s harder. I feel like I’m just drifting through my career right now
You could always look for a larger company with a bigger user base.
Good point. Having a larger user base will make what I’m doing more impactful and it’ll challenge me to make better, more wholistic engineering decisions
you can’t have much impact in large corporations if this is what you are looking for. Everything is decided by higher up and there is always politic involved. So if you want to have a say, large corporations are not suitable, IMP
Where do you want to grow as a practitioner? What opportunities would you like to pursue (personally / professionally / both)? Where do you want to live? What do you value ? (Start with the last one and go from there)
What if I just want to make money $$$
I like the procedural way of thinking about this. These are things I need to think about more, but my initial response... What do I value? I value working on a project that I believe has a positive impact on people, and one where the team wants to make it as genuinely good as it can be. I also value making meaningful connections with others. I noticed I tend to be more people-oriented than a lot of my peers. Where do I want to live? I do really like where I’m at, but I could be talked into moving. I don’t care too much right now. What opportunities do I want to pursue? That’s what I’m genuinely trying to figure out. I think my relative inexperience is showing. Where do I want to grow? I want to polish my technical expertise in delivering quality products without any “holes” and I want to develop my ability to lead teams and shape company culture