Introduction

I finished the book "Engineers Survival Guide."

In this post, I'll share my notes.

🎭 Imposter syndrome

• Imposter syndrome makes you feel like a fake, even if you're talented.

• It's just a feeling and doesn't mean you're not skilled or worthy.

• Many successful engineers also go through this.

• By focusing on your achievements and believing in your abilities, you can beat imposter syndrome.

🎙️ How often should you interview?

• If you're unhappy with your job, consider making a change.

• Don't be afraid to interview for new jobs.

• It's your life, so choose what makes you happy.

• If you're happy with your current team and pay, you can decline an offer.

• If a new offer is better and more exciting, go for it.

• When you have multiple offers, negotiate for the best deal.

👥 Finding a Mentor

• A mentor is an experienced person who can give advice, share knowledge, and help you grow.

• They share their experiences to help you learn and get better.

• They can help you connect with other professionals and expand your network.

• They guide you and provide support throughout your career journey.

👀 Visibility is everything

• Share your status updates or progress on internal posts (Slack).

• Comment on public posts, or even people's code reviews.

• Always find ways to increase your visibility.

• Why? It helps you show your work, connect with others, and create more career opportunities.

🚫 How to Disarm Assholes

• "Assholes" are people who behave rudely or disrespectfully.

• Stay calm and confident when dealing with them.

• Don't let their behavior affect how you act or feel.

• Use strategies such as listening and staying calm.

• Respond to them with kindness and respect.

🔑 Taking Responsibility & Ownership

• Know what you need to do and do it well.

• Be reliable and take responsibility for your actions.

• When you make a mistake, admit it, learn from it, and fix it.

• Take charge and find solutions to problems.

• Show dedication, do the extra work, and take action for success.

🔄 Adaptability

• Adaptability means being flexible and open to change.

• It's about being able to adjust to new situations.

• It involves being open to new ideas, feedback, and challenges.

• It allows you to quickly change your plans when things don't go as expected.

🛑 Saying No, Prioritization & Solutions

• No: refusing to do something when you're already too busy.

• Prioritization: choosing what's most important and needs to be done first.

• They help you focus on what really matters and reduce stress.

• It's important to tell others about your limits, so they understand what you can handle.

• Be open-minded and creative in finding solutions.

• A "no" can close doors, so it's better to explore different options.

• Also, share your concerns while still being open to finding solutions.

📈 Data Power: Convincing Others

• Use data to support your arguments and ideas.

• Data helps convince others and strengthen your points.

• Data can be in the form of words (descriptions or feedback) or pictures (images or charts).

• Data gives proof and makes your points stronger.

• When you use data, it helps others understand and believe in what you're saying.

🌐 The Importance of Networking

• Networking: meeting new people and building industry relationships.

• It opens up opportunities for jobs and collaborations.

• Attend events, start groups, and have meetings to network.

• It helps you learn, share knowledge, and stay updated.

• All of it can lead to mentorship and career support.

💼 One-on-One with Leadership

• Private meetings with managers are important.

• You can discuss your work, goals, areas you need to improve and concerns with them.

• They're there to support and help you succeed.

• Make sure you feel supported and trust the management.

• 1-1's build a supportive relationship and benefit your growth.

💭 Act then Think:

• It means doing before thinking too much.

• Take action instead of just thinking. It helps you grow and adapt faster.

• Sometimes it's better to start and learn along the way, even if it's not perfect.

• By taking action, you learn from mistakes and challenges.

🔙 Biggest Regret

• Reflecting on decisions helps us avoid regrets.

• Regret can come from missed opportunities or not taking risks.

• It reminds us to think about our decisions to avoid future regret.

• We can learn from regrets and use them as lessons for the future.

• By thinking about our past choices, we can make better decisions and have fewer regrets in our career journey.

⚖️ Perfectionism = Biggest Enemy

• Perfectionism is when you always want things to be perfect and flawless.

• It can make you feel stressed and anxious because you're always trying to be perfect.

• Perfectionism can make it hard to finish tasks because you want to keep making them better.

• Instead of aiming for perfection, focus on doing your best and learning from your mistakes, because nobody is perfect

🔧 Redesigning a Working System

• If something is already working well, don't change it completely.

• Changing things that work well can cause unnecessary problems.

• Focus on maintaining and improving what already works effectively.

🤔 Hold that Question

• It means not asking directly and trying to figure things out by yourself.

• Search online, check documents, and look for code examples or within the codebase for answers.

• It's beneficial because it helps you develop problem-solving skills and become more independent in finding solutions.

🐛 Debuggers and crash investigation

• Debuggers help you find and fix problems in your code.

• They show you what your code is doing while it runs.

• You can check each line of code and see variable values.

• Debuggers catch crashes and let you figure out what went wrong.

• You can change code and test fixes without restarting.

🐾 Using Your Own Product

• Use or test the services or products you work on.

• It's important to understand how they work and who uses them.

• Catch problems or bugs by using your own services.

• Test services on different devices and scenarios to prevent problems.

• Being a user of your own service helps you understand it better and get creative ideas. Theres always areas for improvement.

🗂️ Remember, it's not your company

• The company you work for isn't yours.

• Don't try to control everything or stop others from making mistakes.

• Companies need creative employees, even if they make wrong choices.

• When you work for someone else, you trade risks for stability.

• Focus on getting better and doing your best work.

🎯 Playing the long game

• Plan for the future, not just the present.

• Take care of yourself, your most valuable asset. Avoid stress and prioritize well-being.

• Stock prices and company situations can change a lot, so don't focus too much on them.

• Look at tough times as chances to grow and find new opportunities. Stay strong and open-minded.

Conclusion

I recommend every developer to read this book to improve their skills.

It provides helpful advice and strategies for overcoming challenges and achieving success in software engineering.