14 Jan 2025 #career
I was fired from my first job. 10+ years ago.
My first job taught me A LOT. I had 0 hours of flight time. Everything was new to me. I had to learn about the job and to navigate the corporate world at the same time. But I was fired.
Yes, fired. Not laid off. Fired. Same result, different cause.
Did I deserve it? Probably. Did I learn something? Sure.
Here are five lessons I learned from that:
1. You could lose your job at anytime
It’s obvious now. But it wasn’t 10+ years ago.
I was fired. But you could also lose your job for reasons you don’t control. A pandemic, a recession, or a layoff. Or your company gets acquired and extinguished. It’s outside of your control.
When I was in university, I thought being an employee was the safest route. Starting a company was for crazy people. I was sooo wrong. I only needed to be fired once to change my mind.
What’s truly safe? What you build for yourself: a side business, a rental property, or an investment portfolio.
Build something you can’t be fired from…Well, Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, so handle with care.
2. Job offers aren’t published anywhere
A couple of weeks after losing my job, I was interviewing for a small company in my city.
On the day I left, I had a conversation with my direct boss. Ex-boss, at that point. I don’t remember exactly what we talked about. I don’t know what he saw in me either. Maybe he saw his younger self across the desk that day. But he made a couple of phone calls and arranged an interview for me. It was a lucky day for me after all.
My first job wasn’t advertised anywhere. I got it because I knew someone who knew someone. And my next job wasn’t advertised either. Again I knew someone who knew someone.
Our world is moved by connections. By knowing someone who knows someone. Make an extra effort to build your professional network.
Your network is your most valuable asset.
3. Accept the rules or disagree with your feet
Talent and hard work aren’t shortcuts to avoid corporate rules.
There was a new rule at work. I didn’t like it. But I was naive to think anyone would ask me if I liked it and was willing to follow it. HR? My boss? My boss’ boss? Of course, nobody did.
I was wrong to believe my hard work would exempt me from that rule. Not following that new rule got me fired in the end.
A job is a game with rules you don’t control. And you have no voice when those rules change. Either you accept those rules or disagree with your feet. Trying to negotiate has no results. And not following them…well, now you know what happened to me.
4. Listen to your body, it might be telling you something
It sounds like a cliché. But listen to your body and look for small clues.
Don’t want to get out of bed to work multiple days in a row? Do Sunday evenings make you anxious anticipating next Monday morning? Your body might be telling you something.
At some point in my first job, I felt like I was leaving my life behind, sitting at a computer. I was demotivated and disengaged. My morning alarm was torture.
I didn’t listen to my body. I kept doing the same expecting change without doing anything. The next time I forgot to listen to my body years later, I got burned out and eventually sick.
Every time I need to make a change in my life, my body tells me when it’s time. “I feel it in my fingers…I feel it in my toes…”
5. Always have an exit plan
I jumped and left my first job with no plan at all.
By not making my own plan, I let society choose a plan for me: work hard, get promoted, and get a 3-5% raise every year. Wait to retire. Then, die.
Take a moment to find out what you want and value the most for your career. Money? Connections? Recognition? Growth? Then, choose the jobs and places that take you closer to that.
Don’t let others decide by going on auto-pilot. Have your own exit plan. Always.
Parting Thought
After many years, I realized my first job was a launching platform. It put me in the right moment, next to the right people. It started a chain of events that brought me to where I’m now.
At my first job, I learned some of my most valuable career lessons. The world isn’t what my teachers told me in university. I had to learn and figure out things on my own. I started my financial journey by making my first deposit into an investment account. I got my first real hours of flight time. I paid for a family dinner with my money for the first time.
After every ending, there’s a new beginning. Pastures are always greener on the other side.
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13 Jan 2025 #writing
I’m not pouring a bucket of cold water over my head, but I’m doing an Internet challenge.
I found it in Kev Quirk’s blog. And he found it on somebody else’s blog. But the challenge started on Bear Blog. Ava started it.
But since I don’t have a blog on that platform, I’m doing this challenge here instead. Just like Kev on his own blog.
Here I go:
Why did you start blogging in the first place?
I started blogging as an excuse to become a better coder.
Probably in the early 2010s, back in my first job, I googled “how to be a better developer.” And among the many options, I found “start a blog.”
Then, years later, at my second job, I didn’t want to throw away a couple of hours of Googling while looking for options to finish a task. And that’s how I started writing and blogging.
I already wrote about how I started my blog here.
What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?
I use Jekyll on GitHub pages.
That was the easiest and cheapest alternative I found back in 2018. And, I spent a couple of days, or maybe a week, looking for the right template and theme to start.
Have you blogged on other platforms before?
No. I wrote my first online piece ever here.
But I’ve guest blogged on Exception Not Found and collaborated with two software companies to write on their Medium publications and official sites.
These days, I cross-post on dev.to and Medium. But my blog is my central hub. All my ideas in some shape or form end up here.
How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?
I’m a plain text fan.
I keep all my drafts, posts, and ideas on Notable. I use a system of tags. I have one tag for post ideas. And once I turn an idea into a post, I use another tag.
Once a post is ready, I log into GitHub, create a new file, and paste my text there.
That’s how I blog in a nutshell. But here’s my blogging workflow more in-depth.
When do you feel most inspired to write?
Short answer: Anytime. But mostly, in the mornings.
I tend to write in the mornings. That’s when I feel the most productive and my energy is at its peak. I’m kind of a morning person.
But, I always have something to write. Inspiration can hit at any time.
It has happened that right after I put my head on my pillow, an idea comes and I have to rush to write it somewhere. Also, while taking a walk. That’s my trick to avoid writer’s block.
No. I have a queue of posts. Right now, I have around 20 posts that are ready to publish.
I start my writing sessions by editing and proofreading my last post. Then I start writing any of my post ideas.
What’s your favorite post on your blog?
I’ve written around ~200 posts. I don’t have a favorite. Well, that’s what every mom and dad answer when they’re asked about their favorite child.
But if I could remove all my posts and keep a handful of them, I’d keep my series on Unit Testing.
Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?
Seth Godin has always inspired me. He’s been writing daily for ~20 years.
And since November 1st 2024, I started writing daily about programming and other subjects. In fact, I created a new tag, /misc, to dump posts about all other subjects. My challenge is to write 100 daily posts. If I stick to my rhythm, I’m done next February 9th.
Chances are I’m keeping the daily rhythm after those 100 posts.
I’m too lazy to redesign my blog. I’m a black-and-white fan, so I’m sticking to the left pane. I’d like to add a scrolling bar and include more menu entries.
Oh! My own domain. I tried to buy one in the past. And I found out there’s a soccer player, a singer, and a director with my name.
I’d like to give Substack a try, but it would be for anything else apart from coding.
Parting Thought
I owe my career growth to learning foreign languages and writing.
Writing has opened doors for me. I made my first side income thanks to my blog. I skipped the hiring line when I applied to my last job.
In fact, I don’t have a coding portfolio. My blog has done more for me. Always write about what you do at your work. That’s better than an old-fashioned CV.
12 Jan 2025 #writing
I don’t have a coding portfolio.
By portfolio, I mean a webpage showcasing my best projects. My GitHub account is the closest thing to a coding portfolio. But it hasn’t helped me land jobs.
My blog has helped me more. Here’s how:
1. A content collaboration
Some time ago, the next day after interviewing for a small local company, I got a phone call.
They wanted me to start a company blog for them. The interviewer read some of my blog posts. I had a link to it on my CV. He wanted me to write something similar for them.
I wrote five blog posts for them with interview preparation material. Even though I decided not to continue the interview process, I declared it a win. Also, I made some lunch money with them.
2. A smoother hiring process
Years later, the last time I applied for a job, in the first interview, I shared my screen and walked the interviewer through my blog.
The interviewer asked if I contributed somehow to the coding community. The process went smoother from there. I didn’t have any coding interview after that, except for opening a PR on an open source project. That was it.
Sharing your thoughts and learnings can open unexpected doors. Even if you don’t land new jobs, you’ll learn new skills. And more importantly, you’ll learn to think better. So write your first online piece and see what opportunities it brings. But don’t start a blog.
11 Jan 2025 #productivity
I used to be a productivity freak with to-do lists.
At a past job, I had a notebook where I wrote down every single action I needed to finish. Small tasks, large tasks, meeting notes… Everything.
Later on, I became a plain text lover and kept my to-do list in a .txt file I edited with Notepad: a “todo.txt” file.
Same story as my notebook at my past job. Even worse. I had “todo.txt” files for work and non-work. One in my personal computer and another in my work computer. My to-do lists grew without control. I still have items in my “todo.txt” file from years ago. Oops!
But there’s something with to-do lists. They’re stressful.
Every item on our to-do lists is an item we haven’t finished and probably won’t finish either. In the meantime, they’re another source of stress.
I learned from Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth by James Altucher to ditch to-do lists and goals, and live by themes instead.
The theme I want to live by in 2025 is the Daily Practice: doing something for my mind, body, and spirit every day.
As part of my Daily Practice, I’m sticking to:
- A glass of water after waking up
- A workout session
- A moment of silence
- Writing 200-250 words
- Coming up with 10 ideas
- Getting rid of negativity
Few things have helped me change my life like the Daily Practice.
That Daily Practice helped me get my health and life on track after burning out. Focusing on my health brought clarity to my life last year.
Goodbye “todo.txt” file and hello Daily Practice. That’s my only rule for 2025. You should give it a try too.
10 Jan 2025 #career
It took me 10 years to learn this lesson:
The higher up you go, the less it’s about coding and more about all other skills.
Being the best at coding won’t get you higher on the corporate ladder. Well, the corporate ladder is a trap.
Unfortunately, few places offer growth opportunities for coders, and even fewer for those who don’t want the management track.
Every place has its own expectations for team leaders or managers.
In some places, the team leader role is divided between:
- someone technical in charge of coding and architecture decisions, and
- someone non-technical in charge of project management.
In other places, a team leader wears all hats, often for the same pay.
Making the jump into a leadership role
If you enjoy coding and are thinking about joining the management track, start by understanding that your role as a team leader is more like a movie director than an actor.
Your job is not to appear on screen, except for some cameos. Your job is to make sure your movie gets done as expected and on time.
For that, you’ll need coding skills. Sure. But much stronger soft skills.
You’ll spend most of your time in meetings, not coding:
- Daily meetings with your team,
- Daily meetings with all other leaders,
- 1-on-1s with every team member,
- Sync ups with project managers and product people
Once you understand you’re the director, not the best actor, show your interest in exploring the role with your team leader during your 1-on-1s or performance reviews.
Then, find easy and cheap ways to validate if being a team leader is a role you’d enjoy:
- Organize and tidy up your project board
- Cover your team leader during their vacation
- Be the onboarding buddy for new team members
- Coordinate efforts to complete a feature from requirements to deployment
That will force you out of your “coding” comfort zone into the soft skill-heavy zone.
As a leader, you’re not responsible for your own code anymore. You’re responsible for all other coders and the code they write.
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