Looking for advice about starting a new job in a new stack at a startup after being at my first job at a mega corp for 5 yrs
#job tips about starting a new job in a new stack after being at 1 job for years
hallow phoenix
vocal bison
Spend all your time listening and thinking. Don't suggest any substantial changes for the first three months or so, when you've gained enough context. Start small in your suggested changes to build trust. Always remember that what worked at your previous company doesn't necessarily make sense here - especially with the big tech -> startup transition, people frequently try to over-build things because they're used to a very different set of business needs. Don't criticize technical debt for existing - if it didn't, the company likely wouldn't still exist.
And again, listen, be empathetic, and try to understand the story of why things are the way they are. That's really really important.
hallow phoenix
definitely agree with that i'm gonna be a fly on a wall 😄
one conflicting piece of advice i keep getting is that if i'm a sr i should've ask too many questions but i also grew as a dev in companies where we encouraged asking questions and discouraged sitting in a corner for days or hours confused about something without asking around first
vocal bison
What's the conflicting advice there? You should ask lots of questions and also ask lots of questions? (Perhaps there was a typo)
If you mean that some people have said that you shouldn't be asking so many questions as you're getting more senior: the type of questions you ask changes. There's not as much "how does this thing work" and more "why does this thing work this way"
And the whats are different too. You might ask how something is architected, but not need everything spelled out
hallow phoenix
Oh whoops yea some say you shouldn't as a senior which I think is dumb
Would.it be bad to ask for help with code as a senior
vocal bison
As usual, it depends :)
vocal bison
"How do I write a loop?" -> bad
"What does this function do?" -> look at the documentation - but maybe ok if the documentation is missing or seems wrong
"I've been working on this gnarly bug and I'm stuck" -> normal
hallow phoenix
Ok I'm glad I'm usually the last one if any