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Ask HN: New grad, new job at a small startup. How to prepare for the future?

2 points by testpass ↗ HN
Hi HN,

I just landed my first job in Toronto at a small local startup that's picking up steam. I interviewed with a bunch of firms (including some big ones), but decided to go with the startup as they were the ones I got along with best, seemed extremely interesting, and a place where I can learn to be a great software engineer.

My only question, probably derived from my parent's disappointment I'm not going back to the Bay Area for a 100k+ starting salary, is am I shooting my self in the foot?

Should I have gone somewhere else that's more recognizable, or take this risk, albeit at a much lower pay than SV, and learn learn learn.

What did you do for your first job. What would you do now? What can I do so that in the future that my skills will be in high value in the next 2, 5, 10 years?

5 comments

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pcarolan
My first job was at a big insurance company in a nontechnical role. Once you realize that this is a marathon not a sprint, the most important thing to do is get the fundamentals right. Master testing in whatever language your employer uses, then work your way through design patterns. Once youve got that down and a few years of experience, you should be able to do whatever you want.
ramtatatam
When you are young is the time when you do startups - of course some would do when they are post 30/40/50 but you will find out it is more difficult to do this once you reach certain age (i.e. get married, have family etc.)

You need to have a goal in your mind - so lets assume you landed a nice job in Bay Area for 100k, lets say you would be getting a pay rise every year (or so) - but would you have to specialise in some narrow bit of tech to do that? Would you continue living like this for rest of your life? Getting pay rises every year (or so)?

From another point of view - when doing startup and specialising in some narrow tech does not sound like a good idea. You want to broaden your skillset, that is - not only tech but also doing business, growing your network of connections that may help you starting your own startup in the future. You need to try to get your head around all of the concepts you possibly can, learn lessons of this startup so you do not make mistakes in the future and do everything you can to get your brain producing ideas. At some point you will evaluate those ideas and most likely set up something on your own - and then you may end up being somebody like Richard Branson? Who knows!

My advice though, do not let your job to burn you out. Contribute more if you feel like it but do not go too far with it for 1) they will expect you to be like this 24/7 and 2) your health is something you can loose easily.

Long-ish piece of advice, so what about myself? I started as engineer in world-wide corp and after 8 years left to join startup. And I have done it 8 years too late since this startup is quite demanding and I'm handling all tech issues together with building the team and keeping them on track. So it's 10 times more challanging now than it would be 8 years ago (and I know it would, working 9-5 job is piece of cake).

Good luck and all the best!

testpass
Thanks for your insight - it helps knowing there are so many sides to the story.

Would you have liked to reverse that order? Go to the startup first, then go to corporate. Or stay in a startup(s)?

ramtatatam
If I was 19 again I would definitely go for startup - I would be more aggressive and less focused on security. From where I'm now I can see people who got really high were involved in startups extensively. That's your turbo through career ladder - what would take you 10 years in big corp you can achieve in a year within startup.
derekharasen
One thing to keep in mind about the Bay Area 100k+ starting salary, is its also going to increase your cost of living by a pretty high factor. Aside from that, speaking as somebody who has spent the last 4 years at a startup, you're going to get a much better opportunity to wear multiple hats and learn new things in the smaller setting. You'll also get the experience to witness & participate in a growing company, which will be invaluable to future employers. Experience isn't just about the years you put in, its about what you're exposed to and learn.