3 Tips for Faster Promotions for Software Engineers
Wanna get promoted faster as a software engineer?
Here are 3 insights from an excellent video by Rahul Pandey and David Pan (linked at the bottom of the post):
1. 💪 Respect the Power Law
In software engineering (and in almost every facet of life), a minority of the projects you work on will have the majority of the impact on the business and its customers. Commit that to memory.
The best way to fast-track your growth as a software engineer then is developing a keen sense of what will be most impactful for the business and its customers and delivering it.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Which 20% of projects we’re working on will have 80% of the impact?
- What’s the most impactful problem we can solve for the business right now?
Hyper-focus on the answers to these questions.
2. 🧠 Think Outside the Box
While you’re working on the most impactful projects, remember that as a software engineer, you’re not hired to solve engineering problems, but to solve business problems.
Why is this important?
Solutions to business problems can sometimes look completely different to solutions to engineering problems.
Maybe there’s a much easier way to solve the problem than to jump into the code or the architecture?
Maybe it was as simple as contacting your software vendor and working with them?
You’ll never know if you look at yourself as a technical problem-solver, rather than a business problem-solver.
3. ⭐ Work backwards from success
Often the most effective way to get to a solution is to work backwards from your desired end state. This helps you in the following ways:
- Avoids the minutia during the problem-solving phase
- Keeps you focused on the main vision of the project
- Helps you think of creative ways to solve the business problem (remember point 2?)
When in doubt, backtrack from success.
If you enjoyed this, check out the original video below! It’s got several concrete examples of these insights applied in action than I could cover in this post. 👇
Rockstar Software Engineer Story: SW2 to Principal in 4 Years — How To Get Promoted FAST — YouTube
