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There’s a widespread false impression within the tech business that if you happen to work laborious, you might be assured to be rewarded. Sadly, that is removed from the reality. Throughout my 4 and a half years at Meta, I noticed many individuals working loopy hours who nonetheless ended up with a ‘Meets Most Expectations” ranking, placing them in danger for a remedial efficiency enchancment plan. Not solely had been these engineers sacrificing their evenings and taking over tons of stress, however they weren’t even being acknowledged for his or her efforts.
Whether or not you’re at a startup or Big Tech firm, there’s an limitless quantity of labor you may tackle. Regardless of what number of weekends you dedicate to your crew, you’ll at all times have extra to do. To be able to have a sustainably excessive impression, you have to be deliberate about selecting what to work on.
By understanding what your crew and supervisor care about, you possibly can guarantee nice outcomes which are commensurate with nice effort. So many engineers mess this up: They go down a rabbit-hole about some fascinating downside as an alternative of excited about their efficiency overview and the way they’ll be judged.
Tactically, right here’s what which means for you:
- Construct relationships with colleagues who perceive your work and might vouch for you in a variety of areas. Working in isolation typically results in misunderstood targets and priorities, leading to wasted efforts. Speaking about your work can also be extraordinarily helpful for figuring out future issues and alternatives.
- Tactfully share your work with colleagues so that you get full credit score for it. It’s not about “claiming” credit score—it’s about sharing your work to assist others. The byproduct of that is advertising. Determine who would possibly profit out of your work and ship them common venture updates.
- Set clear expectations together with your crew and supervisor. Adverse suggestions ought to by no means be a shock. You must frequently obtain (and hunt down) suggestions earlier than your official efficiency overview. I like to recommend having a devoted “suggestions 1:1” or “efficiency check-in” together with your supervisor to speak about the way you’re trending.
The above steps will be sure that each motion you are taking is loaded with worth. When you’re persistently exceeding expectations, you’re able to tackle extra accountability and develop your profession.
—Rahul
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