Learn . Teach . Repeat
Let me start with the disclaimer:
This is purely based on my experience and opinions. This does not mean this has to be your path. If you are anything like me, you’re probably on this journey or will be on this journey. So stay with me!
How many of you think being curious to learn something new in front of your colleagues makes you look stupid? If you have experienced this, then you’re just not at the right place, get out!
Summarizing with Naval’s quote:
If you can’t see yourself working with someone for life, don’t work with them for a day.
This is the first lesson I learnt when I started working at a startup.
Anecdotally speaking, here’s a list of things people typically look at before deciding on their first job:
- A name that their parents or friends and family recognize
- Salary
- Big office
- Safety/Security
- Fancy cafeteria and distance from home (a factor considered before remote work was unacceptable)
Things you should actually be looking for:
- The people
- Your role
- Learning potential outside of your role
- Possibility of an expanded network
- Experimentation
If you are someone who is sure about your skill set and has a (perfect) plan on what you want to do, look for an opportunity, that will put you in uncomfortable positions often.
You should be looking for:
- An opportunity in that path
- People who are smarter than you
- People who will make you uncomfortable
- A place that’ll push you to your limits and beyond
You know why? Because that’s how you’ll learn to get better!
If you are someone like me, look for a place where people will give you space to experiment and learn. I was a clean slate when I took up my job at a startup. I experimented with User Research, as they needed help with that. I enjoyed it. After a while, I had spare time, so I started learning wireframing on my own. Since I was talking to our customers and vendors while handling operations, I had gathered a pretty good idea about what each party needed help with. Picking up these skills helped me learn how to design an app alongside the CTO.
What I want to say is this: if you are a clean slate, look for a good set of people to work with and keep learning. But whenever you feel like you’re stuck at a job, where you don’t learn much from your surroundings, get out!
Work with people who are smarter than you, with whom you can have fun while learning from each other. ALWAYS!
Take ownership and be answerable!
