5 Things I Wish I Knew At The Beginning Of My Career
By: Mateusz Treder
Tags: Personal Growth, Learning, Networking, Personal Development, Careers

5 Things I Wish I Knew At The Beginning Of My Career

and you can still learn and apply them now

My career over the past 10 years was nothing I had imagined while being still at school. I work in an industry that didn’t exist back then. I have a title that few people understand. I do things that nobody had thought of just a few years ago.

Sure, it hasn’t been perfect. In fact, we could all agree that given the chance, we’d probably go back in time and do certain things a little bit differently.

Given how unrealistic that is, there are, however, several valuable lessons that I learned that might help you as you navigate your own career.

Don’t specialize in a specific role. Specialize in a problem.

Most people want to become economists, programmers, engineers, sociologists, etc. Don’t do that.

Instead of choosing a specific job role, choose a specific problem that you aim to solve. It can be also a problem that the industry, a company is facing. How to make a website, how to organize a wedding, how to efficiently ship products etc.

It makes your entire development more focused and concrete.

It will be way easier to land a job. Companies don’t like fluff. If you can be precise about your skills and value you are adding, it is way easier for a manager to envision how and where you will fit the team.

Moreover, when you choose to solve a specific problem, you give purpose to your life. And you naturally become excited by the work you do you.

Passion brings energy. Energy brings happiness. Happiness brings fulfillment.

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

Try working abroad

You’ll learn a lot more than typical job skills. You’ll learn about life. You’ll learn perspective. You will learn about yourself.

Living abroad means you’ll experience being a minority.

You’ll have to make changes to fit it. You will learn empathy, being open-minded, and accepting different views, perspectives, and cultures.

That experience will be more powerful than any degree you had or could have had.

You’re only young once — make the most of it — and so get out of your comfort zone right from the word go — Ryan Allis, CEO of Hive

Network!

Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you — Steve Jobs

Business equals people. People equals business. All big corporate deals, all inventions, all new products are done by people. Mastering the people’s game is the key to everything.

Learn to play this game from day one. Whenever you go to a conference, attend a presentation, chat with somebody during a coffee break — don’t forget about connecting on a portal like LinkedIn. Proper follow up is really a key thing in business. Especially in the USA and Western Europe.

“All returns in life, including in relationships, are from compound interest.” — Naval Ravikant

Aim to get a high position early. If are a senior, manager you will make more meaningful connections. The order you climb up the ranks the better.

The person you meet today maybe someone you work with 2, 5, or 10 years from now. He or she could be an employee you want to hire, a potential business partner, or even your future boss. Never underestimate that.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Learn from top performers

The younger members of musical families so often are also the most talented, because they had a chance to learn from elder siblings.

Most talents are a combination of soft and hard skills. Prioritize the hard skills because in the long run, they’re more important to your talent.

You should always have an up-to-date list of a minimum of 3 people:

Somebody above you in the company hierarchy. Somebody you believe it’s worth following, a top performer or a leader. Somebody at a similar level does the same job better than you. Your subordinate that does the job you were doing 2–3 years ago.

Compare yourself regularly with this 3. And learn from them.

“There will always be someone smarter than you. There will always be someone faster than you. There will always be someone stronger than you. That means that your only real job is to be the best at connecting with other people.” — Julien Smith

Early years are essential to plan your career

Your 20s will largely determine your future career path. Sure, you can and will get promoted earlier and opportunities will always come and go. But the beginning of your career is all about positioning yourself on a good trajectory.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

It is also one of the hardest parts to navigate. You start with a very weak position. Very likely, you have little-to-no professional experience, you don’t know how to evaluate which company will be best for you, and you probably don’t have much of a network to rely on.

Therefore, even though your youth should be filled with experiences, discoveries, and various endeavors — stay picky.

It might be great to join a startup related to your filled of studies since you will be exposed to many different things but remember that large corporations will also give you something valuable— structure, processes, and a clear division of roles and responsibilities. You will appreciate that once you join a more chaotic organization;)

Secondly, there must be a common trait throughout your journey. It can mean staying in the same industry but tasting through different professions — engineering, product marketing, or customer support.

If you switch occupations randomly every year, then it doesn’t show credibility towards either your next employer or a venture capitalist willing to invest in your business.