Setting Your Target

I always look up to older folks because they can help you avoid mistakes they already made. This is one of the reasons why I went deep into acquiring knowledge from technical books early in my career. It gave me an advantage that set me apart while I was feeling behind everyone else. I was lucky because I knew which type of college I wanted to go to, there was never a doubt in my mind that Computer Engineering is what I wanted to do. I didn't appreciate (at the time) that my mind was so clearly set. I do now!

Not too long ago a student of my former college reached out to seek advice. I was beyond thrilled to guide them and help them avoid some mistakes I made along the way. There's one specifically that I need to remind myself a few times a year.

Avoid drifting along at all costs.

During my college years, I had a wide interest in many different academic disciplines. Nothing wrong with that, the unfortunate detail I regret is that I didn't cultivate my passion while taking classes. I was always fascinated by web technologies but didn't pursue them in practice. Didn't experiment much and didn't build many significant projects. Most importantly I wasn't sure what I was going to do after college was over. Computer Vision? Machine Learning? Web? Networking? Automation? Security? All fascinating fields. So I gave it my best and while my professor wanted me to apply for a PhD, my heart wasn't in it (and some other personal details that I'll save for another day).

Once I started looking for a job, I noticed many gaps that I needed to fill. I took my time and eventually found a fitting position, not without stressing out about it. Honestly, I took one of the first decent opportunities I had, not considering where it would take me or how it would play into my long-term goals. Working at Google, Microsoft, Apple and any of the other big names back in the day (and mostly still today) was appealing. They were the places where innovation happened and where top engineers worked. But again I didn't have a goal, even if I joined, then what? Which team was I interested in? Where would I want to get to eventually?

Going back to the conversation I had with the student, I helped him dig into his interests. I told him to pursue something he's passionate about but, most importantly, to think about what comes after college. What's your dream job? Is there a company you'd love to work for? Why? What would you do there? My goal was to help thinking about this NOW so that he could give himself a direction. Even if he won't get the dream job right out of college, he could try and get RELEVANT experience and not just get a job for the sake of it.

Thoughts

This is what I like to focus on with anyone looking for advice and with my team as well. Set a goal, and use that as your compass for any decision. When things don't go as expected and you don't have direction, you might end up stuck doing something that doesn't provide anything to your future other than a paycheck (granted that not everyone is lucky enough in life that they can pass up the opportunity of a paycheck). Our time is so limited that we should use it wisely.