That ultimately, the industry wants engineers to manage the business, instead of managing software.

If I had known this I would not have gone through university at all. I would have attempted my own business from the start and learned on my own.

Instead the entire school system seemed to be about learning technical knowledge, from math and physics in high school, to computer science in university. Then you go to interviews and you get technical tests, followed by some technical focus at the beginning of your career... but then after a few years once senior level expectations start to kick in... the expectation shifts and it's about learning how the business works, and how to make profit with software.

It was confusing why this shift happens in software. It might make sense in other industries where younger people need to replace older people (i.e. something with physical labor). So I'm now reevaluating how to look for a company that will leverage all of my existing technical knowledge or I will need to reconsider what to do because my career expectations don't align with the average software company's engineer expectations.

Leetcode-infested technical interviews aren’t there to assess your technical competence; they’re used as a signal to gauge your tolerance for absurd organizational demands and your willingness to carry them out without question.

Learned (and still learning): imposter syndrome is a lie, don't hesitate to ask for help, document everything religiously, learning never stops, and burnout is real.

That age discrimination post VC infection is real. Back when I started in 90 we had senior engineers with white hair. I distinctly remember brushing aside my father's advice when he cautioned me about such things. "No, not in software. It is a pure meritocracy". Hah. (Implicit lesson: listen to your elders /g)

Second lesson then was that engineering as a career is for chumps; young ones: start your own business.

The most useful programming language is Bash.

I wouldn't say I learned this too late, but ashamedly, I didn't learn this truth until after ShellCheck was released. I have thousands of hours of experience writing Python, Ruby, and Perl, but I no longer have any use for them.

That grunt work will never feel meaningful.

E.g. working the website of a forefront AI lab doesn't feel meaningful. More like you're the idiot for having spent your life on web dev, while some are fixing humanity's last problem.

You have to aim high from the get-go.

To chill out. You work with humans, so give them good UX and make it pleasant for them to work with you.

First of all, I don't think it's ever "too late" as long as you're breathing. That said, there are things I wish I'd learned earlier.

I couldn't give you a complete list of those things off the cuff, so I'll just pick one that is sort of "top of mind". I haven't thought this out in detail, so consider this me basically "thinking out loud".

So... to put it in very loose terms, I'd say I wish I'd learned to really appreciate the importance of focusing on human to human interactions and how people communicate, interact, evaluate, and understand each other. Of course that's tritely obvious on one level, but to really really internalize those lessons is a different thing.

And while it might seem silly, I'll say that one thing that helped me learn a lot was watching the TV show "Billions". Very early on in that show I kept noticing certain behaviors by the various characters that led them to bad (or sub-optimal) situations, or behaviors they used to improve their standing, etc. And I'm NOT saying that any of those characters should be seen as role models mind you. Just that watching the show kinda "smacked me in the face" in a very visceral way with regards to appreciating some things I had not really fully appreciated before.

To illustrate (spoiler warning if you haven't seen the show)... in Season 1 there's a tense meeting with the two main characters - Chuck Rhoades and Bobby Axelrod, to sign a settlement that had already been agreed to. Note, they had an agreement that made everybody happy. This should have been a simple "show up, sign the papers, call it done" deal. But Axelrod let his ego cause him to start mouthing off at Rhoades, who in turn let his ego be offended and then he ratcheted up his demands for the settlement, which eventually led to Axelrod tearing up his settlement payment check, and walking out without signing the deal. This led to all sorts of bad shit and was a suboptimal outcome for everybody involved.

The lesson (as I took it)? Detach your ego from things. Focus on the outcome you want, not how things make you feel in the moment. Don't let a brief moment of anger derail something you've been working on for months (or years, etc).

And there are very many similar lessons embedded in that show. I do recommend it to basically everybody, FWIW.

Anyway, getting back on point. I guess I'd add that I now realize that I was probably too focused on technology qua technology earlier in my career. And again, I knew that this wasn't optimal on some level. But it takes a while sometimes to go from a surface / superficial understanding of something, to a really deeply internalized understanding. Now, I get more the importance of the "human element", understanding how the business works, understanding the interpersonal dynamics of a company, etc.

Edit: let me add one more thing.

Don't whine, or complain, or sulk at work. Ever. Just don't. it might feel good, but there is basically zero chance that doing so will help your situation at all, and a very high chance that it will hurt your standing in the org and compromise you at some point. If you have a legitimate grief, sure, talk to your manager in a strictly business-like, professional manager. Eg, "Look boss, you have me doing X, and I'll do it as long as you want me to, but I'd really prefer to be doing Y. Do you think we could find a way to shift my role more to Y" or something along those lines. But sulking, acting pissed off, bitching around the water cooler, etc. are no behaviors that will help you. Trust me on this. And don't ask me how I know. :-)

HTH.

That the same people you admire will destroy your job.

- I was a Flash developer and Steve Jobs killed Flash with the iPhone. In all fairness, for its security problems.

- So I went to infrastructure and then Bezos released AWS.

- So back to UI development, and Dan Amabrov and a few others made my React project a legacy one.

- Now I'm waiting for Sam to deprecate my frontend dev job with AI.

I'll share a few.

1. Don't get tunnel visioned into the problem you're solving. Prioritize maintaining your professional relationships, especially with your manager, over all else. Prioritize what your manager cares about over whatever you think is more important.

2. Async-communication does not replace real-time communication. People cannot help but reveal more when you're communicating in real-time. This is crucial because of the next point.

3. Do NOT assume good intentions. Sadly, the tech industry is full of backstabbers across organizations of all size. If people have an issue with how you're doing something, no matter how small, no matter how trivial, expect that it'll go directly to your manager and be kept hidden from you.

You're as disposable as any other worker drone. Plan accordingly.

There's no such thing as too late.

Go to where you're valued the most, even if where you are is pretty good. Sometimes leaving a good thing is hard -- but it can be good. I left my jobs pretty much when they became the most fun, but my career has been better off for it.

Getting a new job in a new org is always difficult. New people, new process, new everything, and you don't have your past reputation to gloss over mistakes -- which you're more likely to make in a new org than an old.

But ultimately, sticking around because things are comfortable might sound good, but you'll look back after 10 years and wonder just what you did.

You need to make sure management knows your value. Don't assume that they will notice it on their own. I worked with a guy that constantly bragged about how smart he was and his daily accomplishments. I though he was a jerk. I now feel that he knew the system way better than me.

If there is something to be done, and it also needs to be done right, you can never rely on others. You have to do it yourself.

That tech job is as much about business and people as any other industry. I.e. “tech” part is only a small part of it.

I realized, being a manager overseeing people, chasing after career progression was a wrong path. I should have stuck to what I like more, engineering, not bullshitting.

You only have 1 to 5 years left for your tech career unless if you're world class level programmer. AI is not good enough yet but the next versions of AI in the coming years is going to eliminate at least 90% of software engineer's jobs. Most companies have already stopped hiring.

Save as much money as you can and buy land.

Everyone else is giving vague "life lesson" posts, so I'll buck the trend: Django and React. I put off learning web dev stuff for far longer than I should have out of some mistaken sense of purity or something. Instead I only started early looking into them around me 2021 or so, when I could have been learning as early as 2010!

no matter your age and experience level, you can move organisations if you know how to tell stories.

Build your own profit business, no matter how small it is, as earlier as possible.

That remapping Caps lock to Esc is great.