Marin Dimitrov shares essential career advice for young professionals, focusing on the importance of networking, personal development, and internships. He emphasizes aligning personal values with company culture, choosing opportunities that foster growth, and continuous self-improvement through mentorship and teamwork. The guidance includes setting a personal development plan, evaluating company fit, and effective interview techniques to ensure a successful career trajectory.

1. Career Advice for My
Younger Self
Marin Dimitrov
Engineering Manager @ Uber
@marin_dim
FMI club / DEV.BG
Nov 2017, Sofia|BG

2. Topics
Networking
Personal development
Internships
Choosing your next company
Interviews
Mentors
Teamwork

4. Networking

5. The value of networking
● Learn more about companies &
opportunities
● Meet your future teammates (referrals
are very valuable for recruiting)
● At University, local meetups, company
● Sofia: Uber, CodeVoyagers, GoLang,
Women Who Code, Bitcoin, Startup*,
AWS, JavaScript, TensorFlow, ...

6. Personal Development

7. Personal Development Plan
● SWOT + Goals + Action Items
● Where am I now?
● Where do I want to be in 6, 18, 36
months?
● What do I need to do to get there?
● (keep updating it!)

8. Personal Development Plan
Goals
● Short term (6 months)
● mid term (18 months)
● long term (36 months)
● Aspirations, motivations, priorities

9. Personal Development Plan
Action Items
● Skills you need to develop
● Specific steps & milestones
● Support & resources you may need
● Success criteria
Continuous learning
● Keep experimenting
● Set high standards for yourself
● Acknowledge that you have a lot
more to learn & grow

10. Internships

11. Internships
Why?
● Get experience with teamwork
● Learn established development &
business practices
● Find mentors
● Evaluate your longer term growth
with the company
How?
● Choose an opportunity (company)
aligned with your career goals
● Ask lots of questions, then ask more
● Take every opportunity & challenge
● Push your “comfort zone”
● Make mistakes & learn from it

12. https://eng.uber.com/

13. Choosing Your Next Company

14. Choosing your next company team
Company values & culture
● Values, beliefs & behaviours
practiced in the organisation
● Attracts great people, amplifier to
individual + team performance
● Your personal values need to align
with the company & team values
Criteria
● Growth opportunities
● Onboarding, learning & mentoring
● Teammates + experienced leaders
● Career growth plans, performance
evaluation & promotion processes

15. https://jobs.netflix.com/culture
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ubers-new-cultural-norms-dara-khosrowshahi/

16. Big vs Small company experience
(you need both!)
Big company
● More established processes & best
practices
● More experienced mentors & leaders
● Potentially more impactful products
& projects
● Usually more growth opportunities
Smaller company
● More autonomy & experimentation
● Bigger personal impact
● Usually a quicker promotion path /
quicker growth

17. Interviews

18. Interviews
Beyond technical skills
● Problem solving attitude, curiosity,
risk taking & learning from mistakes
● Continuous self improvement,
self-motivation
● Some autonomy, grit, planning &
prioritisation
● Collaboration & communication
Why do you want to join us?
● Not because of tech (it will change)
● Not because our product / company
valuation is great
● Not because of...
● You believe you can help, add value,
learn & grow; you align with our
values and understand the business

19. Interviews
Questions you should ask
● What is the culture & leadership at the
company?
● What difference do you hope I can
make?
● What will I need to succeed here?
● What mentorship & learning
opportunities will I have here?
● How are disagreements handled in
the team?
● How often will I receive feedback?
● What are the people who started 0.5 /
2 / 5 years ago doing now?
● Why did YOU join the company?
● “Coffee / beer test” (would you hang
out with these people and have fun)

20. Mentors

21. Mentors
● Will give you critical feedback,
directions & guidance on improvement
● Preferably someone with a lot more of
the right experience than you
● Can have great impact on your growth
● You need to be driving it (ask
questions, generate ideas)

22. Teamwork

23. “What Makes a Leader?” (D. Goleman, 1998)
● What makes a leader great teammate? Emotional Intelligence
● Self-awareness (self-confidence, realistic self-assessment,
asking for constructive criticism)
● Self-regulation (trustworthiness, comfort with change)
● Motivation (passion for challenges, energy to improve,
optimism upon failure)
● Empathy (understanding others’ emotions)
● Social skill (communication, networking, rapport)

24. Time management & prioritisation
● Efficiency (doing things right) vs
effectiveness (doing the right things)
● Solid time-management skills
● Prioritisation skills
● Pareto principle (80/20 rule)
● Focus & persistence

26. Thank you!
Networking
Personal development
Internships
Choosing your next company
Interviews
Mentors
Teamwork
@marin_dim