talk @ the Computer Science department of Sofia University - practical advice for career growth for students DEV.BG event http://dev.bg/%D1%81%D1%8A%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B5/fmi-club-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D1%81%D1%8A%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B8-%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%82/

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