I’ve been hiring engineers for over 15 years now, and I find that many of the same questions come up time after time when talking to graduates. They generally fall into categories like “what is work like?” and “how do I choose the right job?” Something I am not asked as often as I should be is “how do large companies behave?”.
Before you read on, it’s important to bear a few things in mind when weighing my advice.
- I work for a relatively large company. Smaller companies are often more flexible which has both benefits and downsides.
- I work in a company department which is focussed on embedded and security-related software. I kind of know – in the abstract – about enterprise software and web development, but just as you wouldn’t buy a car from a second hand horse salesman, please don’t assume I know much of what I am talking about outside my field of expertise.
- I am located in the UK. Cultural and employment practices vary considerably between countries. In general, the further you are from the General Western Hegemony, the less what I have to say in some areas will apply.
This is mostly aimed at software engineers who are just starting on their careers, but new managers may find the odd useful idea somewhere if they look hard enough.
I’ve split this into a series, which will appear in due course.
- The interview process.
- What does a hiring manager expect?
- How do I decide if this is the right job for me?
- What should I expect from my first few months at work?
- I just love bureaucracy. Tell me about it.
- How do I manage my career?
- What do large companies do that I might not expect?