GoKawiilA few years ago, a data engineer on r/ExperiencedDevs got drunk and wrote down everything he learned in 10 years of engineering. The original account is deleted, but the post captures something real — the kind of honesty you only get after a few glasses of wine. Preserving it here, typos and all.
Contains the language you’d expect from someone who opened with ‘I’m drunk’.
I’m drunk and I’ll probably regret this, but here’s a drunken rank of things I’ve learned as an engineer for the past 10 years.
If I’m awaken at 2am from being on-call for more than once pesr quarter, then something is seriously wrong and I will either fix it or quit.
I’ve learned to be honest with my manager. Not too honest, but honest enough where I can be authentic at work. What’s the worse that can happen? He fire me? I’ll just pick up a new job in 2 weeks.
I’ve made some good, lifelong friends at companies I’ve worked with. I don’t need to make that a requirement of every place I work. I’ve been perfectly happy working at places where I didn’t form friendships with my coworkers and I’ve been unhappy at places where I made some great friends.
There’s a reason why people recommend job hunting. If I’m unsatisfied at a job, it’s probably time to move on.
Technology stacks don’t really matter because there are like 15 basic patterns of software engineering in my field that apply. I work in data so it’s not going to be the same as webdev or embedded. But all fields have about 10-20 core principles and the tech stack is just trying to make those things easier, so don’t fret overit.
The best way I’ve advanced my career is by changing companies.
We should hire more interns, they’re awesome. Those energetic little fucks with their ideas. Even better when they can question or criticize something. I love interns.
... continue reading