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THIS. I& #39;m going to share some career experience I have learned, and this is particularly for the people that are early in the tech career. https://twitter.com/juliaferraioli/status/1321634166690099201">https://twitter.com/juliaferr...
My dad was (is still) my hero. His mom was single and worked three jobs to cover the basics. He got to go to college through a scholarship as a gymnast. He became a dentist. he loved it for the people he met, was successful beyond his expectations, and rightly proud. 1/n
When I was maybe 14, he told me "you would not be a good dentist". He was the apotheosis of successful to me. my first reaction was disappointed, or worse. he said I was too curious, even too distracted to do it. and tried to tell me that as something that would make me proud.
I didn& #39;t get it for a while. but I trusted. I got lucky to get to be an intern at Microsoft in college. I didn& #39;t mean to go into tech, it was just the hometown team and, as a math major at Yale who was an athlete, I was told that I had the short path to being an I-banker...
I didn& #39;t even know what investment banking was. But then I got a taste of Microsoft mid-90s and it was the best, and then I knew that& #39;s what I wanted to do. and I figured I& #39;d only be there two years then go to school for something else (law school or econ PHD).
and then, at age 23, after working on Bill Gates& #39; speech for the Windows 98 launch event, I got an offer to be Steve Ballmer& #39;s first speech writer. And my awesome manager and manager& #39;s manager told me "don& #39;t do it, you& #39;re on a great path and that& #39;s a big risk".
so I asked, if I do it, and flame out, would you let me back into my old role? the answer: yes. so I figured, why not? And it was great and, luckily and thankfully, I didn& #39;t flame out. At that point I realized, "build a base, then go for the next". Long story short...
For better or worse, that& #39;s been my career path since. I want to try new things, and push the envelope on what i can learn and what I can do. I haven& #39;t had a career path. I& #39;ve had a journey of learning new things - building on what I know, and trying to add to it with adventures
I have explained this to many, early in career, and I think it& #39;s been helpful. i recognize my privilege and luck, but I also know that getting into someone else& #39;s rut or route is something to learn from but not devote to.
I& #39;m still doing it, and enjoying it. I know that learning new, feeling challenged, and putting my head up and learning to enjoy the journey has worked for me. My dad saw that is what I would want more, and i really appreciate that. I am happy to share with anyone i can help
