don't care for this list, primarily because it's focus is that a job is a stepping stone to something else, never a career (guess the field is the career here):
> Don’t focus too much on long-term plans. Focus on interesting projects and you’ll build a resumé that stands out...
> Be a pleasant person. People want colleagues who seem pleasant and happy and good humoured. Washington DC especially operates more on social capital than on merit..
> Avoid stuff that could cause irreversible reputational harm...
> Work to solve problems that aren’t popular. Popularity of a problem is evidence that it is hard to solve, competition is high, and your individual contribution is likely to be small. In contrast, neglected problems often have low-hanging solutions that no one has bothered to look for...
> Some jobs in government may be easier to get than you imagine. ...Rather than consider a life in government, I suggest trying a 3 to 5 year stint, and see what you’re able to contribute.
Why do i see this as a problem? Individually, this is all good advice for the new engineer. But collectively, building your career in a field by using a Gov job or some other employ simply as a stepping stone is incredibly disingenuous. The whole thing stinks of any lack of self-reflection - here jobs are just what you do to gain a better hold of where you can exist in the field. It's very similar to chasing fame in LA, but this time it's DC.
I largely agree with you - I definitely think more experienced folks should take more pride and ownership in their work - but I'm not sure this is bad advice specifically for a brand new employee. Looking back on my career, my first couple jobs were stepping stones, even though I didn't think of them that way at the time. I took them very seriously and lost sleep over my projects there. But I didn't need to. I wasn't very important or useful to those companies; I was just learning, and making lots of mistakes as I went. I had a lot of stress and self esteem problems about that. Looking back on it from the perspective of my current expectations for brand new employees, my feeling is that I would have been better off to have chilled out and recognized that I was providing cheap imperfect labor while ramping up the ability to fill the quota of useful people in a few years time.
Why is it disingenuous? I got a job because I want money to live and do other stuff, they got one because they want to move up. You seem to be suggesting one must treat the job as a life goal in itself, but why? Outside of some cult-like startups, nobody imagines you're spending your time there because you'd rather be there than anywhere else. There's no deception going on.
It suggests that you find low hanging fruit, don't do anything that will make waves, and only really think about the short term. That doesn't sound like you're operating in good faith.
You're confusing a career with the work. I've taken consultancy jobs where I was only supposed to spend a month there, preparing the foundations for future projects by internal developers. It wasn't a long-term plan for my career, yet I did think long-term for the project and the company. They're two different things.
Regarding the low-hanging fruit, this again may involve the choice of job (career decision), rather than the choices you make in the job. Nevertheless, I'd suggest looking for neglected problems may actually be beneficial in the job as well, for the employer - too often employees are jostling to participate in the high-visibility projects, rather than what can make a real difference in the bottom-line.
As for not making waves, that's simply not there. They're talking about "irreversible reputational harm" like committing crimes and doing drugs. No job should require you to do irreversible reputational harm to yourself.
> Don’t focus too much on long-term plans. Focus on interesting projects and you’ll build a resumé that stands out...
> Be a pleasant person. People want colleagues who seem pleasant and happy and good humoured. Washington DC especially operates more on social capital than on merit..
> Avoid stuff that could cause irreversible reputational harm...
> Work to solve problems that aren’t popular. Popularity of a problem is evidence that it is hard to solve, competition is high, and your individual contribution is likely to be small. In contrast, neglected problems often have low-hanging solutions that no one has bothered to look for...
> Some jobs in government may be easier to get than you imagine. ...Rather than consider a life in government, I suggest trying a 3 to 5 year stint, and see what you’re able to contribute.
Why do i see this as a problem? Individually, this is all good advice for the new engineer. But collectively, building your career in a field by using a Gov job or some other employ simply as a stepping stone is incredibly disingenuous. The whole thing stinks of any lack of self-reflection - here jobs are just what you do to gain a better hold of where you can exist in the field. It's very similar to chasing fame in LA, but this time it's DC.