u/debuggingmylyf

One thing I’ve noticed after talking to people across companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta is that the engineers who grow faster aren’t always the smartest in the room.

They’re usually the ones who make their work visible.

Early in my career I thought shipping good code is enough.

It isn’t.

You can build a great feature, fix a production issue at 2 am, or save your team weeks of work, but if nobody outside your team understands the impact, you’re leaving a lot to chance.

Managers change.

Priorities change.

Reorgs happen.

Layoffs happen.

The people who seem to navigate all of that usually have one thing in common: they communicate.

Not in a "Look at me" way.

This write good design docs, give project updates, explain trade offs, help other engineers, and make sure the right people know why their work matters.

That’s something I wish I’d understood much earlier.

Technical skills get you hired.

Communication, visibility and trust are usually what help you keep growing.

Curious if anyone else has noticed the same thing, or if you’ve learned a different career lesson after spending a few years in tech.

I used to think layoffs mostly happened to low performers.

After working in big tech for a while,I don’t really believe that anymore.

I’ve seen genuinely strong engineers get caught up in layoffs simply because priorities changed, projects got cancelled, or leadership decided to reorganise. Some of them had excellent reviews just a few months earlier.

That’s probably the biggest reality check I’ve had.

These days I still care about doing good work, but I also keep my resume updated, keep interviewing every now and then, and try not to tie my entire identity to one company.

At the end of the day, companies make business decisions.

It’s rarely personal, even when it’s personal.

Curious if working through layoffs changed anyone else’s perspective on job security, or if I’m just becoming more cynical with time.

TL;DR: manager kept promising me she would back me for a good rating; never did, I got a mid rating outta nowhere, left quietly, sent proof on my way out she got PIP’d not long after lol

so basically, my manager spent whole half telling me "you are doing great, don’t stress about calibration” like every single 1:1, same line over and over, and I just believed her cause wouldn’t I? She is my manager.

Then ratings drop and I get Meets Most and I am just sitting there like wait what. My stuff had actually shipped, got decent visibility that have too, even got a shout out in an org wide update ones, which felt like a big deal at the time. Found later from a teammate who sits closer to leadership that she barely said anything for me in calibration, just kinda let it slide by without really pushing.

And thinking back on it she’d also reschedule our 1:1s constantly, like every other week something came up, so I never actually got a real feedback from her until it was too late to fix anything, which now feels less like an accident and more like a pattern, honestly.

Anyway I didn’t make a whole thing out of it in the moment, just started quietly interview while still doing my job normally, ended up, landing somewhere else with a better title and comp, gave my two weeks, kept everything professional on the way out, cause no point burning bridges right.

On my last day though I did forward a few things to my skip, the message where she said flat out she’d advocate for me, the whole pattern of cancelled 1:1s over months, stuff like that, just said "wanted this on record before I go, thanks for everything” and left it at that, didn’t say anything else.

Few months later, an old teammate messaged me saying she got put on PIP and left the company not too long after. No idea, if what I sent actually had anything to do with it but ngl the timing was pretty funny to me.

Anyways, thanks for coming to my ted talk moral of the stories keep your receipts, even when you think you can trust someone.

TL;DR: manager kept promising me she’d back me for a good rating;never did, I got a mid rating outta nowhere,left quietly,sent proof on my way out she got PIP’d not long after lol

so basically my manager spent whole half telling me "you’re doing great,dont stress about calibration” like every single 1:1, same line over and over, and I just believed her cause why wouldn’t I? she’s my manager.

Then ratings drop and I get Meets Most and I’m just sitting there like wait what. My stuff had actually shipped,got decent visibility that half too, even got a shoutout in an org wide update once which felt like a big deal at the time. Found later from a teammate who sits closer to leadership that she barely said anything for me in calibration,just kinda let it slide by without really pushing.

And thinking back on it she’d also reschedule our 1:1s constantly,like every other week something came up, so I never actually got a real feedback from her until it was way too late to fix anything,which mow feels less like an accident and more like a pattern honestly.

Anyway I didn’t make a whole thing out of it in the moment, just started quietly interviewing while still doing my job normally,ended up landing somewhere else with a better title and comp, gave my two weeks, kept everything professional on the way out cause no point burning bridges right.

On my last day though I did forward a few things to my skip, the message where she said flat out she’d advocate for me, the whole pattern of cancelled 1:1s over months, stuff like that, just said "wanted this on record before I go, thanks for everything” and left it at that, didn’t say anything else.

Few months later and old teammate messaged me saying she got put on a PIP and left the company not too long after. No idea if what I sent actually had anything to do with it but ngl the timing was pretty funny to me.

Anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk, moral of the story is keep your receipts even when you think you can trust someone.

Hi everyone,
I’m a 19-year-old female currently in my 2nd year of B.Tech and actively looking for paid remote internship.

I have previous internship experience in:
• Social Media Management
• Growth & Community Management
• Operations
• Web Development
• Language-related work (content, communication, etc.)

I’m a quick learner, comfortable working independently, and have experience working with startups and fast-paced teams.

I’m currently trying to earn to support my college fees, so if your company is hiring interns, part-time contributors, or entry-level associates, I’d be grateful if you could reach out or point me in the right direction.

Thank you!