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I definitely try to take the mantra "never be the smartest person in the room" to heart. It has been a fairly decent indicator of how enjoyable I've found work

I definitely try to take the mantra "never be the smartest person in the room" to heart. It has been a fairly decent indicator of how enjoyable I've found working those particular roles.

kevindqc 9y ago
How do you know when taking a job if you will be working with smart or dumb people? I'm not having good luck and want to work with smart people...
- bberrry 9y ago
  You can't know that reliably, but the recruitment process typically involves meeting the team you are being considered for, which is at least something. You do however have excellent intel on your current situation, telling you it's time to move on. Perhaps I should re-phrase it to "most knowledgable person in the room", since there will always be a lot of new things to learn when switching jobs.
- hkon 9y ago
  Technical interview is a good place to start gathering intel. Flip it and ask them out about stuff you know. Are they curious, are they knowledgeable. Curiosity is usually a great indicator.
- hashmal 9y ago
  Employers have the same concerns for their potential hires, that's why there are interview processes after all. Leverage these interviews to ask the right questions. They may get surprised when you turn the table around, just remind them that interviews go both ways.
wesleyjconnor 9y ago
This is the reason im in the process of leaving my current job, after 3 years here I find im one of the most experienced in the company with no one to turn to when bad things happen. If I want to learn and grow as a developer I dont want to be the most experienced person in the room
CM30 9y ago
I don't think it's always good to be the smartest in the room. Instead, I'd say you want a job where you're the smartest and a job where you're the dumbest at different points in your career. That's because while being the dumbest lets you learn from people, it can also breed complacency. You've always got someone better to pass the buck to. You can easily end up relying on better coders to do the hard jobs, and not learn new stuff as a result. Being the smartest means the buck stops with you. You need to learn anything you don't understand, or the site never gets done at all. It can be a big learning experience in its own way. So my recommendation would be to have at least one job where you're the dumbest and least one where you're the smartest. They're two different situations experts need to be able to cope with.

I definitely try to take the mantra "never be the smartest person in the room" to heart. It has been a fairly decent indicator of how enjoyable I've found working those particular roles.

kevindqc 9y ago

How do you know when taking a job if you will be working with smart or dumb people? I'm not having good luck and want to work with smart people...

bberrry 9y ago
You can't know that reliably, but the recruitment process typically involves meeting the team you are being considered for, which is at least something. You do however have excellent intel on your current situation, telling you it's time to move on. Perhaps I should re-phrase it to "most knowledgable person in the room", since there will always be a lot of new things to learn when switching jobs.
hkon 9y ago
Technical interview is a good place to start gathering intel. Flip it and ask them out about stuff you know. Are they curious, are they knowledgeable. Curiosity is usually a great indicator.
hashmal 9y ago
Employers have the same concerns for their potential hires, that's why there are interview processes after all. Leverage these interviews to ask the right questions. They may get surprised when you turn the table around, just remind them that interviews go both ways.

wesleyjconnor 9y ago

This is the reason im in the process of leaving my current job, after 3 years here I find im one of the most experienced in the company with no one to turn to when bad things happen. If I want to learn and grow as a developer I dont want to be the most experienced person in the room

CM30 9y ago

I don't think it's always good to be the smartest in the room. Instead, I'd say you want a job where you're the smartest and a job where you're the dumbest at different points in your career. That's because while being the dumbest lets you learn from people, it can also breed complacency. You've always got someone better to pass the buck to. You can easily end up relying on better coders to do the hard jobs, and not learn new stuff as a result. Being the smartest means the buck stops with you. You need to learn anything you don't understand, or the site never gets done at all. It can be a big learning experience in its own way. So my recommendation would be to have at least one job where you're the dumbest and least one where you're the smartest. They're two different situations experts need to be able to cope with.