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> Crowdsource your career decisions. I’ve done this for most of the last few decades, polling people I trust, and the advice seems generally good in hindsight.

> Crowdsource your career decisions. I’ve done this for most of the last few decades, polling people I trust, and the advice seems generally good in hindsight. I've been trying this recently and I can't get really good advice. Is the issue that I haven't built up a useful enough network? The advice tends to be in 1 of 3 categories 1) You're smart, you should just start your own thing and make (b/m)illions. 2) Come work with us, we have a role that kind of fits your skillset and pays you less. 3) You already make a lot of money and/or are successful in your career just chill\coast and collect a paycheck.

jlokier 7y ago
All of those sound like someone hasn't really listened to you tell your story and your desires, and taken the time to apply their own deep insights on what is important to you. In other words, listening first, finding out what matters to you (not them) and caring about what you care about. I don't know many people who will do that, but I know a few(†), so I'm inclined to think it's that you haven't built up a useful enough network, or to put it a different way, made enough good and insightful friends. (†) Most of them not in IT. 1 and 3 also have the clue word "just", that says someone is shrugging off the enquiry. Even if you got one of those three responses, it would be a fine in a conversation, if you had the time with them to explain why the initial response is mismatched to your goals, and that idea was developed with further conversation.
overcast 7y ago
Honestly combining 3 and 1 is my current route. Low stress lucrative job, that gives me plenty of time for extracurricular.
dangerface 7y ago
> Crowdsource your career decisions. This is just bad advice, other people will give advice they wish they had been given, it is a mistake to confuse this with advice thats useful to you. At the end of the day your career is too big and unique to you for anyone else to give informed, accurate or useful advice on. With hindsight you can cherry pick the good advice from the bad, the informed from the uninformed, making this advice seem useful. But when actually trying to make a decision you have just flooded yourself with a lot of advice that may be helpful or harmful and you have no idea which. I think the rest of this advice has the same issue. Advice that sounds good given hindsight, not so useful without it.

jlokier 7y ago

All of those sound like someone hasn't really listened to you tell your story and your desires, and taken the time to apply their own deep insights on what is important to you. In other words, listening first, finding out what matters to you (not them) and caring about what you care about. I don't know many people who will do that, but I know a few(†), so I'm inclined to think it's that you haven't built up a useful enough network, or to put it a different way, made enough good and insightful friends. (†) Most of them not in IT. 1 and 3 also have the clue word "just", that says someone is shrugging off the enquiry. Even if you got one of those three responses, it would be a fine in a conversation, if you had the time with them to explain why the initial response is mismatched to your goals, and that idea was developed with further conversation.

overcast 7y ago

Honestly combining 3 and 1 is my current route. Low stress lucrative job, that gives me plenty of time for extracurricular.

dangerface 7y ago

> Crowdsource your career decisions. This is just bad advice, other people will give advice they wish they had been given, it is a mistake to confuse this with advice thats useful to you. At the end of the day your career is too big and unique to you for anyone else to give informed, accurate or useful advice on. With hindsight you can cherry pick the good advice from the bad, the informed from the uninformed, making this advice seem useful. But when actually trying to make a decision you have just flooded yourself with a lot of advice that may be helpful or harmful and you have no idea which. I think the rest of this advice has the same issue. Advice that sounds good given hindsight, not so useful without it.