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So how do you do this in software? Consulting? Startup? I'm a couple years into my first software development job out of school and barely get through the moder

by heurist 12y ago

So how do you do this in software? Consulting? Startup? I'm a couple years into my first software development job out of school and barely get through the moderate amount of work that's assigned to me right now. I'm afraid of switching to another development job where more would be expected of me (consulting! startups!). Without having these problems under control I may not be reliable despite my talent. Over the last month or so I've been reading up on product management and it sounds like a good fit. Interact with people, track markets, discover problems, craft creative solutions, have other people figure out the exact implementation... Lately I've been trying to discover broad problems and their solutions in my current position, and it seems to be helping (helps me feel like I'm actually contributing, at least). I don't know any product managers to talk to about their day-to-day stuff though. Has anyone with ADHD found that to be a good career path?

ahknight 12y ago
I tried consulting. I couldn't self-motivate to self-imposed deadlines. Barely averted disaster. Never again. Tried a startup. Same problem. Worse result. Now I startup surf as a developer, but only to interesting projects. If I work on a boring project, I'm going to wind up behind schedule. One I learned that about myself, I adjusted my job searches to fit (as much as possible). Project management? I suppose if I weren't the one actually doing it that would work. But if you switch early on, you're stuck with it. I'd get a few more years of software on your resume before bailing. That gives you experience with various kinds of scheduling and PMs and a better idea of the PM you'll want to be.
- heurist 12y ago
  Thanks, I agree it would be best to get a few more years under my belt. How did you get into startup surfing?
  - ahknight 12y ago
    Got hired by one. They didn't have enough people so I added about a dozen acronyms to the resume. After it cratered I picked up a job based on those acronyms. Rinse and repeat.
Swannie 12y ago
Hah. Sounds very familiar. Get yourself in a customer facing role ASAP. This was the advice given to me by a director of product management, who went on to be the GM of our division, and now CEO of a well regarded UK startup. I switched to delivery consulting after almost 4 years of product dev, and wished I'd done it sooner. There are so many more things to concern yourself with than straight dev work, that your AD(H)D can be a massive advantage. On the other hand, you will need to teach yourself how to "cut corners" that is antithetical to a software engineering/product maintaining programmer. It's not actually cutting corners, but making calls about when the deliverable should be in the customer's hands with some known design flaws, vs. stuck in beta whilst you wrestle with the extendability. Now, after a number of years in customer facing roles, technically leading $1M+ programs, I'm thinking about the move to product management. Looking back, I'd have been a crappy junior PM if I'd jumped straight across. I've seen people with ADD thrive in the "technical marketing", "demo developer", "internal system's engineer" roles, as they are constantly solving different problems, often with little to no requirement to get it right, document it, or look after their hacks. It does require strong (technical) communication skills, though.
- heurist 12y ago
  Thank you for your advice. Those are the roles I feel drawn to so it's nice to hear some validation of those tendencies :) I'll keep an eye out for them.

by heurist 12y ago

ahknight 12y ago

I tried consulting. I couldn't self-motivate to self-imposed deadlines. Barely averted disaster. Never again. Tried a startup. Same problem. Worse result. Now I startup surf as a developer, but only to interesting projects. If I work on a boring project, I'm going to wind up behind schedule. One I learned that about myself, I adjusted my job searches to fit (as much as possible). Project management? I suppose if I weren't the one actually doing it that would work. But if you switch early on, you're stuck with it. I'd get a few more years of software on your resume before bailing. That gives you experience with various kinds of scheduling and PMs and a better idea of the PM you'll want to be.

heurist 12y ago
Thanks, I agree it would be best to get a few more years under my belt. How did you get into startup surfing?
- ahknight 12y ago
  Got hired by one. They didn't have enough people so I added about a dozen acronyms to the resume. After it cratered I picked up a job based on those acronyms. Rinse and repeat.

Swannie 12y ago

Hah. Sounds very familiar. Get yourself in a customer facing role ASAP. This was the advice given to me by a director of product management, who went on to be the GM of our division, and now CEO of a well regarded UK startup. I switched to delivery consulting after almost 4 years of product dev, and wished I'd done it sooner. There are so many more things to concern yourself with than straight dev work, that your AD(H)D can be a massive advantage. On the other hand, you will need to teach yourself how to "cut corners" that is antithetical to a software engineering/product maintaining programmer. It's not actually cutting corners, but making calls about when the deliverable should be in the customer's hands with some known design flaws, vs. stuck in beta whilst you wrestle with the extendability. Now, after a number of years in customer facing roles, technically leading $1M+ programs, I'm thinking about the move to product management. Looking back, I'd have been a crappy junior PM if I'd jumped straight across. I've seen people with ADD thrive in the "technical marketing", "demo developer", "internal system's engineer" roles, as they are constantly solving different problems, often with little to no requirement to get it right, document it, or look after their hacks. It does require strong (technical) communication skills, though.

heurist 12y ago
Thank you for your advice. Those are the roles I feel drawn to so it's nice to hear some validation of those tendencies :) I'll keep an eye out for them.