career development

Bilingual

Write the first damn draft yourself
2 months ago
- Using LLMs for professional writing can harm your career, especially early on, as experienced readers can detect AI-generated content.
- Delegating writing to AI means delegating critical thinking, which is essential for career advancement.
- The excuse of being a bad writer is like avoiding the gym because you're unfit; you must practice writing yourself.
- Write the first draft yourself, then use AI for feedback on errors and suggestions, not for rewriting.
- Relying on AI for writing is like binge-watching short videos or eating junk food—short-term pleasure but long-term dependence.
- Three key tips from Dr. Sam Illingworth: AI agrees with you, confidence is not evidence, and AI rounds to the middle.
NLNOG Presentation trilogy on technical jobs and careers - Bert Hubert's writings
2 months ago
- A trilogy of presentations on technical jobs and careers was held at NLNOG events over eight years, now compiled in one page.
- The first talk addresses the polarization between technical people and management, highlighting communication gaps and differing views on meetings.
- The second presentation focuses on career improvement, warning against staying in bad jobs too long and offering tips for job changes.
- The third talk discusses alternatives like contracting or starting a company, emphasizing the need to understand business perspectives.
- Part four covers lifelong learning, advising how to adapt to new technologies without chasing every trend.
- The author notes a Dutch/Western European perspective and mentions undervaluation of technical talent in Europe.
- Key advice includes visiting industry events and actively managing one's career for better outcomes.
Becoming a Research Engineer at a Big LLM Lab
2 months ago
- The author secured a research engineer role at Mistral after 18 months of strategic career development, emphasizing the difference between tactical (low-effort, high-return) and strategic (high-effort, compounding) actions.
- Personal timeline: defined goals, networked, upskilled (LeetCode, CS fundamentals), failed first application, quit job, joined Recurse Center, learned Rust, contributed to open source, wrote a paper, then applied in batches and got offers.
- Goal setting is crucial: define clear criteria for the ideal role (e.g., career inflection, rare skills, ownership, senior peers, IC path) to focus efforts and say no to compromises.
- Application playbook: batch applications, use network for referrals and insider info, schedule lower-stakes interviews first to gain practice.
- Networks rely on weak ties: build genuine friendships by doing interesting things, sharing them, and being open; online (Twitter) and offline (cohort programs) are effective.
- Career momentum requires building rare and valuable skills (career capital) and demonstrating an upward trajectory through projects, OSS contributions, publications, and CV entries.
- Interview types include initial screen, takehome, online assessment, coding interviews (LeetCode, API/system design, real-world), system design, culture fit, quiz, hiring manager, and reference checks—each with specific preparation strategies.
- The mental game involves managing rejection, uncertainty, and stigma; staying motivated by remembering the leverage and possibilities of job seeking.
- Tactics boil down to gaining an information advantage and acting on it, while strategy focuses on long-term skill building and proof points.
Jobs don't have a fitting room
2 months ago
- Prototype thinking helps bridge the gap between ideas and reality, especially for career decisions.
- Creating job prototypes—concrete, specific scenarios—enables pairwise comparisons to reveal true preferences.
- Using AI to structure decision-making, rather than outsourcing judgments, strengthens personal judgment and clarifies career criteria.
Why problem statements aren't enough
3 months ago
- Strategic context includes technical, team/organizational, and business dimensions, which determine if work remains local or becomes company-wide.
- A Pub/Sub case study illustrates applying all three contexts to choose a practical solution (SNS plus SQS) that met technical needs, organizational adoption, and business priorities.
- Staff+ engineers must expand their operating range to integrate technical, organizational, and business contexts for broader impact and career growth.

career development

Write the first damn draft yourself

NLNOG Presentation trilogy on technical jobs and careers - Bert Hubert's writings

Becoming a Research Engineer at a Big LLM Lab

Jobs don't have a fitting room

Why problem statements aren't enough