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nadamHNSource author
Lessons learnedExperience excerpt · English

I find it amusing how people take this 'leveling game' at big companies so seriously

I find it amusing how people take this 'leveling game' at big companies so seriously. The title they get at these companies become their identity. They live by the rules the company imposes on them. Amusingly almost the opposite of independent thinking, which they are so proud of. What I found during my career is that some people blossom at these big companies, and some, with equal talent cannot really realize themselves, while they blossom at other organizations, perhaps in startups, or just at more interesting problems. What some people do not realize is that this aspect that as you level at these companies 'you get the big picture more and more' is not really true in a lot of cases. Efficiency and big picture thinking is almost orthogonal. Efficiency is context dependent, high level thinking is less so. I have seen people getting the big picture on things even at low levels or even considered a junior, while people on high levels suprisingly small minded. …

Original discussionAdvice for new principal tech ICs (i.e., notes to myself)151 source comments · at import
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nvarsjHN

> I find it amusing how people take this 'leveling game' at big companies so seriously. It has a huge payoff (think 7 figure TC/year for principal+ at big tech), with little personal risk required. It's no wonder people take it so seriously.

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fsocietyHN

Sounds like you have some beef to pick, not sure why you feel the need to discredit this person you don’t even know.

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mattgreenrocksHN

Thank you for writing this. I worry it may be lost on a lot of people on this forum: the need to accrue and gain status is a very first-half-of-life concern for many, and leveling systems are designed to leverage this instinct for the org's behalf. For those who grew up 'gifted,' or accomplished, then it can be hard to not see themselves that way, and the title is tightly coupled to identity at a subconscious level. (Note the disproportionately negative reply to the parent's post.) I went through a period where I cared a bit too much about an org's leveling system. Not surprisingly, I wasn't promoted, even after giving up some technical work. Eventually, I became really unhappy: I had cut myself off of any work that was fulfilling. It really did feel like I was letting some important part of myself wither away in pursuit of a bullshit hierarchy. I eventually left and joined a startup. I'…

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bwfan123HN

Can we coin a new archetype called the "performative engineer" who plays to the leveling game ?

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