I'm a coder who has worn a lot of hats, from individual contributor to lead engineer to "CTO" (yes, in quotes, make of that what you will!). I've plenty to learn and hopefully some to share as well.
I would say the biggest mistake I've made was when I started getting into freelancing, I started out by just going to the biggest freelancing platforms and placing bids there. Got very little good work from those places, and wasted quite a lot of time there. Eventually I joined a more exclusive contracting agency and got good work relatively easily through that.
Besides that, there are some things I wonder about sometimes, but it's unclear if they were mistakes.
After I graduated from university, I had an offer from Amazon. I turned it down because I had heard a lot of bad things about working there, and I took a lower paying offer from a lesser known company with a great work culture instead. Now I tend to think I would be better off if I had gone to Amazon, stayed for a year or something, got Amazon on my resume, and got my career off to a faster start that way. But I don't know, maybe I made the right choice after all.
Another thing was when I quit my programming job and moved to Japan to teach English. That didn't work out so well and I didn't stay there for very long. But that began a two year journey of digital nomadding and freelancing. It probably slowed me down career-wise, but it was also a great experience over all. Mistake? Perhaps, but I tend to think not.
I would say the biggest mistake I've made was when I started getting into freelancing, I started out by just going to the biggest freelancing platforms and placing bids there. Got very little good work from those places, and wasted quite a lot of time there. Eventually I joined a more exclusive contracting agency and got good work relatively easily through that.
Besides that, there are some things I wonder about sometimes, but it's unclear if they were mistakes.
After I graduated from university, I had an offer from Amazon. I turned it down because I had heard a lot of bad things about working there, and I took a lower paying offer from a lesser known company with a great work culture instead. Now I tend to think I would be better off if I had gone to Amazon, stayed for a year or something, got Amazon on my resume, and got my career off to a faster start that way. But I don't know, maybe I made the right choice after all.
Another thing was when I quit my programming job and moved to Japan to teach English. That didn't work out so well and I didn't stay there for very long. But that began a two year journey of digital nomadding and freelancing. It probably slowed me down career-wise, but it was also a great experience over all. Mistake? Perhaps, but I tend to think not.
Don't regret the past, thanks for sharing and good luck🙏🏻