Building Careers with Empathy with Scott Hanselman

#career #management #interview

I thought to share visibility on this career and life video both the perspective of the person growing but also from when you become a coach.

There are a couple of important topics I would like to put focus on:

You, the experienced person have "life to spare" when a stupid question is required to be asked. Your younger and just starting counterpart doesn't. So don't be afraid to take a hit
Always understand where your code is being executed. This is for me a big problem currently in the industry.
Visibility and sharing of knowledge.
Luck is necessary. Skill as well. Having skills is a lucky thing to be born with.

Especially on the topic of luck and skill, it is very rare when an American, especially with a successful career, recognizes that it is not just a matter of hard work but also luck and coincidence are necessary to succeed in life. If it is not luck then it is lack of unlucky moments. This is something that we tend to forget when we judge other people and personally frustrates me. There can be many things that could have gone wrong for a person but also many things that just go right to others. If you are one of the lucky ones, then you should be respectful to those who weren't.

I also find this "building careers" series of interviews happening at Microsoft very interesting.

PS, There is something about Scott Hanselman's presence that puts me off but it is just me. Nevertheless, I find most of what he says and writes about exceptionally insightful with a lot of honestly, pragmatism and simple reasoning.