5 Lessons on Career Growth From a Google Exec

For the past 10 years, I have been on an accelerated career growth path. I went from Jr. Engineer to Engineering Director, navigated through 2 acquisitions, held over 1000s interviews, and built teams and engineering organizations. From my own experience and from the experience of helping other people develop their careers, I wanted to share 5 lessons that I found very useful and that will hopefully help you in your pursuit. This article is based on my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPAXEkQEMbU&ab_channel=Medium" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Medium Day tal</a>k that I held on the 12th of August. <h1>How to choose the right opportunities</h1> Early in my career, I had to choose between staying at a well-paid engineering job with an internationally established company or joining a new risky hardware startup. Everybody was surprised I joined the startup given the fact that I am very risk-averse. But in my mind, it all made sense, as I found an asymmetric opportunity that had a good risk/reward ratio. Let me explain. My desire at that point was to learn more about startups, so when the opportunity presented I had to weigh the risk/reward balance. <ul> <li>The downside was that I would be getting a 35% pay cut and I would most likely be out of a job in 1.5 years because most startups are risky.</li> <li>The upside was that I would learn 10x more and get exposed to various parts of the business and communities plus not ignoring the slim chance of getting rich.</li> </ul> At that point, I had an asymmetric opportunity on my hands that had a manageable downside and a potentially unlimited upside. In the end, my choice has put me on the path I am today and turned out to be a good choice. Every time you are presented with an opportunity, look at the risk/reward ratio. If you stumble upon an asymmetric opportunity with unlimited upside and limited downside aligned with what you want, then take it. It may advance your career a lot. <a href="https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/5-lessons-on-career-growth-from-a-google-exec-c920f222226c">Read More</a>