There's a cliché when it comes to job hunting: "it's not what you know but who you know."  Of late I've been thinking if and when this is actually true.

Early in one's career the cliché is probably less true.  I landed my first couple jobs not because I knew someone at that company but because of whatever skills/credentials I had (until they found out I actually didn't have those skills but by then it was too late... ha ha, suckers!  kidding).  And this experience seemed true of my classmates and most other people I've worked with.  Indeed, early in their careers most people seem to be hired for what they know.

After nearly 5 years of undergrad computer engineering I was thrilled to be done with school and finally earn some money.  My first job was as a Program Manager at RealNetworks, a hot tech startup back in 1999.  I was attracted to this role because instead of a traditional "code monkey" job I got to be a "manager" - a modern day misnomer itself but I digress.  In retrospect this single decision was the highest opportunity cost I've incurred in my career.

People make their way into the working world in myriad ways. Some of us are forced into it early due to life circumstances, some of us skip the college/university thing and head to work straight from high school, many follow the more conventional path of High School followed by a 4 Year College and then on to work.

One of the most surprising, if pathetically humbling, realizations I’ve had is that every time I’ve left a company it continued to run just fine without me.  Indeed, the very day I announced my resignation at my last three jobs and provided two weeks’ notice, I’ve always noticed an immediate drop in email correspondence and an implicit meeting cadence as though I am no longer working there.

During my undergrad I landed an internship at an investment bank that was highly sought after because the manager was an alumni who was legendary in his financial and managerial abilities.  (His selection of me being the sole error in his otherwise flawless career I’m sure, but I digress).  But the week that I arrived for the internship he joined another group in the company and I never saw him again.  And the manager who replaced him?  Well, let’s just say he a bit shy of legendary status.

When I became a manager for the first time, my boss Francis De Souza took me aside and gave me some of the best career advice that I’ve ever received. 

Coming out of undergrad as a computer engineer in the late 90s, I joined a young tech company like many of classmates.  A few of my classmates, particularly those at the top of the rankings, went to investment banks like Goldman Sachs and high-end management consulting firms like BCG, McKinsey & Co etc.  At the time, I felt joining such firms was to waste my engineering training but I always wondered if I should’ve gone down that other path with its brand prestige.  Years later I worked hard to get into a top consulting firm but when I finally did get into BCG I realized that my initial decision actually wasn’t a bad one.

 

One of the best ways to grow as a professional is to get direct feedback, rather than indirect feedback via surveys or infrequent performance reviews.  However, asking for feedback can be awkward.  I mean, it’s not a common phrase in daily conversation to go up to someone and say “Hi, I’d like to get some feedback on my presentation back there.”   

When I worked at IMlogic, a Boston based startup,  I had the chance to setup a new office in India.  The experience was incredible, for a variety of professional and personal reasons and I am very happy I did it.  However, one lesson I learned during the 6 months in India is the old cliché – “out of sight, out of mind.”  This has forever shaped how I chose the location of my job.

Near the end of my graduate summer internship at Intel Capital, my boss Nancy Kamei, asked me to present a dry-run of my investment thesis to her prior to going in front of the investment committee.  Having won a few debate competitions in the past, I didn’t think there was much to this and presented the deck and materials I knew cold.  I was stunned when she said to me “that was quite bad.  You are not ready at all.”