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There is a widespread misconception in the tech industry that if you work hard, you are guaranteed to be rewarded. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. During my four and a half years at Meta, I saw many people working crazy hours who still ended up with a ‘Meets Most Expectations” rating, putting them at risk for a remedial performance improvement plan. Not only were these engineers sacrificing their evenings and taking on tons of stress, but they weren’t even being acknowledged for their efforts.
Whether you’re at a startup or Big Tech company, there is an endless amount of work you could take on. No matter how many weekends you dedicate to your team, you’ll always have more to do. In order to have a sustainably high impact, you must be deliberate about choosing what to work on.
By understanding what your team and manager care about, you can ensure great results that are commensurate with great effort. So many engineers mess this up: They go down a rabbit-hole about some interesting problem instead of thinking about their performance review and how they’ll be judged.
Tactically, here’s what that means for you:
- Build relationships with colleagues who understand your work and can vouch for you in a wide range of areas. Working in isolation often leads to misunderstood goals and priorities, resulting in wasted efforts. Talking about your work is also extremely valuable for identifying future problems and opportunities.
- Tactfully share your work with colleagues so you get full credit for it. It’s not about “claiming” credit—it’s about sharing your work to help others. The byproduct of this is marketing. Figure out who might benefit from your work and send them regular project updates.
- Set clear expectations with your team and manager. Negative feedback should never be a surprise. You should regularly receive (and seek out) feedback before your official performance review. I recommend having a dedicated “feedback 1:1” or “performance check-in” with your manager to chat about how you’re trending.
The above steps will ensure that every action you take is loaded with value. Once you’re consistently exceeding expectations, you’re ready to take on more responsibility and grow your career.
—Rahul
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