Ruan Yifeng: The seven most important career advices for me (translation)

Nicholas C. Zakas is one of the best JavaScript programmers in the world.

Two years ago, he wrote a long article looking back on his career and mentioning the seven most important pieces of advice for him.

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I was so inspired by the article that I decided to make a few excerpts. You can read the abridged version below before reading the full article.

Seven pieces of career advice that worked for me (short version)

By Nicholas C. Zakas

Translator: Ruan Yifeng

Original URL: https://www.nczonline.net/blog/2013/10/15/the-best-career-advice-ive-received/

1. Don’t do what others ask you to do.

I worked at my first job for only 8 months before the company went bankrupt. I asked my manager what I should do next and he said:

"Young man, don't be a chef who cooks whatever others order. Don't accept a job where others tell you what to do and how to do it. You need to go to a place where people recognize your ideas about the product, believe in your ability, and let you do it."

I learned that it’s not enough to just implement a product, you have to be involved in deciding how to implement it. Good engineers don’t just follow orders, they give feedback and help the product owner improve it.

2. Sell Yourself

After I joined Yahoo, my manager talked to me one day and he felt that I was not doing enough.

"You work well, your code looks good, and there are few bugs. However, the problem is that no one else sees this. In order for others to believe you, you must first let others know what you have done. You need to sell yourself and get others' attention."

I realized that even if you do a good job, it's useless if no one else knows about it. Being an engineer who quietly codes in a corner is not advisable. Your manager will support you, but he can't promote you. Others in the company need to understand your value, and the best way to do that is to tell others what you have done. A simple email: "Hi, I have completed XXX, please tell me your ideas" works very well.

3. Learn to lead a team

After working for a few years, no one doubted my technical ability. Everyone knew that I could write high-quality and reliable code. Once, I asked my supervisor how to get a promotion. He said:

"Once you have mastered the technical skills, it's time to test your ability to get along with others."

Then I realized that what I lacked was leadership ability, how to lead a team and work effectively with others to achieve greater results.

4. Life is the most important thing

There was a time when I was very frustrated at Yahoo! and I disagreed with some of the company's practices and often got angry at others. I asked a colleague how he could stay calm about this kind of thing, and he replied:

"You have to realize that none of this matters. Someone committed bad code, the site went down, so what? Work is not your whole life. They're not real problems, they're just work problems. The things that really matter are things that happen outside of work. I come home and my family is waiting for me, and that's what matters."

From then on, I separated work from life and only regarded it as a "work problem". In this way, I can always be calm about work and communicate with others more smoothly.

5. Find your own path

After I was promoted to a supervisor, I didn't know what to do. I asked my superior, and he replied:

"In the past, we told you what to do. From now on, you have to answer this question yourself. I expect you to tell me what needs to be done."

Many engineers have not completed this transformation. If you can do it, it may mean that you have matured and learned to make choices. You can't spend your time on everything, you must find a focus.

6. Treat yourself as the master

I have to attend many meetings every day, and in some meetings I have nothing to say. I told a friend that I didn’t know why I was attending this meeting and I had nothing to contribute. He said:

"Don't go to a meeting like this again. You go to a meeting because you are involved in something. If you are not sure why you are there, stop and ask. If you are not needed for this matter, leave. Don't just sit quietly in a meeting from beginning to end. Act as if you are in charge, and people will trust you."

From that time on, I never went into a meeting without saying anything. I made sure to only attend those meetings where I was needed.

7. Find someone with a higher level of skill

***, let me give my readers a suggestion based on my own experience.

"Find people who are better and smarter than you are, spend time with them, have meals or coffee with them, learn from them, and learn what they know. Your career, and even your life, will be better for it."

(over)