Ask HN: I am starting a new job and I am worried I will screw it up. Advice? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I am starting a new job and I am worried I will screw it up. Advice?

9 pointssage7613 comments

I am starting a new job as a fullstack dev. They know that I don't have too much experience with their stack.

In the past I have struggled, esp in larger companies. I have even been in a situation once, where for months, I had no team, no communication with the manager, and no idea of how to handle some of the work I had.

If I get assigned a complicated project whose details go over my head, or where I am unable to make progress despite effort, and I am being pressured to deliver, my instinct is to immediately exit the situation.

I see people get into teams and seemingly effortlessly set direction, make progress and deliver. Whatever I have tried to replicate that, has failed. That's on me, but I am now walking into a situation assuming I will fail.

Anyone have any advice here?

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I would be scared if you exuded confidence.

From my own experience, take effective notes, don't finish people's sentences whilst they are explaining things to you, even if you already know the answers.

It's a new stack, so you can hopefully make use of your previous experiences to help you find similarities and differences, to help guide you on what topics you should concentrate.

Ask questions, and don't be dissuaded if you receive unhelpful comments or remarks; keep asking, and keep making effective notes...

Recognise, if you can, the signs that alert you to mounting pressure, and to the associated anxiety. Use that to help you prepare for what you may see as inevitable, but what could be dealt with in a coordinated, organised manner.

Seek out and identify supportive, helpful people and teams; don't ignore those who appear less helpful because you may not be aware of their anxieties or the pressures they are experiencing. Don't align yourself too closely with any extreme, but listen to everyone.

Find mentors, but don't make mentoring a one-sided affair. Most people have something to offer, even if it's not immediately obvious. And keep learning :-)

And address the issues you are experiencing, as difficult as that may sound. Heck, you've already started, with this post...

Be transparent and humble. Be very clear you are insecure (new) about your performance on their technology but that you are willing to learn. Clear direct communication is the biggest tool in my toolbox. Disclosing your emotions transparently is an olive branch towards building trust.

Take on challenging tasks at risk that you will probably fail early on and be willing to ask for help. These kinds of risks are not a problem so long as it does not risk the health of the product. The struggle is how you will learn.

> Be very clear you are insecure (new) about your performance on their technology but that you are willing to learn. Disclosing your emotions transparently is an olive branch towards building trust.

This sounds dangerous. It can make them doubt their choice in hiring me.

> Take on challenging tasks at risk that you will probably fail early on and be willing to ask for help. These kinds of risks are not a problem so long as it does not risk the health of the product.

This sounds dangerous too, wouldn't it make sense to take on some easier jobs to get a hang of the system and then take on the complicated stuff?

If I join and fail immediately, idk how i could recover from it. First impressions are last impressions.

Do you fear the people you work with? Are they out to get you and stab you in the back? You can operate with confidence in full disclosure or you can lie about how you are doing (like a coward) at your peril.

I am a 20 year developer. I started a new job this year. 90% of my work is new technology that I have never touched before. I am completely honest about that. I work with humility that despite my experience I am a beginner at work less than the junior developers I work with. I am fully transparent about that do not try to bluff on expertise. This sets proper expectations with the team and ensures I do not fall victim to Dunning-Kruger. I am an expert in certain areas but am extremely reserved and careful about that.

> Do you fear the people you work with? Are they out to get you and stab you in the back?

Fear might be the wrong word, but I have worked in a company before which had both stack ranking and 360 reviews.

In my experience, that incentivizes people to backstab each other, and make minor mistakes of other people sound big. SOMEBODY will be thrown under the bus, and everyone is incentivized to make sure they are not the one.

That experience has certainly made me distrustful of people.

Seek out simple, low-hanging fruit tasks that you can volunteer to do right away while you are ramping up. This will help you get to know the codebase as well as show some quick wins that people can see you are able to be productive.

If you keep thinking you will screw up, chances are you probably will.

So stop thinking how you will screw up, and start thinking how you will succeed. Imagine yourself being successful one year from now and then imagine all the things you did to become successful. Go into details, write it down. Re-read it every time you start believing again you will screw up.

It’s like driving a car, you have to watch where you want to go, not where you don’t want to go. Because in both situations you will end up exactly there.

I’ve been in this situation myself, and learned this the hard way. So I hope this helps you avoid making the same mistake.

Recognize that you aren’t the only one responsible for success. Don’t hold yourself as most accountable.

Making sure an individual contributor has the necessary support structure in place is a collaborative effort. Sure, you should attempt to overcome challenges, but if you aren’t being set up for success, then it isn’t really you that is failing.

> but I am now walking into a situation assuming I will fail.

Try not to create patterns and trends where none need to exist. Let this be as fresh of a challenge as you can. You’re more likely to have a better outcome if it can be a fresh start, a clean break from previous experiences.

Well the pattern does exist, that's why my brain is now fearful of new projects etc.

Hell, I am even afraid of giving interviews. I have politely ended interviews early when I realized I was bombing. I couldn't bear watching myself flail about and answer "I don't know" to question after question.

Don't flounder for too long. Try to figure it out on your own, but if you've been stuck for, say, two hours, ask for help. Don't stay stuck for days.

And don't worry about doing so, or feel bad. New people have questions. That's just how it is.

You might find this useful: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34060692

Thank you, I will go through these.

You're welcome. My contact information is in my profile. If you need help at any point, just send me an email referencing this and I'll reply.

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