Career Advice Every Software Engineer Needs Right Now

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18 plus.

**Ryan Reynolds** (0:27)
Introducing Meta Glasses.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:29)
Hey Meta, any last-minute tables for a two tonight?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:33)
Sure. There's a great Italian restaurant 15 minutes away.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:37)
Hey Meta, where's the nearest flower shop?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:40)
Five minutes away, straight down Broadway past the bodega. Their lilies are trending on Instagram. Just saying.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:47)
Hey Meta, am I forgetting anything else?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:50)
How about setting a calendar reminder for next year?

**Ryan Reynolds** (0:53)
Metaglasses, available in more than 20 styles.

**Patrick Akil** (0:56)
Hundreds of questions have come in for these Q&A episodes, and today I have the latest batch. They're questions on the future of engineering, career growth, strategy, product thinking, and impact, AI and agents, lastly, what products do I use for my hair? If you're curious about any of these in this episode, you'll find out. All right, let's start with the start.
What can one do to get better at identifying what the next big thing is?
I think it's very interesting that I see videos and podcasts of people being like, I predicted the 20-something crash, and I predicted Bitcoin, and I have read a book where the book predicted all of this AI and agent stuff. People predict things all the time, and they are only right when reality actually happens to be that way.
For me, it's not really that important to predict the next big thing. I do think it's interesting that you are aware of what problem solvers there are, or you are able to think of what problems people have and how it can potentially be solved. Think of your own life. Think of the minor nuances that are there. Think of what you do on a day-to-day, or specifically with your domain of expertise, right? So for software engineers, what are they doing on a day-to-day? They have stand-up. They talk to people.
They love the creation of software is changing now. So maybe people love to type code. Typing is now kind of going away quite quickly. They might like working with agents. Not everyone likes working with agents. They hate it. It's even a meme that there are too many meetings that are not as effective. You see people really get demotivated if all they do is talk, and they don't really get to create. Is that a problem? Yeah, for some people, it is. Can you solve that, right? And how are people solving that? People are now solving that through auto transcription and trying to make people more effective in following up on whatever is discussed in those meetings in the first place, or you don't even need to be in those meetings because the transcript is there and you get a summary in the first place. So only a few people are needed, and not the whole team anymore. So those are problem solvers for pain points that people experience. I think that is the skill that you want to cultivate. And I think the easiest is to just journal. They're like, what did I do today? And did I like my day? Did I waste my time? Do other people, do I think other people actually have similar pain points or can I find my own pain points? And can I just solve that for myself? And if you solve that for yourself and you communicate about it, other people might be like, actually, I also want that solution, which is really cool. Those are the best solutions. And even if no one else has that same pain point, you've still solved it for yourself. The skill of then solving problems, you're already working on. And I feel like the more problems you solve, the better you are at identifying what problems there are to solve. And potentially, you might actually understand bigger movements of how specific things come together and what a big occurrence or a big event or when something actually gets announced as a technology, how that can create a ripple effect and eventually become the next big thing.
That's how I think about it.
What is a piece of advice that people get that you often disagree with? Maybe I wouldn't say disagree. I just hate it when people say it is what it is. And I think that reflects in some of the answers that I gave. It feels like you've accepted defeat, and I hate accepting defeat. I would like to have the feeling that I did whatever I could, and now I feel like I've just hit a wall, and I either have to accept it, or I have to remove myself from the situation. So whether that is a job that just doesn't fulfill me anymore, and I communicate that it doesn't fulfill me, and I want to switch to a new role, and in the end, I either get the role, or people say, no, you're going to be here, and you're going to be stuck for five years. Then I feel like, can I do anything else? Can I go to my manager's manager's skip level? Can I go to the director? Can I even go to the CEO? And at some point, I feel like I don't have any other options, or all of the options that I still have, I really don't want to do, I'm done. Then I remove myself from the situation. It's really hard for me to accept. It is what it is. I would much rather have, I've tried everything, and I can't get through. That's me, all right? I own that. I cannot get through. And I either accept that, so I can't get through, and I've accepted that. I'm focusing my energy on this. Or I can't get through, I'm out, all right? I'm working on removing myself from the situation.