{"id":6336,"date":"2024-02-08T21:42:39","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T11:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/?p=6336"},"modified":"2024-02-08T21:47:52","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T11:47:52","slug":"career-progression-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/career-progression-2\/","title":{"rendered":"#26 &#8211; Growing as an SRE (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"gb-grid-wrapper gb-grid-wrapper-4d0ee316\">\n<div class=\"gb-grid-column gb-grid-column-e19e48c0\"><div class=\"gb-container gb-container-e19e48c0\">\n\n<iframe style=\"border-radius:12px\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/3GIYHHyeycC5XQCXb3Y5Ny?utm_source=generator&#038;t=0\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameBorder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;part&nbsp;1, we covered the first truth &#8211; that you don&#8217;t grow in your career merely through tenure. That was a simple&nbsp;one.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s explore 2 more truths that are somewhat trickier&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"truth-2-career-progression-is-not-a-startstop-journey\">Truth #2 \u2014 Career progression is not a start-stop journey<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>I like to call what a lot of people do for the next rung in their career a <em>campaign<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They may have been doing literally the same thing over and over again for 2, 3, or more years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then they suddenly decide they want to get a promotion or work in a more demanding area of their field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So they go on an all-out campaign to get to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the problem I see is that many end up being grossly underprepared and overwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They might go out there and take on a much larger workload than they can handle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or they go to study for a Master\u2019s degree to give their case a little more strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But here\u2019s the thing: it\u2019s not a start-stop journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike most rags-to-riches stories on Netflix that cut about 95% of the struggle, career progression is a steady journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s better to keep walking steadily and learning as you go, like taking small steps forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The actual promotion circuit will be like a zig-zag while your internal growth of knowledge and ability will be a curve formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve made a career progression graph to highlight this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"832\" height=\"763\" src=\"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-content\/uploads\/career-progression-graph-3.png\" alt=\"Graphic explainer of career progression comparing requirements of role to the your technical and soft skills\" class=\"wp-image-5904\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.0113452188006482;width:681px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-content\/uploads\/career-progression-graph-3.png 832w, https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-content\/uploads\/career-progression-graph-3-300x275.png 300w, https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-content\/uploads\/career-progression-graph-3-768x704.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 832px) 100vw, 832px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:48px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I define &#8220;Career Growth&#8221; on the y-axis as relevant to both your skills AND your promotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My belief is simple: even if you don&#8217;t ever get promoted, you are still growing in your career by growing your skill base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it&#8217;s more likely that you will be a solid candidate for promotion if you grow significantly in skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You want to have your technical and soft skills (aka ability curve) sitting above or at least close to the line to avoid a feeling of imposter syndrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s talk about some of the zones marked in the above graph:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The <em><strong>right mix<\/strong><\/em> is a very close or exact match of your technical and soft skills to the role requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Things start to get a little tough when you hit a <strong><em>risky zone <\/em><\/strong>where your role requirements surpass your abilities<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And things really heat up in the <strong><em>danger zone<\/em><\/strong> where you get promoted to a level noticeably above your abilities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You always want to keep your abilities at least a little above where your next possible promotion could take you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine a situation where you spent little or no time working on your abilities and you suddenly decide you want to hit the next level in your career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be an uncomfortably HUGE gap between where your abilities are and what the next level requires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"831\" height=\"795\" src=\"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-content\/uploads\/huge-gap-abilities-role-requirements-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5905\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.9541284403669725;object-fit:cover;width:621px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-content\/uploads\/huge-gap-abilities-role-requirements-1.png 831w, https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-content\/uploads\/huge-gap-abilities-role-requirements-1-300x287.png 300w, https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-content\/uploads\/huge-gap-abilities-role-requirements-1-768x735.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 831px) 100vw, 831px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:48px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Taking a campaign-style approach to filling the gap means putting in a HUGE effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means long hours of study for which you might already not have the time or mental bandwidth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This also means a HUGE risk of you burning out trying to get up to speed with the abilities needed for the next level in a short time span.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when I say that career progression is not a start-stop-start journey, I mean it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s better to keep moving forward and gaining experience and knowledge consistently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just like you keep walking on a path to reach your destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will otherwise risk falling into danger zones and amping up your imposter feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"truth-3-certifications-alone-do-not-drive-career-progression\">Truth #3 \u2014 Certifications alone do not drive career progression<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a whole industry based on tech certifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly, a not-insignificant portion of it has perverse incentives to convince you they have the silver bullet to a higher-paying role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mind you, I am not negating the benefits of certifications entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can put the value of certifications into 3 buckets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Some of them support your hiring or progression in the early stages of your career<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some may be essential to secure higher-clearance jobs e.g. government<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But most will only count as a signal that you have done <em>something<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve helped SREs reach out when they struggle to get rehired, let alone progress in their career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From reviewing their LinkedIn profiles, most had a myriad of impressive-looking certifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, AWS Solution Architect certification was the most common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CKA for Kubernetes was also up there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the true test for every single one of them came when the hiring manager asked them questions that only real-world experience could help answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCan you tell me what could go wrong with this architecture?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will let you imagine what happened next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Certifications are the baseline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And thousands of other candidates may have done the same certification as you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This issue doesn&#8217;t exclusively affect people looking for a new job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s also hard to stand for an internal promotion with the usual certifications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Larger organizations may have several people vying for the same promotion as you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of whom will likely have taken the same obvious certification path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What makes you stand out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A less obvious path of building both practical and knowledge that&#8217;s right for that next level up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, take the ones you know are essential for the specific job or promotion you are seeking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--large);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--large)\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Still keen to put your mind and efforts, and draw some luck into your career progression?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Stay tuned for the third and final&nbsp;part&nbsp;of Growing as an SRE.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if you are a friend who cares, share it with your SRE friends&nbsp;\ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In&nbsp;part&nbsp;1, we covered the first truth &#8211; that you don&#8217;t grow in your career merely through tenure. That was a simple&nbsp;one.&nbsp; Let&#8217;s explore 2 more truths that are somewhat trickier&#8230; Truth #2 \u2014 Career progression is not a start-stop journey I like to call what a lot of people do for the next rung in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[53],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6336"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6381,"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6336\/revisions\/6381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sysmit.com\/cf22\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}