This guide is written for engineers who want to grow from L3 → L4 as fast as possible. Even if rapid growth isn’t your goal, there are learnings for all big tech career paths in this post. I’ll share everything you need to know to get to L4 fast.
Got some niceful tips from this read. It hits me at the one-on-one with manager part where I also often use it for discussing on-going tasks. I agree it should be used more to discuss career growth but sometimes my manager is so busy thus only chance I get to confirm task-related is using the session.
This is great, thanks for the read! Aligning and working with your manager on the promotion is probably the most important thing. Going from L3 to L4 is essentially just checking off L4 behaviors and expectations. Would love to see something similar for L4->L5.
As someone new to the industry, I really appreciate you sharing this perspective. As someone not new to the professional world, though, I'm slightly disheartened by you phrasing your lack of promotion as you not deserving it.
People get passed over all the time in every industry. Some people get promoted that absolutely shouldn't. You may have very well deserved it, but because you weren't on the same page as your manager, it didn't happen. I think it's more productive to chalk the non-promotion up to lack of communication and expectations, rather than what you "deserve".
Again thanks for the read, and I'll continue to follow your story!
The advice of using your 1:1 to YOUR advantage is so true. Often managers are tempted to just do status updates, versus having deeper career or personal conversations.
Speedrunning Guide: Junior (L3)-> Mid-Level (L4)
Got some niceful tips from this read. It hits me at the one-on-one with manager part where I also often use it for discussing on-going tasks. I agree it should be used more to discuss career growth but sometimes my manager is so busy thus only chance I get to confirm task-related is using the session.
This is great, thanks for the read! Aligning and working with your manager on the promotion is probably the most important thing. Going from L3 to L4 is essentially just checking off L4 behaviors and expectations. Would love to see something similar for L4->L5.
As someone new to the industry, I really appreciate you sharing this perspective. As someone not new to the professional world, though, I'm slightly disheartened by you phrasing your lack of promotion as you not deserving it.
People get passed over all the time in every industry. Some people get promoted that absolutely shouldn't. You may have very well deserved it, but because you weren't on the same page as your manager, it didn't happen. I think it's more productive to chalk the non-promotion up to lack of communication and expectations, rather than what you "deserve".
Again thanks for the read, and I'll continue to follow your story!
The advice of using your 1:1 to YOUR advantage is so true. Often managers are tempted to just do status updates, versus having deeper career or personal conversations.
Love the personal examples here! This will be super valuable for people looking to make the L3->L4 jump. Great article, Ryan