5 Career Lessons I Wish I Knew as a Software Engineer in My 20s
5.5 min read / Lessons that all new software engineers will want to know
If I could sit down with my younger self, that eager 20-something with a full head of hair and a mind full of ambition, I know exactly what I'd say.
I thought I had it figured out. Get the degree. Land the internship. Work hard. Climb fast. That's the formula, right?
But no one tells you the fundamental rules of this game.
That careers aren't straight lines.
Here is a list of career lessons to help you avoid wasting time.
1. No One Is Going to Drive Your Career for You
When I landed my first real engineering job, I remember feeling like I'd made it.
I had transitioned from a business analyst role to backend development, and I felt like I was finally "in." All I had to do now was keep doing great work, and the promotions would follow, right?
That promotion moment never came.
No mentor showed up with a roadmap. No one pulled me aside and said, "Here's how you get to senior."
Not because they didn't care, but because everyone else was focused on their own fires. And that's when I realized something that changed everything:
My career was my responsibility.
If I wanted to grow, I had to ask for feedback.
If I wanted new opportunities, I had to say so.
I had to be the one steering the ship.
The day I stopped waiting for someone to "notice" me was the day things started to move. I had to take ownership of my direction, not just my deliverables.
2. Clear Communication Will Take You Further
Early on, I was obsessed with being the smartest person in the room (I never actually was lol)
I wanted to drop clever one-liners in code review. I thought if I could prove how sharp I was, success would follow.
But I slowly started to notice something.
The engineers who received the biggest projects, those trusted to lead migrations, refactorings, and launches, weren't always the ones writing the most elegant code.
They were the ones people could count on.
They were the ones who communicated clearly, who kept their word, who didn't let their ego get in the way of a conversation.
They made other people feel safe. Reliable. Heard.
What I learned is this: your code matters, but your communication defines your career. Trust is earned slowly and lost in an instant.
3. No One Cares Who You Are
This one took me a while to admit.
Initially, I believed that credentials were everything. My degree, the name of my company, the technologies I listed on my resume, I thought that's what made me valuable.
But this industry has a way of humbling you.
I've interviewed engineers who had zero formal education, who didn't work at big-name companies, but who built amazing products, solved real problems, and could talk through their thinking with clarity.
Those were the people who stood out. Not because of what they had, but because of what they could do.
People don't care about your GPA or your LinkedIn headline.
If I could go back, I'd spend less time obsessing over how I looked on paper and more time building things that helped people.
Real projects. Real users. Real lessons.
4. Consistency Is Your Greatest Edge
When you're new, everything feels exciting.
You're learning new frameworks, building new features, and every week feels like a step forward.
But eventually, the shine fades. You start maintaining legacy code. You fix bugs. You review PRs. You clean up naming conventions.
This is where the real challenge begins.
Because great software isn't built on excitement, it's built on consistency.
The best engineers I've worked with weren't always the flashiest. They were the ones who kept showing up. Who kept learning. Who stayed steady, even when the work felt mundane.
I struggled with this early on.
I wanted every day to feel important.
However, the truth is that real progress is slow. And it's built over years of showing up when it's not exciting, when no one's watching, when no one's clapping.
5. Being Surrounded By People Smarter Than You Is a Gift
There was a time when I felt intimidated the moment I joined a team with engineers who were clearly ahead of me.
I'd sit in meetings wondering if I belonged, trying to say something smart just to prove I deserved a seat at the table.
But slowly, something shifted.
I started asking more questions. I started listening instead of performing. And that's when I started to really learn.
Working with people who are better than you is uncomfortable, but it's also where growth happens fastest. When you stop treating those people like competition and start treating them like teachers, the game changes.
I recall one project where I worked alongside an engineer I used to refer to as a "10x dev" in my mind. At first, I tried to keep pace. Eventually, I just leaned in and started learning. In two months, I grew more than I had in the previous two years.
A Final Note to Engineers Just Starting Out
If you're early in your career, whether you're 22 or 32, I know how overwhelming it can feel.
You're learning fast, trying to keep up, battling imposter syndrome, and figuring out how to survive in a fast-moving team.
Here's what I'd say:
Take ownership of your growth. No one is going to hand you the perfect opportunity.
Build trust with every small action. Communicate clearly and follow through.
Focus on real impact. Not your résumé. Not your title. Not how smart you sound.
Be consistent, especially on the days that are less exciting. That's when the real growth happens.
I learned these lessons the hard way. Maybe you don't have to.
Your future self will thank you.
Keep learning friends!
Cheers friends,
Eric Roby
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