Stage 8 of 8 · 7 lessons · ~2 weeks

Your first year after switching

Settle into your first tech role as someone who came from elsewhere: ask well, record your wins, use your background at work and keep a steady learning habit. The Your first tech job roadmap goes deeper on the job itself.

Start: Your first weeks as a switcher

Lessons· one lesson for each topic, in this order

Do this

Write a plan for your first two weeks and share it with your manager.
Post questions in team channels after a time-boxed attempt.
Start a brag document and add to it every Friday.
Offer your background on one piece of work this month.
Set three goals for your first year and a date to review them.
Keep a smaller, steady learning habit tied to your daily work.

Start with

GuideFree
How to Ask Good Questions (Julia Evans)
Julia Evans · Beginner
A short, practical essay on asking questions at work that get useful answers

Practise

Sefism Discord
Talk to other people who switched and compare notes on the first year

Keep handy

Path to Senior Engineer Handbook
A free map of what grows you from junior onward, once the first months settle

Also worth your time

Get Your Work Recognized: Write a Brag DocumentRead
Start this in your first week so reviews and your next move write themselves
The Software Engineer's GuidebookGo deeperPaid
A thorough guide to growing as an engineer, when you want the long view

Before moving on: A first-year note: a two-week onboarding plan, a brag document with at least five entries, one way you have used your background at work, and three goals for the year with a review date.

Tauseef's advice

The first months are hard for everyone, and harder when you arrive from another field. Ask early, write things down and use what you already know. A year from now you will be surprised how normal it all feels.