Mid-Level Software Engineer at Arista Networks

Ankita Mehta

Hi,
First of all, it’s amazing how you are able to see that you need handholding. I was there at your place a year ago. But something changed in last one year. 

I took up the challenge to see myself promoted. Now to get promoted, I should be able to handle the responsibilities of a one level up person. Being an IC, i can always look up to my lead/manager and see how he much of effort he handles. I try and read the conversations which are beyond my work. I pitch in case someone is stuck in error. And lastly, I brought my ideas to my manager. 

How yes, working independly can be a struggle, especially if you are building something new. But then I realised I can ask questions outside of work. Say through internet, I can search for solutions on web. I ended up taking Claude/chatgpt/perplexity premiums, just to get the right solutions. And if it was more of a technical question specific to a project, (as suggested by my manager) I wrote it down on a notepad for a day or two to articulate my thoughts on what exactly am I looking for and how can I make it *easy* for the person I am asking to help me reply back. 

Lastly, I also ended up taking more time for the first few months (so yes, long work hours), but then I built certain habits, and those habits helped me leap through. 
1) I wrote down tasks for each day in the morning. 
2) I wrote down and organised common steps ( say to pull requests standards, or login steps, or project notes) 
3) I noted people who have worked on the similar kind of projects/tasks.
4) I made doubts section in my notepad, which basically articulated my doubts and questions I have to ask. 


Everybody functions in a team, even if they are IC. You will need help, and asking for it is completely okay. Ask the right questions, and your work will get better. 

This list contains videos/courses which need re visiting 