Back to resources

The Difficulty in Making Career-Defining Decisions

Stakeholder Management
Career Growth
Transitioning into a New Management Role
Team Management
Strategy and Vision

7 December, 2021

Yao Xiao
Yao Xiao

Director of Algorithm Engineering at Aibee

Yao Xiao, Director of Algorithm Engineering at Aibee, shares how he decided that he would transition from a well-established organization to a new startup, broadening his scope.

Leaving a Large Corporation for a Startup

Previously, I worked at a well-established company that had large authority in the tech industry. There were many products and systems but I was dealing with a narrow scope engineering role while I wanted to try and broaden my horizons. Specifically, I was interested in the product side of feature requests, marketing of products, and planning specific steps on a roadmap. I was unsure how to continue and plagued by hesitance and indecisiveness.

Coming To a Decision

Envision the Future:

I created a framework for myself that helped me make this major decision about my career. I began by envisioning myself in five years and asking myself what goals I wanted to achieve within this time period. The answer to this question would theoretically involve the role I wanted to be in and which position would allow me to achieve these end results. From there, I moved backward, looking at my options and choosing the road that would provide me with the most opportunities.

Prioritizing my goals and what I wanted to achieve was as simple as overcoming my inability to make a choice. As soon as I had detailed where I wanted to be in five years, creating the road map became clear. After comprehending my priorities, I ensured that each result would be obtained on my created path.

Things I Considered:

I discovered that there are many things to consider with this framework. The possibility of promotion, day-to-day tasks, teams in collaboration, and the scope I would be working on are all things that I considered throughout this process. For me, a well-defined scope was a roadmap of my tasks that took place over a year-long time frame. On the other hand, an open scope allowed much more flexibility and broad exposure to responsibilities.

Another major point of consideration for me was the project and product that I would be working on. There are often many products at well-established companies, meaning if I disliked one option, I would be able to transfer internally. In terms of startups, there is often only a single product, and if I disliked it, I would have to exit the organization.

Making the Decision:

In final, making the decision relied on majorly one point of consideration: my five-year goal. I wanted to increase my broader knowledge and increase my scope. By focusing on this angle, I found that the decision-making process became much easier and more clear.

Thinking About Long-Term Career Goals

  • Utilizing the long-term vision is incredibly valuable to make large career decisions. It can be difficult to think about things four or five years down the road, especially in a tech space. Many individuals believe that the future is unpredictable when it comes to technical products. I recommend thinking less about the technical aspect and more about your strengths and weaknesses, specifically what you’re looking to improve.
  • The most difficult part of decision-making is understanding yourself. Many people can see themselves in many different places in the future, and finding a specific answer is challenging. Prioritizing certain values and goals is essential, as creating a plan to achieve every possible outcome is often impossible.

Discover Plato

Scale your coaching effort for your engineering and product teams
Develop yourself to become a stronger engineering / product leader


Related stories

Beware the Empathy Trap

21 March

Is it possible to be too empathetic? If you overdo it, it can be an energy sucker.

Leadership
Conflict Resolution
Team Management
Managing Stress and Burnout
Melanie Zens

Melanie Zens

Delivery & Operations / Digital Transformation / People Leader at Marais Consulting Inc

Applying The Rules of IKIGAI for a more fulfilled life!

20 March

Learn about 10 rules from the wisdom of these long-living residents from Ogimi, a small village in Okinawa, Japan. You could interpret the rules as the lifestyle habits that enable the senior residents of Ogami to live long and enjoy their ikigai.

Leadership
Productivity
Career Growth
Communication and Collaboration
Hiring, Retaining, or Firing
Managing Stress and Burnout
Ramesh Dewangan

Ramesh Dewangan

CEO at Quantum Vision Consulting

Relationships, like products, need to be designed.

7 March

3 ways leaders can cultivate relationships that lead to better products.

Leadership
Building and Scaling Teams
Career Growth
Team Management
Strategy and Vision
Guy Jenkins

Guy Jenkins

SVP Global Customer Experience at Salesforce

My experience shadowing an Engineering Director for a week

28 February

Recently I had the opportunity to remotely job shadow another Engineering Director and Mentor from Plato for a week. The article describes how the week unfolded and some of the stats and my key observations from the shadow program.

Transitioning into a New Management Role
Working and Leading Remote Teams
Mrunal Kapade

Mrunal Kapade

Director of Engineering at Inspire Energy

Effective Feedback Mechanism

5 February

The Mindset, Skillset & Toolset to use while giving Feedback.

Career Growth
Kamal Raj Guptha R

Kamal Raj Guptha R

Engineering Manager at Jeavio