#14: On Interviewing Regularly

Hi friends,

It’s been 2.5 years (!) since my last newsletter, which I published right after I joined Waymo. When I reflect on why I haven’t published in a while, the main factors have been: not having great work-life balance, general pandemic-related burnout, and legitimately not feeling like I have anything worthwhile to share.

On the last point, despite being not true, I think even if I’m just documenting the things I’m struggling with, it is useful for other people to hear about that (i.e. "document, don't create"). So this is my attempt at restarting more regular—shorter—updates.

Based on recent experiences (which I will write about more later), I have come to the realization that I’ve been a complete dingus for not interviewing at companies more often throughout my career. This is the standard advice I’ve heard (to interview once a year whether you feel like leaving or not), and for various reasons (comfort, hubris, fear of the unknown), I failed to heed it. My career approach has been to find a good team, post up for a few years, and only start interviewing when I feel like I’ve plateaued or my needs aren’t being met. I now realize I was missing out on a bunch of things:

• Making more connections across the industry

• Understanding my true market value

• Keeping my interview skills sharp

To sum it up, I’ve learned that interviewing regularly is a good way to take more ownership of my career direction and hedge against the downside of my current team not working out. It is something I’ll continue to do going forward, regularly.

One can acquire everything in solitude — except character.

—Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle), novelist (23 Jan 1783-1842)