Ask HN: FOMO by working in startups only vs. Big companies
by NalNezumi on Hacker News.
Hi HN folks, I can’t think of a better place to ask this. So I’m not a software engineer but robotics, and my masters degree was more of an “jack of all trades, master of none” in Robotics (but more towards software side of it) I’ve now worked for about 3-4 years, so still a junior, but mostly at startups (and in my 3rd one). Hitting my 30s last year and recently talking to a person slightly younger than me with similar background I got the sense of FOMO. this person had a similar degree and first job out of college at an (now failed) startup, but just recently landed a SDE job at Amazon. As I haven’t really worked at big companies, I’ve always had this nascent feeling that I never really learned “the right way” to do things. I often feel like a “patchwork engineer”, learning how things work only sufficiently to make things work in a smaller scale without understanding important big project/organization principles. (or maintaining stuff) How much of this is valid, and how much is just the misconception “the grass is greener” at big companies? Is it valuable to try to apply to big companies to get a good foundation in “the right way” to do things? I feel like I’ve also cornered myself with my resume / experience by only working at startups, and might not even be a lucrative candidate for larger organizations. (30s crisis not withstanding) Any insight is much appreciated!