A Piece Of Advice For Your Younger Self #1
There are multiple paths to a successful career, stay true to your heart.
Today’s post is the inaugural essay of a series under The Collective US section, “A piece of advice for your younger self”. It is a series I am co-developing with guest participants. The works in this series are presented either as an essay or in an interview format. Each piece shares the unique experiences and background of the guest writer while maintaining the overall theme - what have you learned from life that you wish you could pass on to your younger self?
Email me (immigrantsjourney@substack.com) if you are interested in participating or would like to learn more about this series.
Yi: Harshini, when you decided to step back from what is considered the most promising and talked about field of AI engineering, you were only in your late 20s. That is quite astonishing. Could you share with us what enabled you to stay calm, rational, and focused on the bigger picture of a life that would make you happy?
Harshini: Haha, I wouldn’t say that it was an entirely calm transformation. There were many sleepless nights, some anxiety-causing circling thoughts, and several difficult conversations with my family, friends, and peers. However, I was able to stick with my decision to leave tech behind because of my pressing need to create value in this world. By remaining in the corporate world I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I was aiding and abetting the profit-driven capitalistic machine instead of helping the people living at the mercy of it.
I was working at a self-driving start-up, at the peak of Covid, when I stopped to reflect on what I was doing. I was tired and disappointed after running through the nth product lifecycle that yet again failed to address real-world user problems.
“Is this it?” I wondered. “Is this what I worked for all my life? Bug fixing and working on tech that will never truly benefit us?”
This was also the time that I became the only woman in the entire engineering team, which did not sit well with me. I came up with detailed plans to hire more women and people of color. In response, my boss blamed the “pipeline” and politely ordered me to desist. I was shocked as he had previously proclaimed the need to champion diversity and equity at a company-wide meeting. This instance combined with other microaggressions opened my eyes to how things really work in the tech world, forcing me to acknowledge that “leaning in” works only for some.
All of these factors made me think and rethink my corporate life. The last straw was an unexpected layoff, one that happened after I had given my heart and soul to build up that very same organization. I was forced to acknowledge that corporations will only look out for the bottom line and that it was no place for my idealistic self. I was sick of pushing myself through cycles of burnout just to stay on the safer and well-trodden path.
And so, here I am, writing about tech and capitalism while working on building a designer stationery brand that is both environmentally and financially sustainable.
Yi: Well congratulations on finding the courage to venture outside of the “conventional wisdom”, and finding your own path. Before we leave the technical and business topic, I’d like to ask you about Innovation and change, two of the most overused, particularly in the start-up world. The need for constant innovation and change has, of course, brought advancement to human society. Would you say that there are also pitfalls behind the feverish fanfare and the over-presented messages?
Harshini: Definitely. These buzzwords have been used by founders, VCs, and tech leaders to push for constant change and awe-inspiring products. BUT, these words also lead to never-ending hype cycles that have real-world consequences.
Every time a new technology catches their fancy, say robotics in the 2010s, first there is a murmur, then a rippling excitement, and suddenly a fervor that grips VCs and founders. It's always the next big thing, world-changing, the forefront of technology, ya-da, ya-da.
These growth curves of hype cycles influence what engineering students choose to specialize in, where they look for jobs, what roles they start out as, and how much starting compensation they can get. This in turn means that these workers hyper-specialize in certain fields, be it Computer Vision, NLP (Gen AI), or Self-driving technology.
But when the hype cycle dies down, the VCs pull funding, and the start-ups crumble or get swallowed up by corporate behemoths. These same workers find themselves with specific knowledge but with no place to apply to. They have a narrowed field of experience which narrows the number of jobs they can apply for. Either they have to take on jobs outside their interests and expertise or they have to keep grinding, hit the books again, and specialize in yet another field, perhaps the one that's leading the news hype at the moment.
This quest for constant innovation has led to unsustainable work conditions for tech workers. Combined with the current prevailing hiring freeze in the tech sector, burnout is more common than it used to be. The need for change has also created a growing divide between what society needs and what the tech world thinks society wants. Existing inequalities are only getting exacerbated while Silicon Valley hops onto the next hype train.
Yi: So, we need innovations that create real value for users (not founders), and changes that improve life for everyone (not change for the sake of change). As someone who is in the early life stage, what advice would you give to your peer group, and what advice would you give to the younger self (today’s Gen Z and Gen Alpha), when picking a study field and college education?
Harshini: I truly believe that there are now multiple different career pathways, and different ways of getting to your goals and creating value in this world. So stay true to your heart and pursue what you love, be brave and try different things, accept that setbacks are inevitable, and pick a course that suits you, your values, and your goals.
If you do take on a career that doesn’t align with your passion, keep your passion alive, but do not jump into self-employment until you have a support system you can depend on.
Social media can make you think that it's easy to be a content creator or a business owner but it takes time, energy, money, and a ton of hard work to make it happen. I would also add that working in tech did impart some valuable decision-making and critical thinking skills that I now rely on.
Lastly, stick to the basics and develop a general knowledge base from the ground up. Get real-life exposure, apply for internships or co-ops, learn by experience, talk to veterans in the field, and get a sense of how the world works. What’s taught at school varies widely from what you may actually do at your first job.
Yi: These are very good pieces of advice! Thank you Harshini, for sharing with us your learnings. I wish you the very best, on this path that you have chosen, the path that leads you to your happiness!
Share your thoughts and comments with Harshini -
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Would you like to contribute to this series and share your advice with our readers? Please email me (immigrantsjourney@substack.com) to start our virtual chat!
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This is a very nice piece of interview. "Stay true to your heart" is such a simple piece of advice and yet so many of us fail to do that. Bravos to Harshini!
A great interview. So many great insights. Thank you to both of you and good luck Harshini with the new business.