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From mastering the tools to keeping up with changing technologies, an engineer’s career journey is not an easy one. No matter how much you learn and upskill, there is always more to do. So, is there an easy hack to accelerate and grow in the career journey as an engineer? Let’s find out!

A panel comprising Phaneesh Gururaj, CTO, Koo; Narendra Babu, CTO, PayU; and Dr Sureshkumar Rajasekar, Vice President, Technology, Optum Global Solutions (India) Private Limited came together at TechSparks 2022 to share their experiences of working with top-notch tech teams and how aspiring engineers can scale in their journeys ahead.

What does it take to be a leader ?

“The most important quality to becoming a leader in the engineering space is whether an individual is an “I” person or a “We” person. I believe collaboration is important as it can create 10x more impact and can help in achieving the desired outcome a lot faster,” shares Dr Suresh.

Sharing his views on the subject, Phaneesh of Koo says, “It is important for engineers to have a deep level of curiosity to solve a particular problem statement. The process is called “High Agency” where an individual is keen to learn, explore, collaborate and work towards solving a common problem. This is one skill that we look for in engineers before hiring at Koo.”

Narendra, however, believes that there is no one-size-fits-all formula to becoming a great leader. “Accountability and ownership are important skills to possess. To look at end-to-end execution of a given project and ensure that the desired outcome is achieved is crucial and that is how we make our hiring decisions,” he says.

Mapping out a career path for engineers

“At Koo, our mapping methodology is evolving. As of now, we try to find an individual with the right skill set to suit the job requirement,” shares Phaneesh.

Dr Suresh believes that no organisation tries to map out the career path of its employees. It is for individuals to look at their strengths and work towards being better at their job. “The hard reality is that no company will have a blueprint for you to succeed in your career. It totally depends on “YOU”. Whatever you do, do it with utmost passion and dedication,” says Dr Suresh.

He adds that the secret sauce to growing is to prepare for your next job in the current job itself. That is how you will stand out in this comparative space. He also believes that in order to grow, it is important to share what you know. Engineers/techies can participate in online tech forums, not just to ask questions but also participate and contribute to responses. This will help scale their careers to a great extent.

Keeping up with the changing tech landscape

Technology is constantly evolving and for those who are working in this space, it can be overwhelming to keep up with the pace. “You don’t have to dig deep into every new technology that is coming up but at least being aware and having a broad overview is what will keep you ahead of the curve,” says Narendra.

Phaneesh advises young engineers to talk to the one person in the team who is the best at their job. It is important to understand their thought process and how they debug a particular problem. “Use all the online resources to upskill, but what you will learn by talking to those who have been there before will be the best lesson ever,” he concludes.