Reflections on 2023

2023 was a very interesting year for me. The major highlight of the year was that i got laid off from my job at Google, a job which i was very proud of getting and doing. I got the news when i was sitting with Praveen at Coconut Groove at 11 pm one February night. This was not the first time i had gotten fired - i had been fired from my job at Flipkart as well. But this was different - this was for not fault of my own, despite being good at my job and within just 9 months of starting the job. 

This lay off was in Feb'23, so just when the year had started. Most of the following 4 to 5 months has been me interviewing to find another job. My first instinct was to try to join back redBus, a job that i had enjoyed more than any other i had. But they were not hiring then. I must have appeared for 150+ interviews over the course of these 4 to 5 months, and i ended up with 2 job offers - from Freshwork and Betterplace. These would not have been companies i would not have keenly considered otherwise, but i was not in a position to have such liberties. I chose to join Betterplace because i felt i could make a large impact in a smaller organisztion, and i was impressed with the growth the company had shown in the last few months. 

In hindsight, it wasnt that great a decision to join Betterplace. The growth the company had shown over the past few months had mostly come from acquisitions, not via organic growth - i realised. Also the company didnt have a clear charter for me, it felt like they had over hired in the product team, and didnt have enough work for me. The strategy for the company was all over the place - it would be better to say they didnt have a strategy and wanted to do everything at once. Because of these reasons, i had started looking out for opportunities elsewhere. That's when one of the Google HRs reached out to me with a chance to apply for an open role at Google Home. I jumped at the opportunity, and finally made it through and joined Google in Nov. So life came full circle with me getting laid off from Google in Feb and joining back in Nov. In a way, it was a waste of year, one where i could have done good work for the company. In other way, i learned a lot about myself, about interviewing, about understanding the fit between me and a company and broadly about how to approach this thing called work. I will articulate some of it below. 

The first thing that comes to my mind when i reflect on my 'summer of interviews' is that i rushed into interviewing with a desperation which was not needed. I should have chilled a bit, maybe read a bit more, travelled, and handpicked the interviews i wanted to give. I interviewed A LOT and was at one point burned down from interviewing. There were benefits of interviewing so much as well - i could quickly iterate on things which were not working and become better in forthcoming interviews. But i still feel this was much more to the left of the optimal pace of interviewing for me. The desperation also must have come out in the interviews, i must have seemed too eager to impress, too eager to take up the job. And that never helps. Just like in dating, the less eager you seem to take up the job, the more recruiters chase you, and are willing to heed to your demands. So a note to self - take some time when deciding to interviews with companies, pace out the interviews, be very conscious of why you'd like to interview with a company, and dont be too eager to please. 

Further exploring that last point, is that i might come across as someone without much depth or a unique point of view in interviews. I should express me personality and my point of view more freely in the interviews, without feeling a pressure to perform or do well. This pressure often makes me come across a generic person, who is too eager to impress. Again, note to self - chill, and just talk. 

After the Betterplace experience i should also be very careful on how i evaluate a company i am considering to join, and my fit with the company. Two areas that i have traditionally ignored - how is the financial health of the company & do i like the people i will be working with? 

Last point, i need to be a better negotiator. I knew this already, i am terrible at it. But i haven't done a good job at valuing myself and negotiating my salary both at Betterplace and Google. I guess i was in a hard place in this scenario, where i didnt have much wiggle room to negotiate - i had to close the job as soon as possible (i mean i didnt HAVE TO, thats just what i thought then). But a note to self - while going into a conversation with another company, or an appraisal conversation in my own company - know what you want, know why you should get that, and communicate that succinctly and clearly; if and when this demand is not getting met, know what the non-negotiable number for you.

The year hasn't been all doom and cloudy skies though. The one highlight was my office at Betterplace, it was located on MG road, the commute was amazing, mostly through army townships, it felt like travelling through a small town. The office was located in a slightly old building which wasnt the typical Bangalore glass box building, and i could see lots of tress and the metro making its rounds from my seat. I would take post lunch strolles on MG road, have a sugarcane juice, and people watch. It was easily the best office i worked at in Bangalore. 

 After i got the offer from Google, in the break between two jobs i also got to travel to Uzbekistan. I was skeptical if it would work out but we finally went and i am so glad we did. Uzbekistan was a different flavor than any other country i have visited - in terms of the cities and how they felt, the people, language, and their outlook towards Indians. I did fall sick in the last 2 days of the trip, but the trip was a success despite that. 

I also got to spend about 2 weeks at home post Diwali, in which i didnt have anything to do. I spent time reading, meeting friends, watching sunsets from my terrace - i believe nothing is as refreshing as spending 2 weeks at home doing nothing. 

I also want to think about 2024, in context of whatever happened in 2023 and what i learnt from it. Taking cue from the 'notes to self' in this post, the one big learning is to chill - meaning not to get worked up too much about the job situation, about where i am standing, about the kind of salary i am making etc. Its just puts additional pressure, and doesnt help, especially in interviews. Not to say that i shouldn't be conscious of these things, but the idea is to look at it objectively and see what one can get. Another thing i have realized is that the product management job market is very competitive - and with no barrier to entry and good salaries, will continue to be so. So i should continue to have the ongoing thought process around how to stay relevant, which skills to build, which skills do i have on which to over index. 

Outside of the professional sphere, i want to do more the things that i like - travel to a few places i have been meaning to, take a staycation, read more, visit home more, spend 2 weeks at home doing nothing. I also want to do more volunteering work, specially something based in Bangalore so that i can contribute to the society around me.