First Job Out of College
Browse by problem

Eight problems. Pick the one you're in.

The blog reorganized around the real moments of a first job — not subjects. If you came here because something specific went sideways at work today, start in the bucket that fits, not at the top of the chronology.

Week 1 → Day 90

Getting set up

How to look competent fast — onboarding, first 1:1s, ramp plans, the unspoken stuff nobody hands you on day one.

6 posts
1:1s, feedback, asks

Managing your manager

How to make your manager easy to work with. Status updates, calibration, asking for help without sounding helpless.

9 posts
Briefs, decks, output

Doing the work

Project briefs, status discipline, executive summaries. The stuff that turns a junior into someone people trust with scope.

10 posts
Meetings, networking

Being in rooms

Camera on or off, meeting rules, coffee chats, reading the room. Showing up well when other people are watching.

7 posts
Raises, bonuses, promo

Money & advancement

How comp actually gets set. Negotiating, reviewing, getting promoted at companies with no clear ladder.

6 posts
Conflict, credit, drama

Hard situations

Peers who take credit. Managers who go silent. The meeting where someone's about to throw you under the bus. Surviving the parts they don't teach.

5 posts
Foreign hires, culture

Identity & fit

Cultural calibration, etiquette, code-switching, being the only X in the room. The career-shaping stuff that's easy to miss.

4 posts
Pivots, MBAs, the long game

Career planning

When to move, when to stay, MBA pivots, conference networking, the career conversation you should be having every six months.

2 posts