From an ex-Amazon team lead: 5 mistakes I made as a junior software engineer

Hey Curtis! Great article, I’m currently a comp Sci student and this was very insightful for lies ahead. Thank you very much!

This is so relatable! (ok, not the part of being an engineer at AWS... but the mistakes😊).

Thank you Curtis Einsmann.

I totally relate with the mistake of competition, and you're definitely right, genuinely rooting for others goes a long way to fight that urge and help achieve a better relationship with your peers.

Thanks for sharing Curtis Einsmann 🤍

I am at the beginning of my journey and these points are like a treasure, it is a blessing when you can learn from others and embrace their success. Highly appreciate that man.

Have a similar experience here! Nice to know that I'm not alone 😄

Hey Curtis! Great Post. Being in a junior position right now, your post may help me to improve my work life relationships and become a better human overall.

I made a few of these mistakes. You spoke my heart. Thank you for writing this.

Always a pleasure reading your posts and ideas, Curtis! You're incredible to be so vulnerable about your mistakes here and sharing how you overcame them. Also, what a lovely personal touch with your photo at the end of this post!! <3

Great article, Curtis. Coming from a traditional finance career I made the same mistakes - except I didn't work with code but Excel and financial models. The mentality though was the same.

Great article, Curtis! That "its not my fault" part sounded very familiar. Definitely not a good attitude to have, especially in a team setting.

definitely an awesome article! I'm at Amazon rn (interning since Jan) and Point #4 hit home (I listen (not understand) my teammates's updates in Standup)..gotta nip this bad habit in the bud :P

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's educating.

We have been utilizing this for half a month at this point and it is by all accounts going pleasantly.

Hey Curtis, please could u list out the technical skills that were required for u to get the software development engineer role at AWS. would really appreciate it.. thanks.

definitely true. being a senior dev at this point, i look back and think about the devs who mentored me (which i didn't think of as mentoring at the time, like you pointed out i was trying to make my mark haha) and i'm like "i GET IT!" i see the same mistakes i made (over-engineering solutions, tightly coupling my use case to a proposed solution, trying to write code for a future case that likely will never appear or at least how i think it will, overdoing refactors, etc.) and i try to impart to young devs that they're like baby scorpions putting the stinger to everything in front of them when most things can be done simpler which will make their lives (and the lives of their teammates) so much easier down the road. i also try to help them with growing their career (i was also uncomfortable with these discussions, and thought i'd PROVE why i should get paid as much as my colleagues but the truth is, once you take a reduced rate it's locked in with 95% of employers) and understanding work/life balance more than i did in my 20s. sure, your current task might be "high priority" but there's one right after that, and right after that; you'll never get through all the high priority tasks and be able to relax, so learn how to prioritize yourself and your own health first because most employers are happy to let you work yourself to death for what is very likely an under-salaried workload.

Hi Curtis Einsmann. Nice article and very insightful as well as relatable. Also, I am unable to get the crux of the 2 point. Can you please elaborate on the same?

It would be extremely helpful for me. Thanks.