I'm 35, but I had a junior SA approach me looking for tasks (though he is not even on my team) and I had nothing for him. So he asked if I had any advice for a 23 year old and all I could think to tell him was "Floss every day".
Any of you guys got good advice for a young person just starting out in life?
Get in the habit of eating right and working out NOW, it only gets harder as you age.
Start saving for retirement now, even if it's only 20 bucks a month. Learn to love compounding interest.
Never trust a fart.
Pets are a luxury not a necessity.
You better be figuring out how AI works. Learn everything you can about things like chatGPT to improve your work and your processes, In 10 years you're going to be left so far behind it's going to be scary.
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If you have and like your grandparents and parents spend time with them.
Automate savings. Send $20 or $50 or whatever you can afford weekly/biweekly into Betterment or a high yield savings account, then just forget about it. It'll stack up.
Also, if you're in the US, set up a 401k ASAP. It'll automatically save whatever percentage of your paycheck you decide to sock away, before it even hits yours bank account. Some employers even offer to match whatever you save up to a certain amount (usually some percentage of your monthly salary)! Ideally, do it before your first paycheck even comes in, so you don't even notice the money's gone.
I'm wondering if he wanted general advice or if he was hoping for early career advice?
I guess the generic career advice is stuff like: build supportive networks, protect your time, channel your energy wisely, don't lose sight of who you are and why you're working, and spend some time developing the skillset needed for the job you want not just the job you have.
Brush and floss your teefs every day. Don't pursue a well paid career you don't enjoy. Start saving money for your future, even just 15% of your salary each month. Cherish the time you spend with your parents. Don't waste money on material items to impress others. Don't rush into marriage.
You get to decide who you are. No one can do this for you, although lots of people will try to define you.
You also get to decide how much shit you're willing to eat when it comes to your job. Some people have a higher tolerance than others. Just remember that your loyalty to a manager or company should be directly equal to how loyal they are to you. You don't owe them a damn thing that they're not paying you (fairly) for.
No one is the boss of you. You'll have managers, but don't get into the mindset that these people can tell you what to do and that you have no choice.
No one knows what they're doing. As you get older you'll begin to realize that the older people you thought had some knowledge that comes with being an "adult" don't have things figured out either. Give yourself room to not have it figured out and to make mistakes. Everyone does.
You got to determine how much stress is ok at work and be willing to leave if it's too much. Be ready to dip if things go bad.
I spent 5 years at an under paying job that was constant overtime. It destroys you. Spent a few months unemployed after basically rage quitting. Burning my savings as I looked for a new one also hurt. Even after getting a new job, it still takes years to feel normal again once you burn out.
Don't get stressed unless they are paying enough to justify it. Don't be loyal to a company, they will eat you alive and ask for a second set of shin to eat. Your reward for loyalty is more work but not more pay.
Don't be hard on yourself in your twenties. Try to live with perspective that in your 30s you'll thank yourself for your own kindness to yourself in your younger years. Mistakes happen, the point is to learn from them and allow yourself to grow. Also, have fun and make memories and always take pictures.
100% take pictures. It's amazing how much you'll forget over time, and seeing photos of your old place, friends, things you did, etc. brings it all back to life again.
Related, but back up your stuff. Don't keep 3 years of photos on your phone. Dump them to a disk you own and practice 3-2-1 backups.
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