Fine-tuning My Problem-Solving Skills:
In my first real software engineering role, I was tasked with porting C code from one chipset to another (Intel to ARM, I believe). This was one of the first projects I had, so I was diligently working on it—I wanted to make sure I nailed it!
I ended up running into a roadblock and sought advice from the senior engineer on the team.
Me: "I can't figure out why this keeps crashing. I've tried everything. Can you help?"
Him: "Sure. What are the last 10 things you tried?"
Me: "Hmm, I haven't tried 10 things."
Him: "Okay, what are the last 5 things you tried?"
Me: "I've only tried a couple of things…" I said sheepishly.
Him: "Then you really haven't tried much. Try a few more things, and then we can work together to figure it out. Don't take this the wrong way, but we didn't hire you to bring us more problems. We hired you because you're competent and can help solve problems."
Me: 🤯
At first, this might have seemed harsh, but I think it was spot on. Learning to really dig into problems and not rush to get help is a muscle that gets built over time and becomes more valuable as you progress in your career or work on more complex systems. Eventually, most of us will come across a problem where no one is going to have the exact answer for us, and we'll have to figure it out ourselves. In any case, I found this experience incredibly powerful.
#softwareengineering #problemsolving
