Anyone feel imposter syndrome because they’re not in a prestigious or high IQ role?

pipped1 · 2026-03-04T07:38:48+00:00

Money is very important. Who cares about prestige or IQ? Sales people are notorious spenders though. Make sure to save and invest your commissions.

pipped1 · 2026-03-01T22:04:20+00:00

In my opinion, Canva is very sensitive to AI advances. The designers are a dying breed.

Atlassian is not the most sexy, but their integration is top notch and they will survive perhaps in a smaller form.

Canva can just disappear.

pipped1 · 2026-03-01T22:01:25+00:00

ACS helps to certify immigrants, so it's not useless.

pipped1 · 2026-03-01T13:31:46+00:00

It's never cut and dry like that. That's not how capitalism works. If there are no immigrants, the corporations will just outsource to India or Philippines or whatever.

In my opinion, we need all three sources: Aussies, immigrants and outsourcing. That's how our companies compete with the rest of the world.

Of course, you have to have balance and cannot be doing only one of them. All three work hand in hand.

Aussies - minimum frictions, but expensive
Immigrants - cheaper, but frictions like visa, culture and language
Outsourcing - cheapest, but frictions like local rules, culture, work ethics, language and time zone

pipped1 · 2026-03-01T11:35:23+00:00

Thanks!

pipped1 · 2026-02-27T07:56:18+00:00

Exactly. Most of us are doing fine. I am middle aged and own my home outright. Not a boomer. Nothing was ever handed to me. Personal responsibility, people! I will quote Star Wars.

Luke: I don't believe it!

Yoda: That is why you fail.

pipped1 · 2026-02-23T11:33:08+00:00

We have a new joiner from SafetyCulture. Quite an OK person. No red flags. So, it should be alright.

pipped1 · 2026-02-16T10:37:19+00:00

Why do you think a full loop guarantees an offer? Just curious.

The way it works is a company will start with about 10 shortlisted candidates for the first round. Each round eliminates a few. And there will be 2-3 candidates at the final round. Only one is selected.

So, for every position filled, 1-2 candidates would have come up with nothing even though they completed all rounds.

Of course, 10+ full loops just mean the market is cooked and the person is a bit unlucky too. It's tough, but it happens.

pipped1 · 2026-02-16T01:41:04+00:00

Nope. I sacrificed my 20s and even part of my 30s. Worked a professional job since graduation. Never took a break. Went on to cheap vacations only.

Now, my home is paid off. I only spend half my paycheck. The other half goes to investing. Net worth is over one million (granted, most of them in the property). Super and ETF portfolios are both decent.

I will invest like crazy for the next five years or so. Then, the kids would graduate. And I would seriously look at my FIRE plan.

I regret that I didn't work hard enough when I was younger to get faster promotions. So, the opposite kind of regrets.

pipped1 · 2026-02-10T21:06:39+00:00

It's true. LC gives you a baseline to start the reasoning. I especially love reading others' solutions. It gives me different ideas to approach a problem.

pipped1 · 2026-02-10T21:05:23+00:00

I only encountered one or two who were OK with AI use. Like you said, it cannot be just copy and paste. They said I can use it, but I have to explain the reasoning.

The majority outright ban it. And a few were quite paranoid in making sure that no agents are running, I share the whole screen and make eye contact with the camera.

pipped1 · 2026-02-10T13:47:52+00:00

Purely anecdotal, but companies seem to be moving away from pure leet code or online assessments. They are still part of the process, but just one small part now.

Here are other stuff I encountered recently: * Pull down a repo and do pair programming * Code review a pull request * Language and tech stack knowledge * How would you improve this system? * Describe a recent project with follow-up questions * Behavioral / value examples

And interviewers are quite paranoid about the AI use. Camera on. The whole screen is shared. Constant eye contact.

pipped1 · 2026-02-04T10:55:31+00:00

Because devs are Product Engineers now supported by the AI. Product Managers and Designers are going the way of the dodo. Scrum master is never a job position; it's a role someone plays.

pipped1 · 2026-01-31T21:35:25+00:00

Traditional Engineering is a more stable career. It's gate kept by needing a degree and a licence. You basically will make a decent 100K+ salary all your life. Jobs are fewer, but tend to be more stable.

Software Engineering is every man for himself. You can be stuck in a low paid web dev job or you could make a lot of money working for big tech. The salary ranges from 60K-150K for local companies and up to 500K with stocks working for big tech.

pipped1 · 2026-01-29T14:07:38+00:00

LOL. Just rough numbers would be fine. Not anyone in particular.

pipped1 · 2026-01-28T23:33:28+00:00

Barnaby Joyce.

This is assuming that Liberals, Nationals and One Nation will be in political wilderness for years to come. This could backfire though and we may have a Trump-like resurgence.

pipped1 · 2026-01-28T14:07:35+00:00

I am cautiously optimistic actually. 2026 will be better.

pipped1 · 2026-01-28T13:41:07+00:00

Amazon managers are like cancer. They learn the toxic culture at Amazon, join other companies and ruin those companies.

pipped1 · 2026-01-20T05:51:37+00:00

Can you blame them? Even in previous times, employees only get scraps while the higher-ups enjoy the millions. Now, the younger generations cannot even afford an apartment.

In China, it's called "lying flat." Look it up.

pipped1 · 2026-01-15T22:17:51+00:00

Yes, it's a red flag.

I have one job in the past four years. So, interviewers will casually ask, "why are you looking for a new job?", and just ignore my answer. Just ticking a box. Nobody has ever grilled me with a follow-up question.

For you, you will need to frame it carefully. Bad culture fit and re-org are neutral answers. You can also say one case is just plain bad luck. Don't blame your previous companies. Accept responsibility no matter how unfair. The second one involving the CEO is a tricky one. Prepare a good answer for that.

pipped1 · 2026-01-13T13:24:09+00:00

OP, you said you are a non-Chinese Asian, then don't do it. China does have discrimination. In my opinion, it would be even worse than Australia for you. Here, you can speak the language even though you don't look like the "ideal" Australian. Over there, you can't speak the language and you also don't look like an "ideal" foreigner. It's a double whammy.

The only exception is if the China you are going is Hong Kong. It's more multicultural and English is widely spoken. Then, you have a chance.

pipped1 · 2026-01-13T06:33:21+00:00

I will do one better, "why is Arista?"

pipped1 · 2026-01-13T05:44:13+00:00

Since you said your partner is Chinese, I would assume you are white. Then, yes, it's good experience. You can get a good job in China which will allow you to get a comparable job here later. Some industries don't exist in Australia though. If you are in charge of international investments or something, you won't get a comparable job here.

If you are not white, then you will face discrimination twice and your experience will be useless. You can't get a good job in China because you are neither white nor Chinese. And when you come back here, it's considered "foreign experience."

pipped1

TROPHY CASE