Lessons from Gergely Orosz

Gergely Orosz, author of the widely-read "The Pragmatic Engineer" newsletter and "The Software Engineer's Guidebook," has become a prominent voice in the software engineering community. His writings offer practical advice and sharp insights on career growth, software quality, and engineering management.

On Career Development and Growth

On the reality of career progression: "Hard work is not all it takes to reach the next level." [1] This learning, shared by a reader of "The Software Engineer's Guidebook," reflects a common theme in Orosz's work: that career advancement requires more than just technical output; it involves visibility, communication, and strategic alignment with company goals.
On the importance of mentorship: "A book is never the best choice like the very best thing that you can have is have a mentor." This statement emphasizes the invaluable role of personalized guidance and experience sharing in a developer's career journey.
For junior developers starting out: "Think about just getting your foot in the door, it's much easier when you're in." [2] Orosz advises juniors to prioritize gaining initial experience, even if the first role isn't their dream job.
On the evolving role of senior engineers: "Seniors should become more full-stack." [2] In a changing market, Orosz advocates for senior engineers to broaden their skill sets to remain adaptable and valuable.
On navigating a tough job market: "The job market has not been this tough for new grads and junior engineers in the last 20 years, ever since the dot-com bust." [2] This quote highlights the challenging landscape for early-career professionals and the need for strategic job-seeking.
On the power of side projects: Orosz advises juniors to "work on their projects just so they have some code in production to show at job interviews." [2]
On the value of proactivity: "Finishing something before starting anything new is a helpful approach." [3] This quote from "The Software Engineer's Guidebook" underscores the importance of focus and completion.
On continuous learning: "AI will not replace you but will make you more productive. You must constantly learn to be a desirable employee in these new circumstances." [4]
On career stability: "Software engineers now have to start thinking of something that was taken for granted for a long in tech – career stability." [2]
On understanding business context: A way to become more full-stack is "understanding the business more by talking to product managers, customer support or user research to become a well-rounded engineer." [2]

On Software Engineering Practices

On effective delivery: "Under-promise, over-deliver, over-communicate." [5] This principle, highlighted in "The Software Engineer's Guidebook," is a cornerstone of building trust and being perceived as a reliable engineer.
On the purpose of a resume: “The goal of your resume is to get a recruiter call. It's a binary yes or no. That is the goal. As soon as you have your recruiter call, your resume doesn't really matter that much.” [6]
On the nature of software challenges: "The more experienced some people are the more they will say people around people or communication is the most difficult thing about software engineering."
On the role of automation: "In most cases, either figure out how to automate it or don't do it, which might require thinking outside the box."
On creating production-ready software: Creating truly production-ready software "involves more than following a simple checklist — it demands extensive expertise and rigorous auditing."
On the reality of AI in development: While AI platforms claim to generate production-ready apps instantly, "with LLMs being non-deterministic, the claim of certainty in app production remains hypothetical, challenging even seasoned developers."
On the shift in developer responsibilities: Developers are increasingly expected to "deploy their code, deal with security, monitoring, and architecture, get involved in project planning." [4]
On the changing tech stack focus: In the current market, "it will be much easier to find a job as a TypeScript engineer than as a Rust engineer." [4]
On the rise of the full-stack developer: "The team that once had frontend and backend developers, iOS and Android developers, DevOps, and QA engineers would probably be reduced to 3 or 4 full-stack engineers." [4]
On the importance of focus: "Finishing something before starting anything new is a helpful approach." [3]

On Engineering Management and Leadership

On accountability: "I tell people that I'm always accountable for what we do, and our projects, which means that if someone should get in trouble or get fired, that someone should be me, the engineering manager."
On fostering a learning environment: "In return, I ask others to take on responsibility for their work. Hopefully, this creates an environment where failure is not a problem but something we can learn from."
On team autonomy: "Instead of getting a project manager who'll tell everybody what to do, I give that autonomy to the engineers, with some guardrails."
On team improvement: "Continuous improvement comes from pushing teams to commit, giving them space to fail and then ensuring there's reflection on what happened and what we should change."
On the path to management: To become a manager, "try and get into a company that is growing or will grow and because those those slots will open up."
On the manager's role in growth: "As a manager one of your biggest... LPIs are your people growing and are they getting better and better and better."
On the unrecognized work of mentorship: "Good mentoring happens in a lot of places, but often it's left unrecognized. The most obvious place to recognize it is when you have your performance review or promotion conversation."
On the frustration of hiring managers with team matching: “Team matching was very frustrating for hiring managers.” [7] This quote highlights the complexities of modern hiring processes in large tech companies.
On dealing with departures: A good management book should cover "how to deal with people leaving, and also just firing people. I mean, I think this is something that, I mean, no manager signs up to do this, but sometimes you have to."
On the importance of aiming high: "I think it's really important to aim for 'world class'."

On The Tech Industry and Company Culture

On the divide in the tech industry: Orosz observed a "divide between the people who are working inside these companies [like Uber, Google, Meta] and the people who are working outside."
On the reality of working at consultancies: "Clients pay for short-term results, not for a developer to work on long-term things like reducing tech debt."
On the challenge of switching from consulting: "Working at a consultancy for too long can make the switch to... product-focused companies harder."
On the impact of interest rates: The rise in interest rates "led to less startup funding, fewer tech IPOs, and massively cut tech budgets at companies of all sizes." [4]
On the current state of developer demand: "Where there was high demand, high salaries, and ample benefits – now are layoffs, hiring freezes, and promotions so scarce that they have become exceptions." [4]
On the shift away from "shiny" tech: "While developers were in high demand, companies were forced to attract them with shiny and new tech stacks and opportunities to experiment. Now that they don't have to do that anymore, companies will turn to tried-and-tested tech stacks." [4]
On the nature of his newsletter's success: "The 'overnight success' of the newsletter was built on many years of writing."
On the value of his paid content: A reader of The Pragmatic Engineer stated, "What I've learned in just a single post increases my value as an employee at any company by more than $15 in a single month."
On his motivation for writing "The Software Engineer's Guidebook": "This book is a summary of the advice I've given to software engineers over the years – and then some more."
On the importance of integrity in his work: "In my new career, integrity is the most valuable asset I have." [8]

On Personal Learnings and Mindset

On the value of negative experiences: "Sometimes your worst experiences... at the time will turn out to be really, really big... benefits."
On the joy of learning from others: "I just I I find that life is a bit more fun when when you get to talk with people."
On embracing curiosity: He would often "sit next to a person I didn't know and say like hey I'm Gergely."
On the entrepreneurial spirit: His former manager likely saw that "there was something entrepreneurial about this this guy who was you know on the side doing you know building kind of small games blogging just like trying to figure out things."
On the importance of writing: "For Gergely, writing in the early days helped him organize and access his ideas more readily. As a result, he says his written communication with coworkers improved."
On the motivation to leave a comfortable job: His brother told him, "you're an idiot like you're you're absolutely bored."
On the non-linear path to success: He shared a list of his "previous failed startup ideas" to show that success often comes after multiple attempts. [8]
On the importance of giving back: "Once you kind of figured all this out just give it back you know be that mentor to others be that sponsor to others."
On the human element of technology: "Software design is an exercise in human relationships. So are all the other techniques we use to develop software." [7]
On staying humble and curious: "Great engineers never stop learning. There is always something new and interesting to understand and use... stay curious don't be afraid to ask questions why and how until you get answers and be humble."

Learn more:

Lessons from Gergely Orosz

On Career Development and Growth

On Software Engineering Practices

On Engineering Management and Leadership

On The Tech Industry and Company Culture

On Personal Learnings and Mindset

Written by Antoine Buteau

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