Work Hard EverywhereJob Description
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Donât Put Yourself in a Box
Personal Development and Career Growth
- Apr 26, 2024
Summary
- Companies need "boxes" (job classifications) to grow and function. This makes hiring, compensation, and career development tractable, and promotes fair treatment of employees.
- If the boxes are too large, a company can't grow. If the boxes are too small, innovation and ownership are smothered.
- The size of a company's boxes is directly proportional to the level of trust employees have for management.
- To get hired, put yourself in the box the company is hiring for. Tailor your resume to highlight those skills and experiences; put yourself out there as a âspecialistâ in the thing theyâre hiring for.
- If aiming for a promotion, demonstrate how your work embodies the behaviors and impacts of the next-level âboxâ.
- Don't let those boxes define you. Your value and identity goes far beyond any job description.
Hot Take
Businesses can't function at scale unless they put people in standardized "boxes"; if you want to be hired and to grow your career, you need to understand that, and understand how to work with those boxes. On the other hand, you can't be reduced to a box, and if you tie your identity to those boxes in your thinking, you'll limit yourself in ways that are unnatural and harmful.
This is like the paradox of Schrödinger's Cat, both alive and dead at the same time. Like with quantum mechanics and the cat, whether youâre in a box or not depends on whoâs doing the measuring: your employer, or you.
My Box Origin Story
My introduction to the idea of âboxesâ came in the late 2000s, when I noticed that people at Google were having a hard time getting hired or promoted if they were doing âoperationalâ work that didnât involve much traditional program management. Whether they were being considered for hiring or promotion, they were told, essentially, â Youâve done some great work, but itâs not...
Donât Put Yourself in a Box
Personal Development and Career Growth
- Apr 26, 2024
Summary
- Companies need "boxes" (job classifications) to grow and function. This makes hiring, compensation, and career development tractable, and promotes fair treatment of employees.
- If the boxes are too large, a company can't grow. If the boxes are too small, innovation and ownership are smothered.
- The size of a company's boxes is directly proportional to the level of trust employees have for management.
- To get hired, put yourself in the box the company is hiring for. Tailor your resume to highlight those skills and experiences; put yourself out there as a âspecialistâ in the thing theyâre hiring for.
- If aiming for a promotion, demonstrate how your work embodies the behaviors and impacts of the next-level âboxâ.
- Don't let those boxes define you. Your value and identity goes far beyond any job description.
Hot Take
Businesses can't function at scale unless they put people in standardized "boxes"; if you want to be hired and to grow your career, you need to understand that, and understand how to work with those boxes. On the other hand, you can't be reduced to a box, and if you tie your identity to those boxes in your thinking, you'll limit yourself in ways that are unnatural and harmful.
This is like the paradox of Schrödinger's Cat, both alive and dead at the same time. Like with quantum mechanics and the cat, whether youâre in a box or not depends on whoâs doing the measuring: your employer, or you.
My Box Origin Story
My introduction to the idea of âboxesâ came in the late 2000s, when I noticed that people at Google were having a hard time getting hired or promoted if they were doing âoperationalâ work that didnât involve much traditional program management. Whether they were being considered for hiring or promotion, they were told, essentially, â Youâve done some great work, but itâs not...