8. Progressing Your Career

Getting your first internship is a major win. Landing your first full-time job is even bigger. But the journey doesn’t stop there—and if you want a fulfilling and successful career in tech, you need to think beyond just “getting hired.”

Chapter 8 is all about what comes after the first “yes.”

Whether you're preparing for your first internship, applying for your first full-time role, or thinking about how to grow into a senior engineer, this chapter will help you navigate the next steps in your career.

This is not a linear process—each stage of your career comes with different goals, different strategies, and different questions. The key is to treat your internships, jobs, and projects not as endpoints, but as stepping stones.

A successful career doesn’t just happen. It’s built over time, through deliberate choices and a focus on long-term growth.

Many students and early-career developers spend too much time focused on short-term wins—passing interviews, shipping features, collecting job titles—without thinking about how those choices shape their trajectory.