Engineering is as much a psychological journey as it is a technical one.
I wrote these notes a while back to process my own ‘onboarding’ journey. After talking to peers at Microsoft and Salesforce, I realized how universal these stages are. If you’ve ever felt like an imposter while staring at 10-year-old legacy code or felt that specific ‘Alphabet Soup’ headache in your first month, this is for you.
My journey at Amazon wasn’t linear – it came in phases. Very predictable ones, in hindsight…
Here are the 5 phases of going from ‘new hire’ to ‘belonging’ in Big Tech:
1. Celebration
Yeah! The efforts paid off. I’m working for one of the biggest companies in the world. I made it. I rock.
There’s pride, relief, and a quiet validation that the grind meant something. You soak it in, because you should.
2. The Internal Fog
And then reality hits.
What are all these internal tools everyone is using? n What is this code that looks like it was written a zillion years ago? n What is this jargon everyone seems to understand effortlessly?
Every document references another document. Every meeting sounds like alphabet soup. You smile, nod, and secretly write down words to Google later. You start questioning if you’re actually as good as you thought you were.
3. Back to basics: Let’s code
At some point, frustration peaks and clarity follows.
Enough theory. Enough context gathering. I’ll do what I’m good at. n Headphones on. IDE open. I focus on code – writing it, reading it, fixing it. Code is familiar. Code doesn’t care where you came from. It’s the one place where merit still feels objective.
Things start moving again.
4. Things start to click
One day, in a meeting, I casually used a company-specific jargon. Some new folks blanked out. n I realized it about two minutes later.
That moment stuck.
A new teammate asked for my mentorship. n I started giving ideas for team projects -and they were taken seriously.
Without realizing it, I had crossed an invisible line. I wasn’t just surviving anymore. I belonged.
5. Leverage and perspective
This is where perspective shifts.
From I work in one of the biggest companies in the world, to I am a sand particle in the desert , and oddly, that’s freeing. You don’t need to own the desert; you just need to know how to navigate the dunes.
Promotion isn’t about grinding harder. It’s about zooming out. Seeing how pieces connect. Understanding impact beyond your immediate task.
What I learnt
- Everyone feels lost in the beginning , even if they don’t show it.
- Legacy code stops being scary once you stop fighting it.
- The real learning curve isn’t tech , it’s context.
- Doing what you’re good at is often the fastest way to regain confidence.
- You don’t need to know everything. You need to know where you are in the maze.
- Belonging sneaks up on you , you rarely notice it in the moment.
- Growth in big companies comes from perspective, not just execution.
Eight months in, I don’t know everything. n But I know how to navigate uncertainty, how to learn fast, and how to leverage where I am.
And that, I think, is progress.
A Note from the Future: Looking back at these notes today from my desk at Salesforce, I realize that while the companies change, the “Alphabet Soup” never truly disappears. The only thing that changes is your willingness to pick up a spoon and start eating.
If you’re currently in the middle of “Phase 2,” keep your headphones on. The ‘click’ moment is closer than it feels.
