Career Advice

Sometimes Quora gives fantastic career advice - it has even got me to stay put for now.

The answer below was for the question: a startup or Microsoft? But really, it can be applied to any big name companies I think I will start looking at the list of what else I can learn to do on their dime while I'm still at this company. :)

So far, I have:
- Honed my writing skills (but still far from where I want to be)
- Learned how to bring the right people together to change processes.
- To consolidate data and spot trends to provide effective feedback
- Developed phone skills - English and Mandarin.
- Picked up sufficient Business Japanese.
- Got started off in stocks and finance.
- Acquired one amazing mentor, and several wonderful friends.

====================
1. Fail and educate yourself on Microsofts dime. Don't just be a corporate drone. Work your tail off. Learn shit. Try crazy things... even if you don't get permission to do so at Microsoft. See what sticks. At Microsoft I managed my career as if management were my VCs. 

• I used their "funding" to work on cool stuff that I wanted to learn.
• I learned how to manage people (and fail at managing people) without having to pay them myself.
• I got to travel and go to conferences to learn about other industries and companies.
• I made connections I would have never made going cold into the startup space.
• I learned what it took to build big, ambitious, software that's used by millions.
• I learned how to interview people.
• I learned how to bring on contractors and leverage them for short term projects.
• I learned how to work with international teams as part of shipping software and support.
• I met several great mentors that have been in and out of startups as well as big companies that continue to provide me with great advice today.