4 strategies that I used to help develop my career in Uber, Amazon and Meta

• Shailesh Chauhan shares strategies that have helped him increase his career growth between large technological companies.
• It emphasizes the fact of saying no to your managers and to resist the desire to show how much you know.
• Overcommunication is crucial in mid -rate environments to ensure alignment and clarity.

This also told test is based on a conversation with Shailesh Chauhan, product manager at Meta in the Bay region. It was published for duration and clarity. Business Insider has checked its employment history.

I started my career in civil engineering in India and moved to the United States for a master’s degree in the same field. By studying at the University of Illinois in 2011, I realized that software led a large part of innovation, and I wanted a career in technology.

I started to take coding lessons and I built my skills to the point that I was hired as the first product manager in a small startup in the bay region. I spent five years at the startup of analysis software and I saw it go from a company of 10 to one of the more than 1,000 employees.

I left the startup in 2018 and I joined Uber as a product manager the same year. Two years later, I moved to Amazon and worked as a product manager for Amazon Web Services. In 2022, I gave a career in Meta, where I work as a leader in the automatic learning product.

Four strategies helped me change industries and evolve my career:

1. Learn to say no

To say no is extremely difficult, especially as a junior employee. You tend to overload yourself, which can be a risk for your reputation if you are overproster and then subdisque because you have taken too much.

The refusal of certain requests can bring you more respect for your managers. This demonstrates maturity and strategic thinking because you do not allow yourself or your team to spend time on a random thing that has launched you.

I consider that my work to think about the greatest opportunities for me and what I mean yes. This allows me to discover time for important projects and save time from my team.

One way to tackle it is to ask for counter-question on the question of whether what your manager is asking for the final product or the team. Another way is to list the tasks you think you are important and have a high impact and ask your manager: “Hey, I understand that it can be important, but how do you think about it relatively?” Now you can’t say graciously.

2. Be the most stupid person in the room

This is a strategy that I learned for the first time in the startup I worked with, where I was surrounded by high leaders of Google. I was the first person hired in the product team, and I felt pressure to project what I knew about our product. But I found it more useful to listen carefully to get a complete image of the company and the product so as not to fight on things in which I do not really believe.

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Since then, I have found it useful to play the “stupid card” and ask as many questions as possible, focusing on questions that discover information for other people. It is tempting to show that you are well informed and that you have experience, but it should come from your work, not from your words.

At the start of your career, being silent can be difficult because you feel the need to fulfill the silent moments of meetings and head-on. It is normal to kiss silence instead of saying something redundant. Listening carefully helps you bring new ideas, which helps you prioritize your long -term career development during short -term victories during this meeting.

3. Focus on relationships beyond work

I focus on establishing personal relationships with the people with whom I work, because good relationships go beyond the limits of the company and the country. In addition, I do my best when I am surrounded by people with whom I trust and I like to work.

I wonder if someone I work with would like to work with me when he leaves the company. If the answer is no, I try to work on this relationship so that it lasts beyond our daily work.

4. Over-communication is essential

Sometimes people feel that they shouldn’t repeat themselves after pointing out. But I think that moreommunication is a functionality and not a bug, especially in rapidly evolving environments where there are so many people and priorities, all operating on several time zones.

So, even when I feel like I may seem redundant, I choose to repeat myself because there is always one or two people who are missing a message you send. I use different channels and I make sure everyone understands me and is on the same wavelength.