When my teammates think of me, I want them to see someone respected/important. How can I do that?

Senior BI Engineer at Amazon3 years ago

I'm new to the team, and I want to make an impact quickly. How can I quickly gain respect of people on the team? Are there certain things I should do as I act/react to other people?

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(2 comments)

7
Ankit Jain
•Eng Manager at Meta, Principal Eng at Microsoft
3 years ago
Adding few more things you can do:

Volunteer to solve problems

Ask your manager

what is 1 thing that I can do to help you or the team in upcoming weeks?

Ask your team members:

What are the things that slow you down? It can be inefficient oncall or writing same boilerplate code etc.

Once you know these

go and fix these problems and communicate back to the team, this is one of the best ways to add value and gain respect.

"Taking initiatives" to make things better is one of the best ways to earn respect.
4
Alex Chiou
•Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
3 years ago
For me, there's 2 core things when it comes to quickly gaining respect as a senior engineer:

Showing Your Depth

As a senior engineer, you should perceive the world differently from junior/mid-level engineers. This can be looking out for more edges cases when building things. It can be from more refined non-technical behaviors like project management and leadership.

What are you proud of when it comes to your ability to do good work? Figure that out and then show that behavior as much as possible.

Be Kind

Just because you're new doesn't mean you aren't in the position to help others

You are naturally in a good position to help junior/mid-level engineers

Another way to help is to improve onboarding materials for the overall team

Related resources:

[Case Study] Becoming A Tech Lead Again In Just 1 Month After Joining Robinhood From Meta

"How can I quickly gain respect among my team as a senior engineer?"