For experienced devs, were you put on PIP early in your career? How did you bounce back from it to stay in the industry?

All the advice I've ever heard is to start looking for a new job if you're out on a pip. I don't know how well that advice tracks if severance is on the table though.

I will say this though, there is no harm in looking. Ever.

Don't sweat looking around in more traditional companies. There are a LOT of big tech and big 4 refugees that chose family over work.

Can someone explain what pip is, I am assuming its not the python package manager, and I am not getting the meaning from context.

Unfortunately, you're also entering into big tech at a time when most big tech companies are laying people off. It's going to be a highly competitive time.

Personally, I'd follow the process, put my nose to the grindstone, and work hard to improve. It's about all you can do, since you're playing in their sandbox. Don't take your paycheck for granted, put money away for a rainy day.

If anything does happen (and I'm not going to sugar coat it, the PIP is definitely the first step out the door), remember that not everyone is a fit for every job, but it doesn't mean you're not going to be able to do tech work. It might just mean you need to find a less competitive job outside of the highly competitive big tech field.

My first job wasn't a good fit for me. I'm a doer, and that job was about planning things that might never get done ever. I'd just put a plan together and they'd tell me to put it on the shelf and start on the next one. Spent a lot more time on reddit than I'd like to admit, I found it hard to get motivated. My next job was much more immediate, things I did would be rolled out immediately once testing was successful. I found that it was a much better fit for me, and I did very well in that job.

I wasn't PIP'ed but I was fired once early on I was put on projects I really shouldn't have tried my best but it wasn't enough

it hurt a lot at the time but I moved on and almost two decades later i'm now a 'top performer' and have successfully worked on many well known products

my advice is just to keep going in a few years you likely won't even remember this job

Maybe look for a job that is a bit more chill, there is sometimes times in life when the "grind grind grind" mindset some have doesn‘t work. I had one such time when I was just starting out and it was like hell to push myself to be as good as the company demanded. I didn‘t have a PIP, but a lot of criticism of my work which made me feel inadequate.

I ended up throwing in the towel, relief set in pretty much immediately. I managed to deal with my personal issues better once I had more time and then I found a company which was happy to accommodate when it came to mental health or work life balance and help me improve in a way that was less damaging to my self esteem.

Nowadays, I‘m so choosy I end up pretty much sorting out anyone who seems like my 1st company by mentioning work life balance and some other things considered red flags.

One caveat: I‘ll never be as rich as those who do grind grind grind, but I don‘t need to tbh.

If you are this early career and the company is still paying you, PIP or no PIP, it's very likely that they want you to succeed. Question your assumptions and make sure you really understand the feedback they are giving you. Don't put in extraordinary hours (you want to have clear judgement, get plenty of sleep) but look for every resource, mentors, books, ask for help, and focus on doing your best. This will put you in the best possible light no matter what happens.

There are a lot of different companies out there each with a different culture. One of them might be a better fit.

...PIP?

I was on a PIP early on, and i was also in a low place in my life. The managers were thoroughly well-intentioned, though, and i bounced back, eventually becoming the goto for technical questions in our department, after the team grew a year later. It was a nice place to work. Eventually i quit for something i preferred.

My advice is don't sweat it, put in the work, and try to gauge your managers' intent. Chances are, they are really trying to improve your situation.

At the point where I had ~5 years of experience I was put on a variation of PIP for being overly negative about a (new) project's direction and feeling that our efforts were very misguided. My manager provided some training items on soft skills, then I left the company a few months later of my own volition. While I still feel that the project was fundamentally flawed, and last I had heard it was scrapped shortly after I left, I do get the sentiment and have used it to at least better gauge when/where to critique and try to provide insights going forward.

I was on a PIP early on - was a terrible fit with the team I was on at the time. I moved on to other jobs and did wonderfully in other environments. You can get through this, start looking around and remember that you can interview the company when you are interviewing. You can take the time to find something that works for you, and that you work well for.

I recently came out of a pre-PiP. It took some work but most of the heavy lifting was just listening to and actioning on advice. It was also a culture that used this quite frequently for course correction and usually tries to avoid PIP'ing when possible.

That said once on a PIP the advice even at that company was to look elsewhere generally. I currently have 3 YOE if that helps, and the pre-PIP was fairly early in my on-boarding.

Many big tech companies have mentorship programs where you can connect with someone outside your team. I think it's worth looking at whether your company has such a thing. Sometimes the mentor can see and resolve issues from an outside perspective which may have been missed for the employee or manager.

Some really good advice in this thread already. I'm a manager and have administered a few PIPs but at a much smaller company than "Big Tech". Some have been successful(the individual completed the PIP and stayed at the company) and not(employee did not complete PIP and left the company).

Both sentiments in this thread can be true, a PIP is a first step in firing and it is also a way to get underperformers to stay in the company. I never wanted to fire anyone, but I also wanted to make sure my ass was covered if I had to.

Big Tech isn't for everyone. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't work out. Sometimes the team, or project, or company and you aren't meant to be.