@childishdom: 5 career lessons I wish I knew in my early twenties (internship to Google) 1. Get your first “credible signal” early If you’re early in your career, the first goal isn’t the perfect job, it’s the first trusted name on your CV. For me, that started with an internship at Accenture. That first stamp makes everything after it easier: recruiters take you more seriously, and doors start opening faster. 2. Think in “career steps,” not “forever jobs” I didn’t stay in one place trying to climb slowly. I moved when I felt I had learned what I needed. Accenture → Meta → Airbnb wasn’t random. Each move was about: * Learning a different environment * Increasing responsibility * Raising the level I was operating at * Increasing earning potential The key is not staying vs leaving - it’s whether you’re still growing. 3. Use each job to upgrade your next one Every role should make the next opportunity easier to get. At Meta, I built experience at scale. At Airbnb, I added a different business model and stage of company. Each step wasn’t just experience - it was positioning for the next tier. If your current role doesn’t improve your next options, you’ll plateau fast. 4. Don’t treat rejection as a final answer I interviewed for Google and got rejected. That could have easily been the end of it. But in Big Tech, timing matters just as much as ability. Six months later, a recruiter reached out again - and this time it worked. The lesson: one “no” is often just “not this time.” 5. Be ready when opportunity circles back The biggest misconception is that opportunities disappear. They don’t. They come back when: * Your experience improves * A different team is hiring * Timing changes When Google came back to me, nothing about my ambition had changed, but my profile had. That’s what made the difference.

Dominik O'Callaghan

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Thursday 18 June 2026 19:20:10 GMT