💰 Mastering Your First 90 Days in Tech
Helping ambitious engineers go from job seeker to standout hire.
Are you looking for a Job or landed in your new role recently? Then this post is for you. Irrespective what your situation the below 4 Secret pillars are gonna help you in your career. The earlier you know it’s better for you.
📩 You Finally Landed the Job — What Now?
You’ve been grinding for weeks—maybe months.
Resume: polished.
Interviews: nailed.
Offer: signed.
You popped some champagne 🍾, updated your LinkedIn, and finally breathed.
But then the panic hits:
“How do I make sure I don’t fumble this opportunity?”
Let’s be honest—getting the job is only half the game.
What separates the good from the great is how you ramp up and establish your value in the first 90 days.
💥 The Job Hunter’s Guide to Ramp Like a Pro
Whether you’re stepping into your first tech job or your fifth, here are the 4 pillars that will fast-track your success from day one.
🚀 Pillar 1: Learn the Big Picture First
Don’t just learn the code. Learn the business.
Too many engineers hyper-focus on repo structure, CI/CD, and ticket workflows.
But hiring managers want to see that you get the why behind the what.
Ask these during onboarding:
What does our team drive for the business?
Are we saving money, making money, or keeping systems alive?
Why are we investing in this product now?
📌 Job hunter tip: Ask these same questions in your final interviews. It shows you think long-term.
🛠️ Pillar 2: Build Credibility with Small Wins
Don’t shoot for architectural glory on Day 3. You don’t need to launch a feature to stand out.
Fix:
Outdated docs
Slow CI jobs
Tiny UX annoyances
These paper cuts have been irritating the team for months. You solve one = instant respect.
🎯 Even before you join: Ask in interviews:
“What are some small but painful bugs or inefficiencies the team’s been tolerating?”
It shows empathy and initiative. Two traits everyone wants in a teammate.
🤝 Pillar 3: Clarify Expectations Early — Then Exceed Them
Ask your new manager:
“What does success look like at 30, 60, 90 days?”
“Who should I build strong relationships with?”
“What’s one thing previous hires did well during onboarding?”
Then don’t just follow the plan. Own it. Expand it.
Notice missing monitoring? Write a proposal.
No onboarding guide? Draft a version.
🎯 Before you join: Ask,
“What support do new hires typically receive during onboarding?”
It signals that you’re planning your own success.
🌐 Pillar 4: Build Your Network, Not Just Your Terminal History
You can't ship software without people. Period.
Meet:
PMs for product context
Designers for user empathy
Data/DevOps for visibility into dependencies
Support reps for customer pain points
Ask every new person:
“What do you wish someone told you when you joined?”
“Who else should I talk to?”
📌 Pro move: During the interview process, try to meet 1 cross-functional stakeholder. It shows leadership-level thinking.
🚫 What Not to Do After Getting the Job
🔻 Perfectionism: Waiting to “understand everything” before contributing.
🔻 Hero mode: Proposing a redesign of the architecture in Week 1.
🔻 Hiding: Hoping to figure it all out alone.
🔻 Judging: Assuming decisions are dumb without asking why.
🧠 Subtle Power Moves While Ramping
📓 Keep a glossary of acronyms, tools, and systems
📈 Reflect weekly: What am I learning? What’s still fuzzy?
💬 Match the team’s style (Slack vs Notion vs meetings)
🧐 Ask thoughtful questions, not lazy ones:
“I saw X and Y in the code/docs, but Z still feels unclear. Am I missing something?”
✅ TL;DR: How to Be the New Hire Everyone Wants to Work With
Start with business understanding, not just code
Earn trust through real, useful contributions
Take initiative early, and make gaps disappear
Connect with people across functions, not just in engineering
Avoid early-career traps like hero syndrome or perfection paralysis
This is your momentum window. Nail it, and you’ll ride that wave for the rest of your tenure (and possibly your next role too).
🧭 Your Job-Hunting Action Plan
Before you accept an offer
☐ Ask what the first 30/60/90 days look like
☐ Ask what past new hires did right (or wrong)
☐ Ask who you’ll work with outside your team
☐ Ask how your team impacts the bottom line
After you start
☐ Deliver 1 unsexy but high-value fix
☐ Propose a helpful doc, dashboard, or checklist
☐ Book 5 intro chats across the org
☐ Keep a ramp-up log to track learnings and questions
🗳️ Your Turn
This newsletter is your invitation to collaborate with me, contribute to Recode Hive, and even get a chance to sponsor the project if it aligns with your goals or mission. Let’s co-create something impactful for the tech community 💡
📬 If this helped you, forward it to a fellow job hunter or new Joinee.
📈 More playbooks like this at RecodeHive.com
💬 Want us to cover resume teardown? Live coding prep? Emotional burnout?
Until next week,
— Sanjay @ RecodeHive
👀 PS: New podcast drops next week — Deep Dive into Product-Savvy Engineering
📚 Plus, short quizzes to boost your retention and confidence.
Really need this right now