A 25-Year Career Retrospective 🔍

Nicola's reflections on what he could have done better in his career

This piece has been written by

Nicola Ballotta

, Director of Engineering at Namecheap, with whom I run Refactoring and Hybrid Hacker. Nicola has 25+ years of experience in tech, and recently wrote a full, honest retrospective of his own career 👇

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Hey, Nicola here! A while ago, as it often happens, I found myself lying awake in bed at 4 AM, and I started reflecting on my career and what I might have done differently if I could go back 25 years to when I was 18.

I woke up at 5:30 AM, took some notes, and over the following days, I decided to transform them into this essay.

I often engage in this kind of retrospective, not because I am unhappy with where I am today, but to identify what still needs to be improved in my personal life and career.

While I don’t regret much of what I’ve done, I thought others who are considering a career in engineering, or who are already pursuing one, might find this helpful or at least inspiring.

So, for your convenience, I have divided everything into categories, and here is what I will cover:

• 🧠 Mindset — procrastination, competition, and journaling.

• 📚 Learning — education and reading.

• 👨‍💼 Career planning — being intentional on your career + coding more.

• 🗣️ Public exposure — public speaking + writing.

• ⚖️ Work-life balance — about (not) going all-in, and physical health.

• 🌐 Mentorship and networking — finding others on my journey.

Let’s dive in!