When the folks who run our public-facing engineering blog reached out about writing a brief intro for the video attached to this post, I was mortified. I had totally forgotten about this talk and that it had been recorded. At the time, I never imagined anyone would actually watch it or that it would ever be shared on the public internet.

I don’t actually mind public speaking when it’s about the work I do. I’m not that nervous when I present strategies or OKRs to senior leadership… or when I occasionally have to inform our CEO that the Duolingo app isn’t working and nobody knows why yet.

Talking about myself, on the other hand, is deeply uncomfortable. My heart rate was so high 5 minutes before this talk that my sports watch was sending me notifications and I had to remove it. (You can tell by my awkward tan line that it almost never comes off).

I strongly considered using the AI-generated transcript from this talk in the hopes that you could read that instead of watching me struggle not to vomit in front of my skip-level manager, but I decided against it after all the polished versions felt too cold.

So here’s a recording of that talk I gave about navigating your way to your dream job. If it’s too cringe to watch, the last tip I share is:

“[Your career] is not a speedrun. Play your own quest.”

It was inspired by career advice my grandfather gave me many years ago: “Find a good job, and then find ways to make it fun.” Honestly, that’s the best career advice I’ve ever received. Looking for joy can make the unglamorous, uninteresting, and unfulfilling stepping stones in your career more tolerable.

I hope this video, as uncomfortable as it is for me to share, adds some joy to your day.

–Maggie