What Type Of Person Thrives In The Tech Industry, According To A Firmware Manager At Zoox

I think there are a couple of different items that I would focus on for people who typically thrive. One is people that are very hardworking and dedicated.

I've definitely worked at a lot of different companies, and I think the people that are most successful are not necessarily the smartest people. I'd rather have a less smart, hardworking person than a really smart, not hardworking person. So, I think hard work will trump intelligence a lot of the time.

Those are values that I look for and depend on in other people, so that's a huge one. Let's see here. I think always looking for opportunities too, having initiative. So, hardworking is great.

The other aspect of that is having initiative to work on things you're not necessarily told to work on, or looking for new things to explore that can create new opportunities. This also goes to looking for companies that could help you enhance your career, so that is another big item.

Finally, I kind of go back to this again: communication. I think it's one of the things that is significantly overlooked, especially from people who are earlier in their careers. I don't think there's as much focus on that, and I think that's partly because school and other forums don't set that up to be appreciated.

To understand this is a huge aspect of your career growth, job, etc. So, the sooner people start reading some books on effective communication and leadership skills, I think that will also enhance and accelerate significantly their career trajectory if they're interested in moving up quickly.