The Unspoken Expectations of Early-Career in Tech
Early-career professionals in the Tech industry enter the workplace eager, capable, and motivated to do good work. At the same time, they often step into an environment filled with unspoken expectations — expectations that often contain a quiet tension.
When we do not resolve the tension with either a shift in expectations or intentional employee development, we risk frustration from the employee, their manager, and the company at-large.
Here are a few examples of how the tension shows up, and what to do about it.
“Communicate Clearly” — Without Full Context
We expect early-career professionals to communicate clearly what they are delivering, when they will deliver it and what is in their way. We want this communication to be consistent, concise and confident.
At the same time, we know these employees:
Don’t yet have full organizational context
May not understand how decisions are made
Are still learning what matters most — and why
Clear communication depends on clarity of understanding. And clarity of understanding depends on access to information, as well as time.
This is where curiosity becomes essential. Not as a personality trait, but as a skill. Curiosity allows early-career professionals to ask better questions, surface assumptions, and reduce misalignment.
“Care About Your Work” — Before Seeing the Impact
We want early-career professionals to care deeply about their work.
And yet, many of them:
Haven’t interacted directly with customers
Can’t see how their work connects to outcomes
Don’t yet understand the downstream impact of their contributions
Caring is easier when you can see who you’re helping and how your work makes a difference. Nothing was more inspiring to me than working at Recursion and attending sessions where actual patients would come and share how the work we were doing was giving them hope for a better life.
When impact is invisible, caring requires imaginative effort from employees. As we make impact visible, we reduce the burden on employees to imagine their impact and replace it with motivation to perform.
“Take Ownership” — Without Real Ownership
Ownership is one of the most common expectations placed on early-career professionals, especially in the tech industry.
But ownership is often constrained:
Decisions are made elsewhere
Scope is tightly controlled
Authority is limited
This creates confusion. Is ownership about initiative? Accountability? Decision-making? Collaboration? Something else?
In this confusion, “show ownership” becomes a vague expectation rather than a learnable skill.
Other Common (and Unspoken) Tensions
These dynamics don’t stop there.
Early-career professionals are also often expected to:
Speak up — but don’t disrupt
Move fast — without making big mistakes
Be confident — but know where you need help
Ask questions — without appearing unprepared
None of these expectations are a surprise to those of us who have spent years in corporate systems and understand workplace dynamics. But when they’re left unexamined for early-career employees, they create unnecessary friction.
Why This Matters
When expectations and conditions are misaligned, early-career professionals don’t just struggle — they start to second-guess themselves. And organizations lose the value they were hoping for when they hired these emerging leaders.
These tensions aren’t signs of failure. They’re signals that foundational skills — like building trust, creating clarity, and caring intentionally — need to be named, practiced, and supported.
Supporting Early-Career Growth Intentionally
Early-career development works best when organizations:
Make expectations explicit
Acknowledge the tensions early-career professionals are navigating
Create space to practice skills before mastery is expected
This is why organizations need to invest intentionally in their early-career population. And it’s one reason why Taber Coaching created the Essentials Series — a set of focused, accessible workshops designed to help early-career professionals develop the skills they are expected to leverage in their first few months and years.
If you are a leader or HR professional thinking about how to better support your talent, this is a powerful place to start.
The most important, foundational skills at work shouldn’t be ignored or learned by accident.
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