Career regrets: 10 tech workers share what they wish they'd done differently

In a fast-paced, highly competitive tech industry, it is not uncommon for professionals to second-guess their career decisions. Business Insider spoke with ten tech workers from companies such as Amazon, Google, and Meta, asking them to share their biggest career regrets. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Mike Kostersitz, a senior director, product management at Nike, expressed regret over not leaving his longtime employer sooner. Despite working at Microsoft for 31 years, Kostersitz stayed loyal to the company even as the job market and industry changed around him. He wishes he had started testing the market before being laid off and learned the hard way that loyalty is not always reciprocated.

This software engineer at Meta regretted not sticking with machine learning when he had the chance in 2019 and 2020. Building machine learning models at an edtech startup, he felt confident about the direction the field was heading. However, he chose to focus on systems and infrastructure in graduate school, believing it was the safer, more rigorous path. Looking back, he wonders what his alternative career path would have looked like.

Nikhil Singh, a data scientist at Amazon, wishes he had built a professional reputation beyond his employer sooner. Over a decade working at Amazon, Singh made significant contributions to product development but refrained from sharing his learnings publicly. Had he started writing, speaking, or collaborating with others earlier, he believes he would have built a stronger professional identity and stronger body of public work.

This software engineer at a startup, in her 20s, had no major career regrets. Instead, she mentioned a few small moments she would handle differently. During early meetings, she became emotional, and with more experience, she would approach such situations differently today. Additionally, she worked in an environment where concerns about a manager's inappropriate behavior toward female colleagues were not effectively addressed. She wishes she had documented her observations more thoroughly.

Sachin Jain, a data analyst at Google, regrets the timing and location of his master's degree. As an international student, he came to the U.S. during a period of significant policy shifts and one of the toughest tech hiring markets in years. In hindsight, he wishes he had chosen a university more closely connected to a major tech ecosystem like Silicon Valley. Being closer to the industry's concentration would have provided him more opportunities for networking, internships, and serendipitous connections.