I spent 90% of my 30-year career in this way. What I learned over time is that you become much more self-sufficient in problem-solving and learning. Having only worked in a couple of larger companies, it was easy for some people to hide. If you were lazy, there was little incentive to learn, as you could simply ask someone else for help. However, if you're a self-starter and eager to learn independently, you may find that this trait becomes a significant asset later on. Depends how much time you are sat reading HH :) on a serious point - the other comments below are all good advice. Going to meetups, user groups etc also were very beneficial to me in the early years - sadly face to face user groups are less in vogue now since the internet took over.