I'm also a bit older and have had a 10 year academic career followed by 10 years of software contracting. The biggest difference between academia and current we

I'm also a bit older and have had a 10 year academic career followed by 10 years of software contracting. The biggest difference between academia and current web development - not sure of "other" software development like embedded code, systems languages - that in academia: 0. you went to school, did some homework (not that it's all so useful, but at least you have a background in what you are doing, and a common denominator / language with your peers) 1. before you start something new, you do a thorough review, or read a lot of review papers, so you do know what was done before and why 2. you do get mentorship, even if Phd students / postdocs often complain about the lack of it. But directly or indirectly you do test your ideas on people who know more and who have been there longer 3. you start to send preliminary workshop / conference papers for review, and also funding applications 4. at this point you at least know why SQL - or whatever else - is there, and in some cases you might even learn some humility I guess my conclusions are trivial. Many of us have amazing technical skill but our education and experience is not on par. It results in a lot of waste, of time and quality.