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Ask HN: What's a “rare and valuable” skill that is not programming?
My kids (10,14,15) are all learning programming in school, which is good. It kind of makes me think in the future programming will not be as rare or as valuable as it was 20 years ago.
I want to create a list of tangible skills (with your help) I could help them develop, so they have a good future.
- EliRivers 8y agoDiplomat level negotiation and mediation. The level of skill that supports work that takes years sometimes. Some of those people can work magic.
- jgamman 8y agoBe good-ish at 2 or 3 different things - one of which is programming which has a leveraging effect on anything else you learn (just trust the default libraries). Being good-ish at 2-3 different things (as a strategy) is rare and if you're actively looking you can translate that into valuable.
- ElijahLynn 8y agoThis is good advice, programming should underlay the other skills, then learning any specialty/domain on top of that will translate into very unique, valuable skills in that new domain. The more I learn the more I see how sooooo many things are in uncharted territory, so many ideas yet to be had.
- jppope 8y agoSales. 2X more important that the rest of this list. As long as there are people and products, sales will be a valuable skill. The "Trades": Carpentry, Plumbing, Electrical. NOT just as a job... most Americans own houses... knowing these skills can save you tens of thousands, and potentially add massive value to your property. Its a great fallback in case you lose your job. Contract Negotiation/ Drafting. In the future much of our drafting work will be normal people using templates from the internet. Knowing the basics of drafting will save you a bunch of money and keep your risk levels down. A Foreign Language. If you are based in the US your top choices should be Chinese (Mandarin , Cantonese) or Spanish. Bartending/ Cooking The single fastest way to get decent income in case you lose your full time employment. PLUS I would argue culinary skills are valuable in business.
- gnulinux 8y agoCulinary skills are also very valuable for dating, socializing and can also be used for networking. Also good culinary skills can improve one's life significantly by eating better food for cheaper.
- sbinthree 8y agoThis list is excellent. Sales, programming and writing was going to be my list.
- mettamage 8y agoAbout a decent income: can't you just become a tutor?
- jppope 8y agoYes, but the market isn't as large, AND it focuses primarily on ACT/SAT prep in the US. Which is extremely seasonal. So between seasonality, plus corporate providers (Kumon, Mathnasium) you either need to be extremely specialized (Statistics) or catch it at the right time to not have your income de-stabilized.
- gamechangr 8y agoWhat is 'drafting" exactly? (like a Lawyer or more like an Architect?)
- jppope 8y agoLegal Drafting
- auganov 8y agoOutside of the last and current tech bubble programming was never that valuable. And even then and now it's constrained to a few places and a few kinds of "programmers". Nowadays crypto seems like the a space that could produce hypergrowth while being obvious and underappreciated at the same time.
- gnulinux 8y agoHow is programming not that valuable when average programmer makes $150k in US and university students from top colleges with programming can find $100k jobs straight outta college? Being good at programming is almost a for-sure way to mid to high wealth nowadays.
- auganov 8y agoWhat's your source for the average of $150k? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the median is $82k [0]. Glassdoor seems to agree [1]. Plenty of jobs in the legal and medical profession command higher salaries and provide better job security. [0] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/mobile/computer-programmers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/... [1] https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/programmer-salary-SRCH_KO0,10.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/programmer-salary-SRCH_KO...
- chefkoch 8y agoBut none of these jobs are available for people without university degree.
- gnulinux 8y agoIt's tricky. You'll see different titles like "software engineer", "backend engineer", "fullstack developer", "systems engineer" etc... who are mostly just programmers, so it's not an objective classification.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- sloaken 8y ago1) Public speaking 2) Body language 3) Basic finance - for which I recommend a no chore allowance. Make them buy all non essentials with allowance. Oh we are at a fair, you want a lemonade? Sure, with your money. Water I will give (buy) for free. Total cost is less than the cost of your 23 year old child calling and saying they need rent money or they are being thrown out. Make the amount age based, and pay them once a month. We do ours on the last Friday of the month.
- DoreenMichele 8y agoPanning for gold.
- itronitron 8y agolots of youtube videos available for self-study as I have recently discovered
- zygotic12 8y agoI'm a dad who has been struggling with this. I've come to the conclusion that 'helping' just re-enforces the 'wot do you know old person'. I've had great results from emailing things that I find fun - most of which is ignored - but every so often it sparks an interest. Fan those flames - not your own. BUT remember. EVERY child is different and YMMV on any approach. Be very adaptable. Horrid answer for us prog types I know, sorry.
- gitgud 8y agoCooking, everyone needs to eat and a good cook is popular with friends, at dinners and in the dating scene. Drawing and Writing. The ability to communicate your thoughts and ideas through sketching or typing is valuable skill of communication that most people neglect. Conveying an abstract idea effectively could get them the job or win a contract.
- mettamage 8y agoDeep concentration is a rare and valuable skill IMO, especially the ability to do that at will.
- oldsklgdfth 8y agoThe ability to explain the same thing differently to accommodate different people. I have found that tutoring really helped me develop this skill. It also forces you to figure out what doesn't make sense to the other person and clear that up as well, even if it's not part of the question. Also, sometimes people aren't even sure what they need to ask. I have worked with lots of people that know exactly what they were talking about, but couldn't convey it to the rest of the team. It can be crippling.