5 ms·
There are 2 kinds of knowledge, e.g. “knowing python” and “knowing how we do things at company X”. As you get more senior the second kind takes over - but it is
by gaius 8y ago
There are 2 kinds of knowledge, e.g. “knowing python” and “knowing how we do things at company X”. As you get more senior the second kind takes over - but it is worthless outside company X. Always keep the first kind of knowledge sharp.
- yitchelle 8y agoNo so true. The senior would ask know the answer to "python can be use in this way to solve x but here are the limitations of that solution, maybe we close those limitations with Ruby".
- gaius 8y agoA true senior isn’t even really thinking in terms of specific languages any more and if they were their knowledge is a decade old. They have been doing company-specific things for too long. Haggling over language minutiae is the hallmark of a junior no matter how many years experience they have. Especially considering how very, very similar Python and Ruby are...
- ido 8y agoI certainly find I also learn a lot more about people, management, conflict resolution, prioritisation, and many more "timeless" skills (more timeless than python, anyway) the further I get in my career (currently 17 years in).
- damontal 8y agoThere are other transferable skills like working with finance and budgeting, security and architectural reviews, GDPR/privacy impact assessments, scaling, planning, estimating effort ...
- P_I_Staker 8y agoThis is a great way of putting things, and much more useful than the article. It's easy to become institutionalized, you become more useful to the company, however you're less useful generally. This is not a good tradeoff for the employee, even though it seems like you're moving up.