4 ms·
> it is really hard to make a leap in improvement in technical skills. This is true, particularly, if you work full-time, and your job is not connected to the
by playing_colours 7y ago
> it is really hard to make a leap in improvement in technical skills.
This is true, particularly, if you work full-time, and your job is not connected to the subject of your passion. You will have few hours in the evening, but for a hard subject you may not have enough energy.
You can try remote work, it worked for me. Currently, my client allows 2-3 days a week of working from home, and also now I’m looking for my next place for a full remote position. I save 1.5 hours on commute, 20 mins on lunch. So I have additional time and energy to focus on maths, building things, and running.
There is an additional barrier to move into a different or more advanced field: most companies want to hire people already experienced in particular areas. It will be very hard to convince a company that you can learn fast and contribute and also that they can already benefit from your current skills and technical maturity. It looks risky for them, they may have relevant candidates, or do need such expertise right now.
Our industry love talking about fixed vs. growth mindset, how crucial is the latter. At the same time, the hiring at many companies is a vivid example of fixed mindset towards candidates: your current skills matter infinitely more than you potential. The thing is it can also be hard to convince them that you actually can acquire required knowledge fast: you know, everyone says to be a “quick learner” in their CV.
I think your situation is typical and for some people the only solution was to start their own business eventually, and outplay the system.
So, focus on improving yourself in the evening and keep trying to find your way in!
- christiansakai 7y agoOne day I do want to start my own business. Once I have some leeway in terms of finance, and maybe found a niche that I can tap to.
- cerberusss 7y agoThe easiest way is to start subcontracting. It's easier to start saving money, and sometimes, you'll hit on a project where you spot a business opportunity. For instance, you learn the ins and outs of a particular industry, and suddenly spot a niche product. I haven't made the leap yet, because I like the subcontracting so much. But I've spotted many (perceived) opportunities.
- palerdot 7y agoCan you explain a bit more about the subcontracting part leading to business opportunities ?
- cerberusss 7y agoI'll give you an example. I once did an Android app for a conference. However the data model was so generic that it basically could've been reused for any other conference. If you're motivated as such, the whole thing could very well be an excellent opportunity to sell a product, instead of one single month of subcontracting.
- playing_colours 7y agoI can try to answer from my position. 1. As a contractor, you can work on shorter term projects, so within couple of years you will be get familiar with a number of problems and situations, 2. If you are an engineer who cultivates business mindset and focus on understanding and solving clients’ problems, you will ask right questions, and be able to communicate to them how you see their situation and how you can help. Potentially, they will see you not like a coder, but like a problem solver, they will trust you more, will be more confident in your decisions, tell you more about their business, give you more work. If you focus on being a business oriented, learn a bit of marketing, product management, speak their language and terminology - in couple years, you will accumulate good understanding of problems and solutions, have connections and ideas.
- christiansakai 7y agoThis is interesting. I'll keep this in mind for the future.
- hos234 7y agoThe barriers are all in the mind. The simplest way to upgrade skills is to work with teams working on problems of interest to you, where you have to meet up with them, atleast once a week if not more. The social aspect is what drives learning. Doesn't matter if you are working full time. Find a subject that interests you THEN find/contact research labs/profs/startups working on it. Tell them you have X hours a week (for 3 or 6 months) you want to devote to it and ask them for an assignment. If you have more experience and skill than the avg grad student they employ, it's easy to find a project. I have done this with incubators, univ labs and research labs close to me. I am luckily in a large city, where once you start looking, you will find all kinds of interesting characters doing interesting things. Follow their blogs, twitter feeds and github repos. Identify where you want to contribute. Make a small bug fix or document some aspect of their code and the door opens.
- playing_colours 7y agoThis is a great comment. We need to keep questioning our internal barriers and self-limiting assumptions. Thanks for reminding!