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Follow up: where can you do best based purely on technical/design/product skills? Freelance/consulting?

philipov 7y ago
Nowhere. With Freelancing/consulting, you're just playing -their- office politics rather than your own. There is no place in society that allows you to avoid developing interpersonal skills.
- GhettoMaestro 7y ago
  Cut throat truth. Thanks for posting.
- nine_k 7y ago
  This us true. But different occupations need a different amount of interpersonal skills: a CEO or TV host need more, while a surgeon or a fighter jet pilot need somehow less. It all depends on where you want to end up.
  - internet_user 7y ago
    Not entirely true. Pathology or radiology has nearly zero interaction with patients, and they bill quite high. You could probably coast along in surgery as well on almost zero interpersonal skills.
    - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
      My eye doctor doesn't have great interpersonal skills. He made me feel like I was wasting his time when I asked a question. He always answered them, though, and he did cataract surgery really well. I wasn't paying him for his interpersonal skills.
  - adamsea 7y ago
    Every profession also has its own social / cultural norms, regardless of the general level of interpersonal skill / communication skills / emotional intelligence (they all overlap) needed to succeed in that work environment. If by nature and nature you are in line with said norms, that’s one thing. If you’re not (which isn’t a good or bad thing, just is) then you’ll probably need more of those aforementioned interpersonal skills than someone who “fits the profile” (especially when the profile is maybe not even a deliberate thing that people are aware of), so to speak. Truth be told learning to develop more interpersonal skills is a _plus_. It’s so valuable in life in general, well beyond the workplace.
- finneganscat 7y ago
  So as a person with Aspergers and severe social deficits, what would you suggest? I have advanced programming skills, degrees in Computer Science and Physics. Employed in aerospace as software engineer for 7 years, burned out socially. Now, can’t connect with a single hiring manager. My life feels over. I want to just work. I hate socializing because I am terrible at it.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
mathdev 7y ago
I guess running a bootstrapped (small) online business with low touch sales.
internet_user 7y ago
Medicine. Unfortunately, it involves very little programming, but it does requires quite a bit of skill. You can go very far on essentially zero interpersonal skills, especially if you specialize in pathology or radiology.
mdorazio 7y ago
Probably joining (not starting!) an early stage startup where significant politics haven't developed yet and the focus is on getting to market (less than 25 people). I would say that freelance/consulting is a somewhat poor choice since self-promotion and networking are fairly mandatory to keep your client pipeline full and get your rates up.

Nowhere. With Freelancing/consulting, you're just playing -their- office politics rather than your own. There is no place in society that allows you to avoid developing interpersonal skills.

GhettoMaestro 7y ago
Cut throat truth. Thanks for posting.
nine_k 7y ago
This us true. But different occupations need a different amount of interpersonal skills: a CEO or TV host need more, while a surgeon or a fighter jet pilot need somehow less. It all depends on where you want to end up.
- internet_user 7y ago
  Not entirely true. Pathology or radiology has nearly zero interaction with patients, and they bill quite high. You could probably coast along in surgery as well on almost zero interpersonal skills.
  - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
    My eye doctor doesn't have great interpersonal skills. He made me feel like I was wasting his time when I asked a question. He always answered them, though, and he did cataract surgery really well. I wasn't paying him for his interpersonal skills.
- adamsea 7y ago
  Every profession also has its own social / cultural norms, regardless of the general level of interpersonal skill / communication skills / emotional intelligence (they all overlap) needed to succeed in that work environment. If by nature and nature you are in line with said norms, that’s one thing. If you’re not (which isn’t a good or bad thing, just is) then you’ll probably need more of those aforementioned interpersonal skills than someone who “fits the profile” (especially when the profile is maybe not even a deliberate thing that people are aware of), so to speak. Truth be told learning to develop more interpersonal skills is a _plus_. It’s so valuable in life in general, well beyond the workplace.
finneganscat 7y ago
So as a person with Aspergers and severe social deficits, what would you suggest? I have advanced programming skills, degrees in Computer Science and Physics. Employed in aerospace as software engineer for 7 years, burned out socially. Now, can’t connect with a single hiring manager. My life feels over. I want to just work. I hate socializing because I am terrible at it.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

mathdev 7y ago

I guess running a bootstrapped (small) online business with low touch sales.

internet_user 7y ago

Medicine. Unfortunately, it involves very little programming, but it does requires quite a bit of skill. You can go very far on essentially zero interpersonal skills, especially if you specialize in pathology or radiology.

mdorazio 7y ago

Probably joining (not starting!) an early stage startup where significant politics haven't developed yet and the focus is on getting to market (less than 25 people). I would say that freelance/consulting is a somewhat poor choice since self-promotion and networking are fairly mandatory to keep your client pipeline full and get your rates up.