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> Don’t get too comfortable. Don’t get locked into a language. Don’t burn bridges for short term gain. Keep your tools sharp. Learn soft skills. Build an audien

by mkr-hn 13y ago

> Don’t get too comfortable. Don’t get locked into a language. Don’t burn bridges for short term gain. Keep your tools sharp. Learn soft skills. Build an audience. Save some money. Network. Read. This is great advice. The big issue with the rust belt is that building cars was all car builders knew how to do. Most didn't have the sustained practice with learning new things to adapt to a changing environment. I wouldn't keep it to programming languages and technologies, or even auxiliary skills like marketing and advertising. Keep your mind sharp with as much depth in as many different topics as you can stand.

tluyben2 13y ago
This is a problem with most professions though; most people feel they learnt something (in or outside of the educational system) for years and they are automatically entitled to a job for life. As a programmer I try to have enough hobbies which can be used to make money; making/selling icecream (made enough with that this summer for 7 month of living including the working months), making/selling beer, making/selling cheese, welding, creating little RVs out of normal vans, electronics... And that is next to me not seeing anyone 'hacking a bit of WP' replacing any but mediocre coders anyway.
jakejake 13y ago
I agree this is great advice to keep your skills sharp. But, as far as auto worker and programmers being the same, I totally disagree. My hometown is a factory town and, actually, one of the few auto plants in the area that didn't get shut down or moved to Mexico. The average plant worker (I know many, many of them - most of my high-school class in fact) is someone who may or may not have finished high school. They have no job skills except a very specific skill for their particular station on an assembly line. They hate their jobs and they don't generally spend any time trying to learn anything new. I don't say this to judge or criticize because it's their life, they make a decent wage (a fantastic wage, in fact) and it doesn't matter to me what they choose to do. But, I do see them as being at extremely high risk of losing their comfortable lifestyle because if the factory were to ever get shut - they would be completely unable to get a job at their salary level. They are totally dependent on the factory and their skill is completely worthless anywhere else. This is nothing like any programmer I know. You can't get decent at programming with this mentality and you can't remain a decent programmer without continuing to learn new techniques. Most programmers that I know tend to always be curious and want to learn more. Although some of them don't want to take their work home, at least they like to learn new ways to be more efficient. I would liken programmers more to a mechanic or a carpenter. It's a more general skill that you can take with you from one place to another. I think the value may go down if more people go into it, but the industry is not as likely to cave in so fast as it did for unskilled plant workers.

by mkr-hn 13y ago

tluyben2 13y ago

This is a problem with most professions though; most people feel they learnt something (in or outside of the educational system) for years and they are automatically entitled to a job for life. As a programmer I try to have enough hobbies which can be used to make money; making/selling icecream (made enough with that this summer for 7 month of living including the working months), making/selling beer, making/selling cheese, welding, creating little RVs out of normal vans, electronics... And that is next to me not seeing anyone 'hacking a bit of WP' replacing any but mediocre coders anyway.

jakejake 13y ago

I agree this is great advice to keep your skills sharp. But, as far as auto worker and programmers being the same, I totally disagree. My hometown is a factory town and, actually, one of the few auto plants in the area that didn't get shut down or moved to Mexico. The average plant worker (I know many, many of them - most of my high-school class in fact) is someone who may or may not have finished high school. They have no job skills except a very specific skill for their particular station on an assembly line. They hate their jobs and they don't generally spend any time trying to learn anything new. I don't say this to judge or criticize because it's their life, they make a decent wage (a fantastic wage, in fact) and it doesn't matter to me what they choose to do. But, I do see them as being at extremely high risk of losing their comfortable lifestyle because if the factory were to ever get shut - they would be completely unable to get a job at their salary level. They are totally dependent on the factory and their skill is completely worthless anywhere else. This is nothing like any programmer I know. You can't get decent at programming with this mentality and you can't remain a decent programmer without continuing to learn new techniques. Most programmers that I know tend to always be curious and want to learn more. Although some of them don't want to take their work home, at least they like to learn new ways to be more efficient. I would liken programmers more to a mechanic or a carpenter. It's a more general skill that you can take with you from one place to another. I think the value may go down if more people go into it, but the industry is not as likely to cave in so fast as it did for unskilled plant workers.