Cover image by Rachel McDermott
Highlight
Here are some of the tips I wish I knew earlier.
Many of these things I still use and apply.
Here are the tips:
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Learning how to learn – Figure out your style
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Self Advocacy – Do a great job, then tell others about it
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Negotiating compensation – Itโs difficult but try to always negotiate
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Going beyond your bubble – See, and think beyond just what you are doing right now
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Gain clarity – Know where you are going
Letโs go through them in more details ๐
Learning how to learn
Photo by Tim Mossholder
If there is one thing that is common for ALL people working in the tech industry, its this โ You are learning ALL the time.
If that is the case, you should try to figure out how to learn best.
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Do you learn best reading, writing, through diagrams/images or watching videos ?
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What are ways I can myself on track ? and motivated to learn ?
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How do I design my learning so I find the balance between being over challenged or under challenged ?
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How do I track my learning ? (Hint: Use Notion or Trello)
๐ก Tip
The goal should be to get to point where you can systemize your learning and make this into a process.
That way, the more you improve this process, the better you learn.
Resources:
- Programmerโs pyramid By Amy Haddad
- Motivation: The Scientific Guide on How to Get and Stay Motivated
Prioritization
Learn how to prioritize your task.
Even better, learn how to prioritize it for impact.
๐ก Tip:
What does impact mean ?
Impact to me means how can I get the most value with what I am working with, and with the time I can put in.
Donโt come up with 5 or 10 or 20 items. Come up with one thing.
Once you do that, just do that one thing.
Every week or month, try to slot your tasks into the โEisenhower Matrix or Boxโ.
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Sahil Bloom@sahilbloom
Use the Eisenhower Matrix to categorize your current tasks.The Goal: Spend more time on the important tasks that contribute to your long-term values and goals.
In simple terms:
โข Manage top-right
โข Spend more time in top-left
โข Waste less time in the bottom half13:08 PM – 12 Jan 2023
Reflect and review the tasks in each category.
Then set goals to move towards โImportantโ tasks.
This is a continual process.
Resources:
- How to be More Productive and Eliminate Time Wasting Activities by Using the โEisenhower Boxโ – James Clear
- The ultimate productivity tool – Sahil Bloom
Self Advocacy
Unfortunately, itโs not enough to do a great job or work.
Beyond just doing the work, you must also advocate for yourself.
Tell people about what you did, and how it adds value.
Communicate the value of the work, and value you bring to the table.
Career advancement tip:Your job isn’t JUST to do the work.
Your job isn’t JUST to do the work well.
Part of your job is ALSO to make sure others know what you did. (+why it makes things better for your customer and team)
00:14 AM – 20 Jan 2022
๐ก Tip:
It doesnโt have to be shameless or โslimeyโ, if you actually did the work, and delivered on it then donโt be afraid to talk about it.
Resources:
Negotiating compensation
Letโs be honest… no one teaches this.
There is no class for this.
Would this help your career ? Yes, you bet it would.
A lot of people like to tell you: โwe have a salary range hereโ.
Thatโs just code name for we want to pay you the minimum amount.
Get paid for what your worth.
Here are some resources:
Going beyond your bubble
Most people like to say โ learn a new programming language or a new framework every year.
This is great but you have to realize the goal of a developer or programmer is not to code.
The goal is to provide value through your work, and often times that does include coding.
Louie Bacaj@lbacaj
4/ You are there to add value first.All the code you wrote will end up in the recycling bin of some computer if it does not add value directly or indirectly to the business.
It doesn’t matter how pretty your code is or how much you love it if it doesn’t add value.
05:46 AM – 04 Jan 2022
Try to read up on how the software you build adds value or provide value to the end-user.
Do you work on a marketing site that sells shoes ? or plant fertilizer ?
- Read a little bit about marketing, conversions or analytics
- Read a little bit about the shoes & the plant fertilizer
- Ask someone from another team questions about these things
- Read some reviews online, and see what people are talking about
Donโt just be a โcoderโ, be a problem solver, no matter the problem, solve it.
Resources:
Gain clarity
Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski
If you ask most people where do you want to be in 5 years ? in 10 years ?
Guess what is the most common answer ? I donโt know or I am not sure.
โIf you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take.โ – Lewis Carroll
Gaining clarity allows you to move in the direction you want to go.
In the future, do you want to work as data scientist ? frontend ? backend ? graphic design ? content creator ? or whatever else
The thing is you wonโt know exactly where you want to go but you should have a vague idea of where you want to go.
Itโs better than not knowing at all.
Just know that this direction will change and evolve as you start moving towards it, and thatโs ok.
Being in motion is better than standing still in a fast moving world.
Conclusion
Thatโs it!
If you found this helpful, please help someone else by sharing it or tagging someone in the comments!
Thanks! โค๏ธ๐