Skills Update Time, Again
Over the last couple of years I’ve been contracting with the same firm, and my time there is now coming to an end. As with any job there have been highs are lows. I’ve had a fairly free reign and been able to add some value to their process and design approaches in addition to the software they produce.
The firm has always been a ‘late adopter’ of new technologies. This presents an interesting problem for a contractor. How can you keep your skills up to date when the main portion of your day is taken up working with older technologies?
Programming for me comes with a genuine interest and a life long journey of learning. In an attempt to share some of things I use to keep my skills up to date I have tried to categorise the approach I take on this journey of learning with the following five A’s:
· Awareness: Determine Your Destination
o What are your interests, what is in demand, what will pay the bills
o Find out the latest trends, via seminars, conferences, job sites, etc.
o What do you want, when do you want it, where are you starting from, what obstacles are in your way, what information do you need, who can help.
o The chosen destination is different and specific for every individual
· Ascertain: How To Get There
o Knowing how to find the answer is important
o Courses, training, books, self study, the Internet, work colleagues
o Choosing what books to read, and even which part of the books to read
o Speed/skim reading, note taking, comprehension
o Balancing your work load, learning multiple skills simultaneously
o Managing your time, and keeping an eye on your work/life balance
· Attitude: The Mental Strength To Get You There
o We all have some skills that we were just good at, i.e. ‘inborn skills’
o We also have skills we have learnt over time, i.e. ‘acquired skills’
o Attitude is something we all posses in varying degrees, but its importance should not be underestimated.
o Using the above definitions, I use the following equation to define productivity: Attitude * (inborn skills + acquired skills) = Productivity
o Thus, you can have expert skills, but if your attitude stinks so will your productivity. If your skills are average and your attitude is good, your productivity follows.
o Never consider the possibility of failure, get your teeth into it.
· Application: Making The Journey
o Factual knowledge without the wisdom of application is useless. You can learn all the skills, but without practical application they shall soon fade.
o If unable to exercise your skills in your day job consider side projects, open source work. Application is key.
o You only really learn when you’re making mistakes. Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement.
· Accreditation: A Reminder Of Your Journey
o Not mandatory, but can provide potential employers a view of where you’ve been.
o Gets your foot in the door at interview time, but its your experiences that get you the rest of the way
o Certification should ensure a certain level of proficiency, but is tarnished in this industry from certification without the experience.
When embarking on your new journey to update your skills to the latest market trends remember not to underestimate the power of your current and older skills. Knowledge of the more mature technologies is a good thing and there are still may applications out there built on them.
Good Luck.
