2019 is going to be my year. My biggest goal is to get my first serious software engineering position. While it’s great to have a goal like this, it’s even better to have a plan that’s laid out with realistic steps on how to get there. With this post, I want to write out the steps I need to take to get that first job and also have a place where others can keep me accountable. Let’s get started!
The positions I’m going for are going to revolve around web applications. With that said, Javascript is going to be my primary language. This entails understanding the fundamentals of how Javascript works, what ES6 and Typescript bring to the table, and how to take advantage of Javascript frameworks (namely Angular and Vue). What I’ve realized is that I need to learn the web ecosystem. Javascript is an important part, but how does it all come together? What’s the best way to interact with the DOM? What’s better to run in the client side than the server side? How do you optimize your app for performance and test for bugs? The questions are endless, but more you know, the better you can solve new ones.
One of the best ways that I learn new technologies and frameworks is from projects. Though tutorials are fantastic, projects exercise your brain in making design choices. Both simple and complex projects are great. The simple ones help you to truly apply what you learn and gain momentum in mastering the language. The complex ones help you with skills that make you stand out to employers. A complex project would set out to either emulate a real app or an idea of your own that solves a problem.
When you do projects like these, not only do you get more familiarity, you start to ask better questions. Like what’s the best/efficient/optimal way to implement certain things. Some of the things that I want to learn is serverless architecture (AWS and Firebase) and cross platform application development (Electron and Nativescript). With these two things, you can rapidly prototype an idea and bring it to market.
One important I learned from self help is the idea of being something, rather than acting like something. Acting like a developer comes from a place of imitation, where you’re afraid someone will expose you and your mask will drop. Not only is this massive drain of your mental capital, but it’s also a self fulfilling prophecy. Instead of using that energy to pretend, use that energy to actually BECOME a developer. The anxiety and imposter syndrome go away, and you can actually leverage this to hone your skills. If I learned anything from Grant Cardone, it’s that both of these things require energy, but one yields massive success.
Instead of thinking about how much work you have to do and why you don’t feel like it, how about you just do it? I find that once I start for the day, I can really focus on it for a few hours. Being a world class developer takes years to become, and that only happens if you practice your skills everyday for many hours. Of course it’s hard, but that’s why people are willing to pay so much for great developers, not many people can put the work into it.
This doesn’t mean you burn out, this means you create a lifestyle that allows you to push yourself everyday. Healthy foods, exercise, and sleep allow you concentrate and focus on what you want to get done.
When I look at someone like Elon Musk, I think he must be so amped to go to work everyday (even when he doesn’t) because of what he’s working on. The projects he’s working on are world changing, and that itself gives you the motivation to keep going even when you don’t want to. I feel like making a goal that’s so beyond your comprehension or groundbreaking really gives you a purpose and drive to put in the work everyday. When you think, “My app can truly make someone’s life better”, it gives you that boost to push through.
Find other people that are doing the same thing you’re doing. As the late Greg Plitt once said, “Champions come in pairs”. Keeping each other accountable is a strong force that helps to keep you on track. A friend and I are going to learn AWS and earn the AWS Cloud certification to improve our skillset. When someone can audit your weekly action plan and actual progress, you become hyper-aware of habits that are helping and those that are not. Then you can tweak and tailor.
Graduating from college has taught me one very important lesson: you never stop learning. Honestly, why would you want to stop? You realize that the only thing holding you back from the life you want is laziness and your self-limiting beliefs. Invest in yourself, and you never lose.