To start off, I appreciate the community support I have received on the post about being behind.
I couldn't respond to every single one because of the overwhelming comments I have received! Rest assure, I will respond to each and every one of you and I am glad to be part of this community!
With that said, I want to return the favor to the community about something important.
I recently talked to @georgekobaidze and @codingwithjiro in the Virtual Coffee group about life in general. What I notice about our conversation how we ended up talking about regrets and how we should have done this and that. For example, we talked about not networking or not doing beyond the coursework at our University/College because of how non-social we are.
Of course, we all have regrets like these and we improve overtime. As we kept the conversation going, there is something that comes down to the root based on the conversations we have and conversations I had overall.
One side is that we have regrets and as a result, we improve. We self-reflect on our wants and needs and we improvise from there. For example, for me, I never did networking because of the fear of what other people thinks. I slowly realized that 99% of the irrational thoughts never comes true. Even if it does, I know myself that I could handle the situation. As a result, I took small steps and joined dev.to. We all know where I am at now XD
On the other hand, there are people who identifies these regrets they have, but does not act on it. It has become common to college students who says that the "Job Market is Cooked" and that "They are not good enough". To be fair, impostor syndrome is real and yes, the job market is cooked based on the rise of AI and expectations you need to meet.
However, that does not mean you will just sit there and do nothing about it. I have seen countless students who makes those statements and they are not doing anything about it. They are just accepting defeat and doing the bare minimum.
Of course, there are people who are trying their best and they are getting the same results, which is not getting a job offer. This leads to people thinking it is ENTIRELY on luck. Sure, luck is a factor but identifying the things you need to do and being with a supportive community the right way can negates those odds.
It is something @georgekobaidze pointed out in his 6 month review where he mentions that to achieve what he has done, he had to continue "pushing myself to the limit, at times even through severe physical pain (no exaggeration), and sacrificing a lot of my personal life along the way. My evenings, nights, and weekends were dedicated to all of this...It's not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but I'd rather use that limited time than not do it at all."
A New Personal Best: What Six Months of Locking In Can Do
What's my Point
I want you to think of this quote from the movie Ip Man that stayed with me:
It's not about style. It's about you.
What does this mean?
Every developer has different goals and niche.
- Maybe you want to get ahead of AI.
- Maybe you want to learn every programming language.
- Maybe you want to fill up your GitHub Contributor graph like a Christmas tree.
- Maybe you are a data Analysis.
- Maybe you are a ML Engineer.
Everyone has a "style" because everyone has different goals and roadmaps. However, at the end of the day, it's about you.
Not all Software Engineers are built the same. We all have our origin stories that are unique to us and led to this career path with challenges we all have to overcome by ourselves.
Maybe instead of blaming the market, do something that will minimize the effect and increase those chances of getting hired. Start networking and participate in challenges on DEV for example.
Maybe instead of thinking that I will not be good enough, seek advice from the community and share your struggles. Don't believe me, I am living proof! Things takes time and it's not meant you will get what you want overnight. Things you want (big or small), you will have to work for it regardless.
Maybe you are scared of networking. Maybe you are too "tired" to keep going because of how the news are persuading you that the developer market is banished to the shadow realm. At the end of the day, you are letting outside sources control your decisions instead of having some independence and doing what you need to do.
Discipline and consistency is key, and always has been. It's only a matter of if you are able to commit whether the environment changes or what others tells you. The whole point of the article is to show initiative without having to rely on other factors to do the work for you. The results you want will not show if you are not acting on it.
Now I think about it:
"ᴀ ꜱᴍᴏᴏᴛʜ ꜱᴇᴀ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴀ ꜱᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ꜱᴀɪʟᴏʀ" - ꜰʀᴀɴᴋʟɪɴ ᴅ. ʀᴏᴏꜱᴇᴠᴇʟᴛ
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