It's You.
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 grateful for every single comment you guys had left! I am glad to be part of this community! Continue to show that!
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 is how we ended up talking about regrets and things we could have done earlier. 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 a result. 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 as a developer.
One side is that we have regrets about what we should have done. As a result, we improve. We make self-reflections 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. Not immediately, just never. It has become VERY common amongst 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 the bar you have to meet to compete with other developers.
However, that does not mean you will just sit there and do nothing about it. I have seen countless people who makes those negative 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 by building projects, networking, etc. However, it is also common that they will lead to the same result when it comes to job offers, which is getting none. This leads to people thinking it is ENTIRELY on luck. Sure, luck is a factor but identifying the things you need to do properly and being with a supportive community the right way can negate those odds.
@georgekobaidze pointed out in his post where he mentions that to achieve what he has done, he had to continue "pushing...to the limit, [even] at times...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."
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 are a Data Analysis.
- Maybe you are a ML Engineer.
- Maybe you want to get ahead of AI by learning the latest AI news.
- Maybe you want to fill up your GitHub Contributor graph like a Christmas tree.
Everyone has a "style" because everyone has different goals and roadmaps. However, at the end of the day, it's about you.
Think about it. Not all Software Engineers are built the same. We all have our origin stories that are unique, challenges we have to overcome ourselves, etc. That what makes us every developer unique and recruiters, especially people in general wants to hear that.
The problem becomes where we blame ourselves and we blame the things around us that affects our journey as a developer. For example, because of the rise of AI and news around it, people have become demotivated on pursuing a developer career because of the challenges it has set for everyone in the tech space. I feel like we are losing GREAT, maybe even God-Tier developers because of a small hurdle they can't overcome nor they have the support to overcome challenges to begin with.
Riddle me this: If the job market is so difficult because of AI, why is there still some people who are recent CS graduates or new developers...still get tech jobs either way? It's not that it is impossible to get one, it's just harder. It's also not because they got "lucky", it's simply because they know how to play the game.
There is a game I am recently playing called "Cuphead" (Great game btw). One of the main idea of it is that it was design to be a difficult game to play. Of course, there will be some people who doesn't find it difficult, but the point is that the game is design to be completed. The choice on whether you decide to keep going and making it to the finish line is based on you. It's always been you, not the game (never has been).
Maybe instead of blaming the market, we should adapt to it. Start learning what companies are NOW looking for in the age of AI, start doing some networking and participate in challenges on DEV for example to get more experience on building.
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!!!
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. Things takes time and it's not meant you will get what you want overnight. Remember, it's you that decides on if you want to achieve what you have set, not anyone else.
Discipline and consistency is key, and always has been. It's only a matter of if you are able to commit whether the environment around you changes. The whole point of this post is to show you that you need to take initiative without having to rely on other factors to do the work for you.
Keep this in mind, there are two types of people. One who makes heavy self-reflection and are open to change and improve. The other who is forced to change based on circumstance.
If you don't do it now...when will you?
Now I think about it:
"ᴀ ꜱᴍᴏᴏᴛʜ ꜱᴇᴀ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴀ ꜱᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ꜱᴀɪʟᴏʀ" - ꜰʀᴀɴᴋʟɪɴ ᴅ. ʀᴏᴏꜱᴇᴠᴇʟᴛ
