In my last post, I shared my achievements and challenges in 2024. I also mentioned that I will write about my goal for 2025 in another post, which is the one you're reading.
You might want to check out my previous post to understand what I will share here.
Thank You, 2024: The Challenges and Achievements
Ayu Adiati ・ Jan 9
Deep Thinking
After a long pause and reflection, I realize I no longer want to pursue a front-end developer job. I shared why I made this decision in my last post, so I won't repeat myself here. But I do have a thought about pivoting from there.
The Virtual Coffee community is running the New Year, New Goal challenge this month. It gives me strong reasons to plan my one big goal and what I should (or could) do to achieve it.
So, I started to reflect on myself, brainstorm, then I came up with these:
What Were My Biggest Challenges
- Coding for hours: Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy coding, but coding for hours alone doesn't excite me as much as it used to.
- Absorbing concepts: I can't absorb concepts as fast as I used to, and I can't learn late at night anymore. Whenever I can take one step forward, others are already 10x ahead of me.
- Job opportunities: Many front-end developer positions, especially in the Netherlands, are seeking candidates at the senior level. My current skills are not even enough to get a junior-level job, and I have already exhausted and lost my confidence.
What Motivates and Keeps Me Excited
- Learning: I enjoy learning new technology, especially if I can learn at my own pace.
- Knowledge sharing: Writing blog posts has become a satisfying way to express myself. It allows me to organize my thoughts, share what I've learned, and connect with diverse audiences.
- Variations: I feel excited when I learn various topics. The dynamic of doing various tasks—changing between learning, researching, coding, and writing—also gives me more energy than coding for the whole day, everyday.
- Documentation: I really enjoy working with documentation and making it easier to understand.
- Open source: I've always been drawn to the open source world. I love the spirit of collaboration and the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to a project.
- Community: I love engaging with the community and helping others, especially those new to the field. The community has kept me here until today.
Setting Up That One Big Goal'
Based on these realizations, I have set an ambitious goal for 2025: to get a job as a Technical Writer or Developer Advocate/Educator focusing on technical writing and/or community.
I have considered being a developer advocate for a long time. One thing that holds me back is public speaking.
In one of the Coffees (casual weekly Zoom meetings at Virtual Coffee) I attended, I remember a member said:
"The best medium for you to learn is the best outlet for you to share knowledge."
The funny thing is that I'm an audio/visual person. So, I learn best from video tutorials. However, I feel much more comfortable writing than talking in front of a camera. If I could shake off my fear, I may try streaming or making video content at one point, but not today. 😅
The Path Forward: My Plans to Achieve My Goal
Deepen My Technical Writing Knowledge
- Learning about technical writing: I will search for and do online courses, workshops, and mentorships to improve my technical writing skills.
- Reading much more: I will read more technical documentation and articles to better understand effective technical communication.
- Learning with others: If I could find (or create) one, I would join a cohort or learning group of aspiring technical writers to learn from each other, receive valuable feedback, and support each other.
Sharpen My Writing Skills
I work a lot with community documentation and basic tutorials. However, I haven't worked much with more complex technical documentation and writing. So, I will actively practice my technical writing skills by:
- Creating high-quality content: I will write and publish more technical articles and blog posts, refining my writing style and improving my ability to explain complex concepts clearly.
- Contributing to open source projects: I will search for open source projects, contribute to their documentation, and gain real-world experience.
Building My Network
I want to connect with more technical writers through online communities or social media to seek career opportunities and a supportive network.
Final Words
I'm excited about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in 2025. This year will be a year of growth, learning, and self-discovery as I embark on my journey to become a technical writer or developer advocate/educator.
I hope this post inspires you to pursue your passions and set one ambitious goal for yourself this year.
If you love technology, writing, and community like I do, let's connect and learn from each other! You can find me on X, LinkedIn, and BlueSky. 😊
This is a submission for the 2025 New Year Writing challenge: Compiling 2025.
Cover photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash
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