Introduction
What's up gals/guys !! Here I am with another post continuing the self-taught developer series.
In this section We will be answering "Is it good to be a Self Taught Developer ?". I said "WE" because I want you guys/gals to participate in the discussion 😊😉.
The upcoming points in this article are only my opinions and experiences, nothing more than that. All of you can also share your opinions in comment section.
To get answer of any question like this one, the best thing I do is list out advantages and drawbacks of the topic. SO lets do it.
Advantages of being a Self taught developer
Yup! things ain't easy when you are on your own. Still teaching myself:
- Gave me sense of time.
- Made me realize importance is discipline cuz that's what you need to be consistent.
- Made me realize importance of consistency.
- Feels like its never enough, and that my friend boosts your growth.(if taken positively 😅😅)
- Most importantly Made me responsible for everything thing I type and everything I do.
Consistency can make you way more skillful than intensity ever would.
keep that fire lite everyday with same intensity.
Disadvantages of being a Self taught developer
Even if it has so many advantages it also has its own drawbacks:
- Lack of friends.
- Lack of huge network.
- Lack of gals/guys who could help you out of any errors.
Communication
While these disadvantages may not seem severe at first glance, self-taught developers lack skills in communication and cooperation because of these minor disadvantages.
I thought communication shouldn't be a problem, anyone could do it but naahh, it's not as simple as it seems.
Communication is a very huge part of your job, because
- It is one of the most important skill which will get you a job
- Which will make other person think you are really confident of what you are speaking,
- Which will make you different for others cuz not everyone has good communication skill.
Damn now it feels the disadvantages are really huge!
Solutions to disadvantages
Never be afraid to reinvent yourself
Even tough communication is a huge issue among most of the self-taught developers, it can be improved gradually.
There is nothing that can be learnt or improved.
Obviously some of the initial attempts might make you feel nervous ,you might start shaking when you have to talk for a long time or the adrenaline levels of body rises but that should not make you weak.
You keep trying and you get good at it, that's human nature of learning things in this way.
Think back to the first time you rode a bike and compare it to today. You can do this unconsciously now because of how good you are at riding a bike.
That's how you can overcome any drawbacks. So finally I conclude
that you should be good at all your skills and then you will be good to go!!
Stay tuned for the next post on the third part of the series.
The discussion must go on!! 😉
Stay happy, Keep hustling,
Signing off Meet Bhalodiya,
Peace ✌
Top comments (14)
You've hit the nail on the head - communication is a huge part of being a developer.
It's not only needed to present yourself in a job interview, but in everyday work as well. This is what often makes or breaks a team, or even an entire company.
Technical skills are extremely important, but neglecting the so called "soft skills" like communication, will hurt you in the long run.
Great job on seeing this early on
Thank you 😀
Another Advantage of being a Self Taught Dev is that you can choose to when to complete and start your works.
Another Disadvantage I noticed is that it's hard for you cus there's no community you can rely on
It's not that you don't have community. There are many communities to help each other just like this one but it's just that you can't explain some stuff to those communities.
In short friend sitting next to us and solving the bugs along with us just hits different 😉.
Yup. I agree any developer has at least one mentor in her/his life and that's really necessary.
All developer will have their own self-taught, even if they were taught in college and bootcamp.
Your response to the first post was really great Thanks for that. You can share your opinions on the topic I am eager to hear those
so educative.
thank you for sharing tho
glad you liked it 😊
Fair enough. I guess it makes sense, though I haven't encountered any scenario/problem I could not figure out on my own, maybe not the specific problem, but I've always found a starting point or some tips to get me on the right track. But yeah I kinda agree, mentors or at least real-like experience is key.
I agree with this...
As I am a "self-taught" developer and now have a couple of years experience.
Looking back the hardest part was the very beginning.
Not knowing about packages or how certain tools could help...a lot.
Not knowing how certain frameworks fit together.
I was lucky enough that I had some people around me that would laugh and after that would take the time to explain it to me or at the very least would take the time to look up a link that would help.
This was basically the biggest hurdle for me.
Can't tell you the amount of times I've said that to myself, I'm always thinking I'm missing something important or that I don't know something I should... but in the end you can always google it xD
Yes no doubt you can google it, but sometimes its like how can I ask this question cuz it gets really difficult to figure out the exact question to google.
There's always something you can ask that will get you closer to the solution or answer. It might take a very long time though xD