Hello everyone,
I'm glad to joint this amazing community.
I am a web designer, graphic designer, front end developer (html,css,js) for past 5 years or so but to be honest I'm feeling like a noob here. (image for context 😅).
I seriously don't know where I stand in this field after this long time. If I consider myself a designer then besides photoshop, illustrator, css I know nothing. As for considering myself a developer I only have a knowledge of html css , bit of js (so that makes me a ultranoob).
When I look at other designers or devs I feel so overwhelmed like whoa they know so much and I'm nowhere near them. Sometimes its so depressing for me. I seriously don't know what should I do.
Have any of guys been through same ! kindly let me know. Any advice / help will be appreciated 🙂
Thanks and looking forward to this journey on dev 👍🏻
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Top comments (9)
As aaron points out, this is something most of us suffer from. Not only in this industry though, in most other creative/tecnical careers it seems to happen too.
Something that has helped me quite a bit has been learning new things, and improving the ones I already know. This way I feel I'm progressing, as at times you might feel stuck and without a clear vision of the future. You might think "Will I be doing this for ever??" Probably not. By learning new stuff you can refresh you mind, and feel like your accomplishing something. Not to say, you're not doing that now
Also, don't feel like you need to be the best developer/designer in the world, not everyone wants to nor should they be. There's this idea that every developer should be aiming to work on FAANG and so on. That's crap, you can be a junior/mid-level dev for your entire career. We need them, they are really valuable.
And remember, the rain does not last forever, it will be sunny again soon!!!
Best of luck, and keep on learning and enjoying what you do!!!!
I agree with what you said Keff but don't you think given the time (5+ years) I have spent in this field I should have had achieved more skills. Coz when I see job postings of other companies I can't seem to fit myself right in (personally I found that depressing) and I'm having this career dilemma now.
I feel you man! been there, felt that.
Let me give you a tip, stop comparing to others, compare the you of the present with you of the past, comparison is the enemy of self esteem and self-worth. I know it can be hard, believe me. I've been struggling for years with this too. Not only in the industry, but also in sport. I'm a climber, and I did compare myself to other climbers, which made me feel like I was not worth it, and I would never become good enough. This hada. big impact on my climbing, and forced myself to stop doing comparing myself. Since then I've felt really secure and had more motivation to climb.
There are countless posts on DEV.to talking about this if you want to read more. I can just recommend what's worked for me.
This seems like just a preconception you have forced on yourself, who says that you SHOULD have more skills? Maybe you're ok with the skillset you have, otherwise just keep learning. It's the only way to gain skills.
Is it you that feels this way? or have you been rejected from the companies?
One solution is to do some kind of internship, you can learn a lot with them!
PD: You've come to the correct place to talk about this, I haven't found a more welcoming and empathic community. People here are willing to help and share their experiences.
Cheers, hope you found the tips useful! Feel free to ask me anything!
Yeah Keff you are right comparing myself won't do any good.
Talking with you guys has bring positive vibes to me. Feeling motivated now. ....Really, community here is welcoming and empathic that only bcoz members like you and @aarone4 are here. Keep helping... keep contributing 👍🏻 More power to you 💪🏻 😊
❤️
Its called imposter syndrome and most professionals suffer from it at times.
1) can you produce something that meets the business requirements and keeps the customer happy?
2) when you know something is possible but dont know how, can you Google it?
3) are you humble enough to ask for help when stuck.
Its what i have been doing for 30 years...
Thanks for taking your time to reply man.. really appreciate it.
I know all this is not enough. I'm stuck in this job ..nothing new to learn.
and I'm afraid to change job because I don't know which line to choose ... designer or developer.
How do I overcome this Aaron ?
Firstly, don't underestimate the skill of being able to find relevant technical results from a search engine!
So the question comes down to which do you enjoy the most? If you enjoy it you will find a niche and the salary will come.
Can you start a side project, or take on some Pro-Bono (i.e. Free) work on the side for a local non-profit organisation to see where your passion lies.
Take a look at all the technologies out there. HTML, CSS Frameworks, CSS preprocessors, JS Frameworks, WASM frameworks, Serverless functions, REST, GraphQL, Serverside languages: Node, Python, Rust, C#, PHP, Java. Databasees mySQL, MSSQL, Postrgress, Mongo, CouchDB, MariaDB, Firebase, SupaBase and everything in between and just see what interests you.
In the end you will have to build something from scratch to 1) give you the confidence that you are capable and 2) show prospective employers that you can achieve outcomes.
In the end you JFDI and it will come.
There is nothing saying that you have to make a choice and stick to it for the rest of your carreer. I am 52 and am just trying to transation from MSSQL into front end development, having already been an accountant and business analyst.
I guess that's true I won't know until I try 👍🏻 Really glad we had this conversation. Thank you so.much sir and I wish you best for your front end development journey 👍🏻 Thanks again.