(before you read, no need to panic. I write the entire page with a smile on my face because I supply antidote in the end 😛)
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Great article! I definitely understand the fear of obsolescence and think its entirely valid. Some people definitely experience ageism in the industry. For many folks out there, I personally believe its more of a fear than a reality, though. I'm closing in on 40 and back in the day I built applications on the LAMP stack, ASP.Net 2.0, and old-school J2EE. More recently, I've worked with React, RxJs, Spring Boot, Docker, AWS, and all kinds of buzzwordy modern software ingredients. Tomorrow, I expect to work with entirely different technologies. If you build good habits, then you won't have to worry about your skills rotting.
I really feel that the key is to build good habits. Do code katas often. Practice Project Euler problems. Learn new languages. Build side projects on different pieces of technology to see what they're like. Put things in different clouds (I've tried out Heroku, Azure, and AWS). Target different devices (web, mobile, desktop). These are the muscles that you can exercise to stay fresh. Good luck!
Definitely! Thanks for expanding the solution. I grow up in a school system that you can be absolutely A+ on all subjects (and those subjects does not change). I almost took it for granted that, what I learned before is all that I needed.
With this mindset into my 1st job as a software engineer, I came to realize what’s missing among the co-workers (mechanical and electrical engineers, since things stay relatively stable for them). I had to run away from that environment and dive into somewhere people practice the ‘habits’ you mentioned.
I didn’t waste too much time (about a year or so, fresh out of collage), but I wish someone would have commented early on. Thanks!
A specific way that I've overcome this, is try to find situations where you can use a new technology side-by-side with one that I know. Jobs that trap you working on a single technology that you already know well without the chance to rotate, can make life difficult. If you can find a role that's 50% something you're used to and 50% new, that's the sweet spot. If you keep monkey-bar-ing into those situations it keeps you going.
I think there's also something in here to be said about identity. We often get fixated on labelling ourselves, but there comes a time that you have to re-invent yourself. And this typically comes with pushback. "What you're giving up on X?", or "Oh, I thought you'd do X forever". Sometimes the social pressure to stay the same keeps us from re-inventing ourselves and our skillsets often enough.
Good strategy :)
IT Industry is a dynamic sector and I feel that people with real passion and dedication are really able to do well in it.
BUT I am not discouraging anyone to join.
I think a lot people are dedicated into computer science nowadays because they have observed the success of others, but they may be missing the passion ;)
Here where I live. IT is a cashcow and there are many institutions which fool people to study more for getting a good college which just has high reputation and the teaching are old because they can't keep up. Thats why Software Engineers don't get jobs here.
Nicely put and I feel its much needed for the fresh/junior devs.