Hacking IT as a world-class developer
Becoming a globally relevant local developer
It’s the 21st century and the internet is the next frontier and IT is the next gold rush. However, if anyone is to make any money doing this, they ought to know their way around this new world. The internet has come very far from its past, as DARPA’s pet project, to becoming a many-fold world of its own, virtually covering all aspects of human activity.
Software developers are arguably the architects of this advancement; Every business either requires the use of some software to operate or interacts with. This should naturally make developers 1st class citizens in this virtual world, but the internet is so vast that navigating it can be so daunting even for the techiest geeks. Whether you are a seasoned developer, or just starting out, here are a few tips to “hack” it on the internet, that is to mean to carve out a place for yourself in this new world.
Think outside your zip code (for the ambitious think outside your country code)
This should be obvious already; the internet is not constrained by any physical boundaries and you shouldn’t be either. Things that were traditionally bound to a locality have all migrated online; things like courses and tutorials, communities, and more importantly trade and work can now be done and coordinated completely online. The advent of Telecommuting is also set to change the nature of work itself in the coming years.
Where you live should no longer limit what you can achieve on the internet. What’s more important is how you market yourself on the internet and how you interact with people and organizations through it. It is a brave new world out there and it’s all for the taking.
Be a Doer
Doers will get stuff done whether they are working from their own private island, in a high-rise office building or behind prison walls. As a doer, you won’t wait to be told what to do, you always have something you’d like to achieve; be it a new project, learning a new skill, or even just planning your next move. You’re never idle.
It’s easy to wait for permission, it’s harder to take initiative.
The internet moves at an incredible pace, and particularly for people in tech, as tools and stacks get refreshed nearly every 6 months. The only way to stay on top of it all is to actively be engaged in doing something. One sure way to improve your self-discipline is by removing apps from your mobile devices that distract and fracture attention. By limiting the volume of spam (social media memes), it will become easier to come to a state of “Deep Work” or “Flow”. Else you will definitely be left behind.
Be Trustworthy
Trustworthiness is essential to succeeding online, from a polished professional profile on LinkedIn to consistently delivering projects on time and meeting expectations.
You’ll meet more people online than you’ll ever meet in person. Trusting each other no longer requires knowing where one came from, or their personal history. All those employers need to know is your reputation.
Imagine if you were working as part of a distributed team. If you continually find yourself worrying about what someone is doing, then you are spending mental bandwidth focusing on something other than the product or the customers. Because of this untrustworthy people are a drain on productivity. Productive people would want to trust you, it’s up to you to make sure that they can.
Improve your English Language Skills — Writing and Speaking
This may not be immediately obvious, but a critical aspect of the SDLC is excellent documentation and communication and if you want to work with world-class teams, your ability to read, understand & contribute to documentation and provide insightful feedback determines the value you provide and could make or break your career within the team. An investment in a language exam like IELTS can go a long way in bridging the language gap and helping you level up your IT career.
(Bonus) Rethink Twitter
Personally, I think social media is a cancer to excise away, I deleted my Facebook account two years ago, never had Instagram and couldn’t always remember my Twitter password. But, long story short, I started using Twitter again (@Nero_II). Maybe not forever, but for now, Twitter fulfils a function that nothing else can — it gives me the ability to share little thoughts effortlessly, connect with people easier than on any other platform. And unlike a blog, these little tweet thoughts and connections can be as lively as face-to-face conversations. They come, they go, life goes on, and just as I mentioned in number 1 above, you don’t have to be in the same zip code as a mentor you admire, getting a face-to-face interaction with him can be just as easy as following him on Twitter and tweeting at him.
The IT world is on the rise and on the move, can you keep up?
