If you ask ten people about freedom, you will get ten different answers. I'd answer choosing based on desire and curiosity instead of necessity. In today's age, you can achieve my definition of freedom by being highly employable.
Being employable boils down to a few core attributes, whether you are a seasoned engineer, a fresher, or someone making a significant career shift. These attributes populate two categories: technical and interpersonal. Technical attributes are things like knowledge, technical ability, and projects. Interpersonal attributes involve human interaction like communication, networking, self-presentation, etc. In this article, I will introduce nine attributes to consider when working on professional goals and upskilling.
Technical
Technical skills are more straightforward to boost than interpersonal skills. The abundance of free training, courses, books, etc., has made learning and demonstrating technical skills easier than ever. As a result, the competition has dramatically increased. You can differentiate yourself by developing many skills and boosting the following attributes.
Education
This is perhaps the most challenging technical attribute to boost as it usually has the highest time commitment and opportunity cost. Regardless, I always recommend getting at least a bachelor's degree without going into a sizeable amount of debt, if possible. Some companies don't require degrees, but they can only help and will give you an edge over someone without a degree, all things being equal. Ideally, you should get a BS in Computer Science.
Technical Ability
Technical ability includes things like OOP, linking a back end to a database, or anything else that is technical. You can boost this attribute by doing things at work or projects and learning new things in your own time. Being able to do many things decently but a few things well is ideal.
Experience
This is your professional work experience that you would put on your resume. It's another hard attribute to boost as you need work experience. However, you can ask to take on more responsibility at work or spin (not lie) your experience to highlight more desirable skills and responsibilities. Again, don't lie; examine your day-to-day duties and extract the most valuable.
Portfolio
Projects serve two primary purposes: they allow you to apply the skills you are learning, and they let you put keywords on your resume. You should post your source code on GitHub with a nice readme and either link to the live project or have screenshots and a video of the project running. How you display the project will depend on what it is. Generic projects like a to-do list are excellent for learning and certainly better than nothing, but ideally, you have 2-3 unique projects that incorporate multiple skills and technologies.
Resume Quality
Hiring personnel spend less than 10 seconds glancing over your resume before they decide to trash or move it along. You need to use a suitable template and have pertinent information easily digestible. In a later article, I will go more into depth on crafting a great resume.
Interpersonal
The old adage, "I can teach anyone the job, but I can't teach anyone how to be pleasant," shows how important being friendly and easy to work with is. Fortunately, you can develop these skills through practice and interaction with others.
Communication
Whether verbal, non-verbal (body language), or written, communication plays the most significant role in how we interact with others. Your ability to express ideas and pass information to others is paramount to personal and professional success.
Interview Ability
Your ability to sell yourself is vital to passing interviews and achieving your career aspirations. Interviews typically consist of technical and behavioral rounds, so you should prepare for both with LeetCode and speaking practice. I will go into much more detail here in a later article, but remember that interviewing is a skill and thus can be honed.
Social Network
An online presence can dramatically expand your reach and opportunities. You should have some online presence, whether it's a blog, a YouTube channel, or a Twitter account. Being known in your field as an authority and reliable source of information is a massive advantage in the job market.
Too often, we are concerned with consuming content and must remember to give back and create. Simple discussions, tutorials, or opinion pieces are all great ideas for content. Be careful, however, as being too opinionated can alienate others. Always remember to be professional and kind.
Self Presentation
Unfortunately, humans make split-second decisions based on physical appearance. Fortunately, you don't need to be a model to improve this attribute (although the halo effect is real). Being clean, groomed, and well-dressed should prevent your appearance from working against you.
Takeaway
Getting a job isn't a luck-based endeavor. There are tangible skills you can develop to give yourself the best chance of success. By keeping your technical and interpersonal skills up to snuff, you can make more informed and riskier career moves with less fear. Hopefully, you will consider and develop these skills to improve your career and life.
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