Prior to graduating college I read a great post from Patrick McKenzie, who is a self-described âex-Japanese salaryman who currently runs a small software businessâ. I liked it so much I spent the better part of an hour formatting the article in word and printing it out for my âImportantâsave and read for laterâ binder.
Iâm not entirely sure what âlaterâ counts as, but at the very least, itâs certainly âlaterâ now, and I might as well share it with all of you loyal reader(s). Note: I probably donât need that (s) there as the only person I know that reads my blog is Jackie, but hey, one can hope.
The post from McKenzie is titled âDonât Call Yourself a Programmer, And Other Career Adviceâ. While at first glance it may appear to be geared towards developers (read: programmer) I would argue that advice given in this column is great for anyone in any career, looking to achieve and be happy.
The essential argument of the essay is that from a companyâs (i.e. potential employerâs) perspective you are not defined by what you do, how you do it, or how hard you work, you are defined by accomplishments. Employers donât care that you can build an application using Ruby on Rails with a mySQL database, employers care that your application saved the company two hundred thousands dollars. Heck, your boss might not even know (or care) how you programmed the cost-saving application, only that it is cost-saving.
In other words, do not pitch your skills or unique abilities by describing your detailed knowledge of them, but by describing what they can do, and have done for others.
If your thirty-second elevator speech mentions a programming language, youâve already lost the battle. If your resume mentions working knowledge of Microsoft Office products, you can politely step out of the office and head back home, because that is not what employers want to hear. It doesnât matter that you know the difference between pass by reference and pass by value, or that youâve got a trade certification. As an employer looking for a digital artist I donât care that youâve mastered Adobe Creative Suite 6. I care that you can make this look nice, or make that product sell.
Companies at their core exist to make money (as they should). As such, define your job and your accomplishments in alignment with their goal: to make money. As a programmer you donât build backend payroll applications, you save costs, by the thousands. As a marketer you donât have a thorough understanding of CRM tools, you drive double digit percentage revenue increases. Those are goals your employer, or potential employers care about, and these are metrics you should be tracking.
I really liked this article and recommend it to everyone who is currently a part of the workforce. McKenzie does a great job of providing examples of individuals who use technology as a tool to further their business initiatives, but yet arenât programmers. He also provides a great deal of insight on other topics ranging from networking (amongst those things we call humans), negotiating (for salaries and other things), work relationships and the importance of communication skills.
Iâll close this post with his final paragraph, and added emphasis on his last line, work to live, donât live to work.
At the end of the day, your life happiness will not be dominated by your career. Either talk to older people or trust the social scientists who have: family, faith, hobbies, etc etc generally swamp career achievements and money in terms of things which actually produce happiness. Optimize appropriately. Your career is important, and right now it might seem like the most important thing in your life, but odds are that is not what youâll believe forever. Work to live, donât live to work.
~Patrick McKenzie
Source: Kalzumeus.com