Do what you’re good at. It’s great if you can be dedicated and devote the time to learn something that comes difficult to you, but the rest of the world will be speeding by during your struggle. There will forever be someone who can pick up in a day what took you weeks to master. This adds to the concern of job stability if you are unable to stay on top of evolving technology as quickly as competing candidates. The one exception to this rule would be if you absolutely love what you are learning and are willing to put in (lots of) extra time and work longer to make up the difference. The key: find what comes natural to you and use it as a springboard to propel your profession.
Jul 14, 2006
Good advice.
Comment by Jason — July 14, 2006 @ 8:40 pm
Thanks, Jason. I expect some folks would have a hard time swallowing work advice from a student, but I’ve found the above to be true for my own projects.
Comment by Adrian — July 15, 2006 @ 9:37 am
Then its to Marvel Comics Inc. I go!
Comment by JUnit — July 20, 2006 @ 10:00 am
[...] I’ve been known to advocate the importance of using your natural talents to propel you through life. Our innate strengths are often what we use most, mainly because they are the things that come easy to us. Regardless, I haven’t duly credited drive, which is equally, if not more, necessary in succeeding (whether at work or in life). For example, I love to write and would consider it an area I’ve excelled at from an early age. However, if I’m given a college English assignment that has no interest to me, I won’t do very well at all. On the other hand, computers and technology were basically non-existent to me as a kid growing up. I hardly touched a computer until I came to college and now web design has grown to become a large part of what I do. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. [...]
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