Things that I am not...
12/04/2008 09:20 a.m. | Personal
Over the past 4 years or so I have been really growing into myself, and trying to learn what that means. I guess this is a common thing for people in their early twenties, and I am no exception to that. Through my different experiences and classes and friendships I have attempted to be many things in many situations. The following is a list of things that, while I have had some minor success doing, I am not by any means a professional or an expert.
I am not a Professional Engineer.
In the world of engineering it is common to go from being a student to an apprentice, and then after some real experience, to become a registered professional engineer (P.E.). This is not something I am or really aspire to be. As a student of engineering, I enjoyed many aspects such as design, problem-solving, team work, and using computers to simulate things. I did not enjoy materials, physics, and any kind of thermal-fluid sciences. It seems that many of these things are used to solve old problems in new ways. While there is a lot of cool innovative things being created, they take lots of time and research (and money) and after seeing some of that first hand, I am not so interested in it. I have found that web technology uses many of the aspects of engineering I like, without the less-interesting physical science parts. In addition to this, the barrier for entry to experiment with the web is very low, while experimenting with, say, new types of carbon nano-tubes is very difficult. This interest in the web and all it has to offer brings me to my next point.
I am not a programmer.
I enjoy programming. I like the ability to take information and display and interact with it in a customized way. I love taking a problem of a repetitive action or something requiring coordination and solving it with a simple web app. While I have dabbled in ASP, PHP, AJAX, CSS, and now ruby on rails, I am certainly not an expert in any of them. Most of what I enjoy about programming is how easy it makes data analysis. I can take a big spreadsheet, dump it into a database, and see things change on the fly. Everything is dynamic, and all of the repetitive updates are done by a computer and not by me. Saves time and energy, and with the advent of some CSS, it can look very cool too. The design portion of web design is also very interesting to me. So much can be done to affect the way things look when people interact with them. But, good design is hard to come by, especially from me.
I am not a web designer.
Again, this is something I think is very cool, but I can't do it well. I am more than capable of parsing good design from bad, but this is a far step away from being able to create good design. It would be like asking Roger Ebert to direct a movie. Just because he knows good doesn't mean he can create it. Web design is the same for me. I am an amateur at best with photoshop in that I get the power of layers and brushes and filters, but using them to create something beautiful but simple is tough. Most of the things I have designed in the past are merely functional. I think I would be a great designer for google, but most people want a bit more flair in their applications. The thing I usually get right is designing things for the user. Since changing the UI of a web app is so easy, it is possible to create wonderful user interfaces. But again, this is not really what I do.
I am not a user interface designer.
I have some experience here, but most of it was done for small groups that had very poor design before, so what I was doing was only good by comparison. My real strength in this area was that I thought strategically about things and placed everything with purpose. The problem with my methods were that everything was tailored to what I thought, and I didn't seek too much outside advice. But, like an ATM designer, people that use my product don't have many other options. So, they deal, and I come off thinking that I have created something great, when in reality it was only 'usable'.
I am not a writer.
I think I have mentioned this before, but it can be restated. I did not take a college english course, and most of the writing I did was either a short essay or a technical lab writeup. So my experience is a bit lacking, and I haven't had much critiquing (which is better for my ego). But this is another area where I am obviously spending some time. And despite not being a pro, I can recall a history class where many of the other students failed to use paragraphs (and in one case, sentences) so I am doing something right.
The reason I am not many of these things is because I don't spend time with them all day every day. The downfall I experience is that many of the things I read about these skills come from experts and professionals who make doing what they are describing sound so easy. Reading through a blog post on making transparent blog headers in photoshop makes it look very simple. But then, when I try on my own, it takes a bit of work. This is where I tend to lose interest in things, and am ready to move on. This doesn't always happen, though, and when it doesn't there is a major difference.
When following a tutorial to try to learn a new skill, I find that I get bored and frustrated quite often. This is because tips and tricks and tutorials are not really that great for learning new skills on their own. The times I find them useful are when I am already working on some project, and I get stuck, or I want to try to integrate something I am not familiar with. That is when tutorials and tips are great. Only after I have spent 20 hours developing in Coda do the keyboard shortcuts really become a necessity. And only when I am trying to run a specific query does a tutorial on UNION and JOIN really help out.
All of these things that I am not, while not great for a resume, expose a bit of what I am. I am a dabbler. I am not afraid to try to learn new things. I read up on them and get a rush and want to try them out immediately. In a similar way that I open new toys or gadgets, I just want to start playing with things the moment I get them. I have a passion for accomplishing things. When I get an inspiration, I get it down on paper (or google notebook) and begin to work (this is mostly out of fear of brain crack). When I do find the time to really get deep with a project, I am able learn more and accomplish quite a bit. I am driven and creative. Through all projects I am learning what GTD strategies works for me so that I can get more done.
While I do not really compare to an expert in any field, because of my passion for new things and my ability to quickly learn, this makes me one of the strongest candidates without experience. I think this is what got me my job, and will (hopefully, eventually) make me successful in it. I am strategic, competitive, a learner, analytical, and commanding. I can do well at almost anything.
And even though I am not an engineer, programmer, designer, or writer in no way means I am going to quit playing with all of these things. It took 5 years and a pile of cash to get three things: a) a piece of paper to show to a company, b) a realization that I can learn more outside of a classroom, and c) a network of people who I can work with to do great things. One thing I learned was that skills and experience can easily come from hobbies, or anything that you enjoy doing. Eventually, I will garner enough experience to be considered an expert (as I did with CARPOOL), and then I will have some things to put on a resume...
(this post was inspired by Merlin Mann on how real advice hurts.)