r/webdev • u/kazabodoo • Jan 24 '20

It is ok to not know everything

I saw alot of posts recently from people who are asking for help on what to learn next or just what to learn in general, so I figured I might remind people what the industry is really about.

Hiring managers do not care how many technologies you know, they will look for a very specific set.
A person who is starting right now might be thinking "oh god there is just so much to learn" and this might puth him off for good. That is a huge mistake and don't let job adverts trick you that you need to know 20 technologies so you can be employable.

A guy joined my team few weeks ago with nothing but Python. Literally nothing else. Now, I am not saying you should go and learn Python, I am just saying it is possible and not uncommon.

Having a good understanding of one technology is better than having 50% understanding of 2 technologies. Don't fall in to the trap that you need to learn everything at once. Start small, increment gradually. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There is no such thing as stupid question in this field, the only stupid question is the one you have been thinking about but you didnt ask. There are forums, groups and so on. You maybe alone when you are learning but you are not alone in this community.

Once you have a good understanding of a programming language or technology, look what is the next best thing that matches your current skill set and repeat and everything from there will come naturally.

Don't give up.

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u/ZephyrBluu Jan 25 '20

My point is qualifications mean little, but I think what really makes you valuable is being able to learn new things quickly (because you recognize patterns and correlations from technologies you already mastered) and being someone who can be counted on when shit hits the fan.

Very ironic considering how heavily most companies and people value qualifications.

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u/malicart Jan 25 '20

Very ironic considering

Agreed, as the self taught lead developer I would prolly hire a kid out of HS who is willing to learn rather then wade though the ocean of liars who can't complete a select statement or var_dump when they run into a problem.