u/StrayVex666 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
What mistakes do you see people make, what mistakes can we avoid, and what things do you see that make you do a double take for good reasons?
u/michaelnovati replied · · edited ★ FEATURED
Hi,
Mistakes people make:
* Jumping around too much based on what they read online. i.e. jumping from certifications -> projects -> open source -> courses.
* Rushing through things thinking they understand it. I find people have to review the same concept a number of times patiently over time before it sticks and that's GOOD.
* Putting too much work into looking superficially good on paper over the substance of what you do (i.e. building a portfolio you think will look good)
* Lying on resumes to get the first job
How to avoid?
* Focus - do a breadth first search to find what path is likely to be good for you (i.e. certifications -> consulting, or open source -> open source companies, or leetcode/fundamentals focused -> top tier company), and then stick to it to the end. If you were wrong, you'll struggle, but you have a higher chance of making it over someone who does 25% of everything.
* Portfolio/Resume - the journey itself is the learning, not the end project. Put in the time and no shortcuts. I see these 3 week long bootcamp projects where people spend more time marketing their projects than doing them. If you put in the raw hours, you'll learn, and if you have good mentorship, that time will be spent most efficiently.
* Lying on a resume to break into the industry at a higher level than you should is borrowing from the future and signing a deal with the devil to sell your sould. 2 years later half of those people burnout from faking it for 2 years, or are not performing up to expectations and being removed in layoffs or stack ranking - like you have 3 mid levels on the team and the other 2 have 3 years of experience and 1 has to be laid off.... potential or not, you'll be first.
Maybe the most important point is: put in the time + have good mentors to spend that time more efficiently. There's one program called Launch School that calls themselves 'the slow way to getting a job' and that probably summarizes this better than anything else. Raw hours + repeating things + good steering = takes time!