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Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
41–50 of 93 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#42I guess it all depends on the current demand. I remember a few years ago there was a huge shortage of devops in my area (central europe). Anyone, even with limited experience and skills (often after a few months of bootcamp training) could get a well paying job. Now the craze is about k8s and developing software in the cloud. So in my area if you have solid k8s experience, even with no network and bad rep you will be swimming in the sea of offers (the culture is different here, usually nobody wants to contact your previous employer).
On the other hand I am doing boring Java development with microservices. I guess there is too much people with similar skillset, I would probably need to interview for a few months before I land an offer (processes are getting longer and longer even in remote EU areas).
Another market trend that I am seeing is security, sec related positions often pay you 30% more than regular dev ones. But this is totally different track that requires a lot of effort to get into.
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#43Live below your means. If you are a software developer with 3-5 years of experience in any major city in the US, you should be making at least twice the median household income for your area.
Live like the median family is living and save your money
On another note: I am if not by title now for the first time by what I do a hands on keyboard developer.
What I don’t do is coding interviews and definitely not senseless “leetCode”. If an interviewer can’t talk to me like an experienced adult where we can see if my experience can add business value and help you solve your real world issues, we don’t need to be talking.
I’m not about to stand there while you judge whether I can reverse a binary tree on the whiteboard while juggling bowling balls on a tightrope.
Yes that mentality got me into $BigTech.
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if the confidence OP is detecting from their collegues is more due to unspoken 1, 2 and 3 rather than the explicitly mentioned 4. In our society it's considered kind of gauche to say something like "I could take a 100k pay cut and still pay the bills" or "I've got enough savings to go years without a job" but for many software engineers living well below their means these could easily be true. There are lots…
Who are these people living on $40k/yr, and what size cardboard box do they live in?
With a roommate, a paid off used car, and a not extravagant lifestyle in a smaller city/town, it's not impossible. It ain't as easy as it was ~8 years ago when I was doing that though
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#45Good reputation and a healthy network. Having the skills to do the technical work is only part of the answer. I've met a lot of brilliant programmers in my career who were not good at following through on commitments, delivering work, working with others, or leaving old workplaces without burning bridges. On the other hand, I've known a lot of good-but-not-great programmers who were great to work with, made sure they…
I'm a tech generalist and this is so so right.
If I could sum it up in a sentence it would be "be more helpful than everyone else". Be the person that (generally) says yes, not no. Stretch your boundaries a little, chip in and help even if it's not strictly your job. Share your knowledge. Be friendly and open. Do what you said you'd do when you said you'd do it. That last point is so obvious as to be inane but we all know people who don't do it.
On the flip side, don't be that person who loses their shit when something goes wrong. Don't be the one who is always complaining that "this place is [some negative emotion]". Don't be the one who doesn't do some piece of work on a point of order even though someone else is depending on the result. Everyone hears about those people, and everyone avoids them. Life's too short to work with someone like that, even if they're technically amazing.
I live in a fairly small Australian city and there are circles of people who just seem to follow each other around. Being in one of those circles -- which are informal, to be clear -- is invaluable. You get there by being a) good at what you do and b) really easy to work with.
The last time I got a job by searching a contract jobs website was in 2007. Everything since then has been because of who I know.
Addendum: this takes time, obviously. You're building a reputation. I'm 46. You can't do this overnight but, that said, I took a grad in 2021 and she was everything I've said is good and she's already "in the crew".
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#46Good reputation and a healthy network. Having the skills to do the technical work is only part of the answer. I've met a lot of brilliant programmers in my career who were not good at following through on commitments, delivering work, working with others, or leaving old workplaces without burning bridges. On the other hand, I've known a lot of good-but-not-great programmers who were great to work with, made sure they…
>the trap of thinking that social skills are "bullshit"
At some point I thought this way because I wasn’t good at them and was too anxious to even attempt to work on them.
Then I realized
- ‘programming’ humans is really fun, especially when you can improve them :)
- everything else you and I do in our lives is related (directly or indirectly) to social status, so why not eliminate inefficiencies by using social skills to do the social stuff instead of lossily via technical skills and money
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#47Seriously do not underestimate the need for a strong network.
Having people who trust you and are willing to help you out is a far more potent than having 'X technical skill'. This doesn't necessarily mean going out of your way for 'networking events' or espousing your great and wonderful skills to everyone you meet. It can just mean staying in touch with the people you have enjoyed working with/for.
Keeping your skills is still important, and if you're a curious person you'll probably be doing this anyway. But there are a lot of us curious ppl out there...on the other hand, your network will be unique to you.
The closest thing to a FU skill though is probably COBOL...
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#481. Live below your means. 2. Have 6+ months living expenses in cash equivalent. 3. Build retirement / investment savings. 4. Build skills and be able to demonstrate you can ship product. I've seen many co-workers get laid off in my career, they all landed back on their feet.
> Live below your means. To me, this is the hardest to do. In the U.S., this means going against society's narrative that more/better material things will make you happier. Beyond a certain amount of income, material gains lose their material benefit, but it's hard to detach yourself from society's thinking that you'll be happier if you have a $130k car instead of a $30k one. One thing I like to remember is that bill…
As someone who in the past year who with my wife has gotten rid of our house, cars and everything else that couldn’t fit in three suitcases and now spend six months a year flying across the US staying in hotels and the other half staying in what would usually be a second home/investment property in Florida (warmest place you can stay in the US and state income tax free) , we gave up keeping up with anyone. Our monthly expenses didn’t increase and is actually trending down.
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#49[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#50There is a more general skillset of being a desirable employee. I had to build this skill up before my tech skills, I have mouths to feed.
Another one is knowing how to “hustle”. If you need money, coming up with plans that might not work is way better than just not doing anything.
When you start at the bottom, always be planning the next move.