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What Is a Wildcard Person?

wildcardpeople.com

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Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#261

Post by riekus »

I have struggled with this myself for a long time. I feel gratefull for having stumbled upon this article.

What i just want to share here is this quote which I heard a couple of years ago and will never forget.

Did you know the saying "Jack of all trades, master of none"? Apparently this quote is only half of the full quote, which is.

"A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but better then a master of one"

-- I also think that a lot of people have a misconception about this kind of person. It is not someone with a big skillset but likely someone with ADHD, this trait, for me comes with HUGE downsides, as in, my biggest wish is to start a startup, but this trait is preventing me to finish almost anything. I have a huge backlog of unfinished side projects, i work on them day/night until I know i got it (meaning i have figured it out, it works, it is possible), and then I lose my interest and start exploring new ideas and testing if these are feasible.

I am currently trailing ADHD pills to litterly NOT be this person. And it feels amazing to look forward in planning, be prepared and structured.

Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#262

Post by riekus »

koonsolo wrote: post #170

This closely resembles the value that I can provide to a company, but I want to add something on top of that. A manager can assign me any task, and know that it will get done. When there are blockers, the manager is notified. I think this is a huge benefit.

Same for me, I don't see that high responsibility amoung a lot of my colleagues. I am about to get promoted, and I am durning down the offer since I am currently doing all those wildcard jobs, even outside working hours, because I enjoy them.

But when you expect me to do them, it is different and you need to compensate!

Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#264

Post by BlackFly »

YurgenJurgensen wrote: post #216
analog31 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My take is that Heinlein was trying to write literature, not documentation. So a colorful exaggeration makes sense.

People, including the poster I was replying to aren’t generally writing literature when they quote it though, and they like quoting that a lot.

You missed the forest for the trees:

> He was a bit pro-military for my tastes, but I hope you get the idea.

I was trying to emphasize the point being made to you: the particular skills listed aren't relevant to the point of the need for general skills (the idea I hoped you would get) but instead relevant to all the people around the protagonist in the novel (which has a military slant due to the author). I'm quoting literature to show evidence that the debate is old, that was the entire point of my post; what am I supposed to quote except something that someone wrote? People like quoting literature for reasons like that: evidence that an idea is general, old and timeless, that our ancestors were grappling with the same ideas, that it isn't settled and probably never will be.

Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#265

Post by namaria »

corobo wrote: post #120
namaria wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd take a hefty pay cut to jump on a "hell yes" project. Very easy to say. Let's get back to it when you have actually taken a hefty pay cut.

In November I quit my full time job to go freelance while building my own business because I got bored of the Groundhog Day I was living in (7 year itch?). So far it's the biggest pay cut I've taken, although admittedly it is looking like it'll stabilise to more than I was on FT over the next couple months. Does that count? Am I allowed to get back to it? Haha Figured now's the best time to try. No dependents and wor…

I don't think taking a risk with a expected pay off qualifies as "taking a big pay cut so I can work on interesting stuff".

Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#266

Post by prox »

asabla wrote: post #254
prox wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this comment thread is certainly enlightening in that regard. Maybe I should rethink my strategy! May I ask what you market yourself now?

I've kind of switched over to a more specialized direction, but I still do include all/some the general stuff as well. Meaning: It's imperative you explain there is a focus on what you're specialized/interested in. And if they're still interested there is a lot of extra goodies you know as well. But only as long as it's part of the assignment/position you're interviewing for. I know this answer is a bit vague, but I…

Yes, thank you! This end of the year period is good to reflect on the coming year and make some changes (if necessary).

Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#267

Post by corobo »

namaria wrote: post #265
corobo wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In November I quit my full time job to go freelance while building my own business because I got bored of the Groundhog Day I was living in (7 year itch?). So far it's the biggest pay cut I've taken, although admittedly it is looking like it'll stabilise to more than I was on FT over the next couple months. Does that count? Am I allowed to get back to it? Haha Figured now's the best time to try. No dependents and wor…

I don't think taking a risk with a expected pay off qualifies as "taking a big pay cut so I can work on interesting stuff".

Fair enough.

Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#268

Post by mclightning »

d0100 wrote: post #228
mclightning wrote: post #134

I was that guy for some 5-6 years in earlier years of my career. It doesn't pay well. Job security is non-existent. You won't get visa sponsorships. Your only way out is to build your own startup/product. It is too far out of the regular career spectrum, and you face even open criticism in interviews for this sometimes. So, I stopped. I am an expert Frontend Engineer now. I get senior roles without even a proper inte…

> I am an expert Frontend Engineer now I wonder how much you know more than a Fullstack Engineer? I ask because I am a generalist "fullstack" and want to know what kind of things an "expert" should know in the frontend that would make them unable to do fullstack personal projects From my POV, unless you are working on very new tech like WebGl, Wasm, etc, everything else frontend is pretty much resolved. Would "expert…

I interviewed Full Stack Engineers many times. They usually cannot finish a coding challenge that is entirely frontend. The same challenge for me, it is all about how fast I can type. I can narrate the code and architecture I am writing as I code it

As with everything in life, full stack is a spectrum between backend and frontend leaning extremes. So, my point above is definitely a generalisation.

You might be super-sharp, a unicorn, or a frontend-leaning fullstack developer. It may not apply to you.

Taking this into consideration, there are worse examples of fullstackers too. Ones that don't know of spread operator, or can't type an object without googling first. that is around-or-below a junior-level competence in frontend.

Then there are those in the middle, who won't be up-to-date on how to use hooks, contexts, or be out-of-touch with concept of reducers or state management...but will work at the competence level of a mid-level frontender.

Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#269

Post by mclightning »

PainfullyNormal wrote: post #237
d0100 wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am an expert Frontend Engineer now I wonder how much you know more than a Fullstack Engineer? I ask because I am a generalist "fullstack" and want to know what kind of things an "expert" should know in the frontend that would make them unable to do fullstack personal projects From my POV, unless you are working on very new tech like WebGl, Wasm, etc, everything else frontend is pretty much resolved. Would "expert…

I'm also interested in this, but I'm more interested in what you need to say and do to convince other people you're an expert. > everything else frontend is pretty much resolved Has it? The technologies will change again. Pretty soon, if I have to guess. What's valuable here are the concepts that are universally applicable and have been since it was called client programming in the 70s: state management, rendering, A…

> to be an expert

You should be able to offer solutions to problems impromptu. You should be dependeable in a wider-group meeting involving business or other competencies to represent what does the frontend say about it.

This means having knowledge and experience to offer solutions without googling.

Beyond that, you also need to be on top of the latest (not the newest) standards to follow. You need to stay up-to-date and filter through the waterfall of sh*t trends in the industry, to know what's actually relevant.

While doing all of that, you need to maintain your past/fundamental knowledge...nitty gritty details, to help your colleagues.

You need to do all of this while (most likely) being representative spokesperson/front for a frontend project at your day job.

Re: What Is a Wildcard Person?

#270

Post by Terretta »

taubek wrote: post #2

Nice read. Kind of reminds me of T shaped people - https://jchyip.medium.com/why-t-shaped-people-e8706198e437

Glad to see this here. See also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-shaped_skills

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versatilist

http://agilemodeling.com/essays/generalizingSpecialists.htm

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