Create, always. This post details how you can balance your day job, and progress your career through Side-Projects and the Like. It touches upon Networking, and Being Recognized for the work we do.
There are three kinds of Capital:
- Human Capital
- Social Capital (Being able to request others to provide their skills, or to aid us.)
- Reputational Capital (Being Note-Worthy in a Field.)
While working a job, it's very easy to fall into a monotony. Doing the same things every week, again, and again, till you retire. The author of this article in essence says, Don't End the Week with Nothing, Make this week different than the last, have something to show for it which isn't stuck to the monotony.
When we stick to the routine, the usual. Do our 9-5 (Often more), we tend to 'not matter'. That is, there's nothing Special or Inherently Valuable in us Particularly. We may contribute to greater projects which have large impact and generate a lot of revenue, but that can't quite be traced back to us.
We need to:
- Work on Things which we can Show off.
- Work on Things where People can see us Work on Them.
- Work on Things that we can Own.
Work on Things you can Show
Open Source
A great example of this is Open Source Software. Programmers can publish code, that's public, and it adds to their reputation. Being able to see tangible proof of someone's work holds more weight than a Recommendation, especially to someone outside of your circle, and out of the circle of those that recommend you.
If one has a choice between Jobs, pick the one that has more relation to Open Source. For example, being a Rails Developer rather than a C# Developer, as Rails Projects are open-sourced by Convention.
Public Projects
Work on Projects that are Public, even if it means slightly less pay. Following this principle, we'd rather work on the Android OS rather than Google AdWords Plumbing, though the latter may pay more, it won't matter outside of the company because you have nothing to show for it.
Be Loud, Publish Everything
Talk about what you're doing. Generate Decks, Presentations, Give Talks and write Blog posts about what you're doing. Most of anything secret can be generalized to a point where it can be shared and still be useful to the person reading it. Write about, and Document Everything. Ensure you Publish it.
You may not have an audience at the beginning, but the goal of publishing the artefacts of your Work and Learning is to point back at them from the future.
Work where you can be Seen
Noteworthy Projects
Spend on your time at Name-Worthy Organizations working on Components and Projects that will be seen by a lot of people. Never spend time in the back-rooms, or optimizing something no one will see or attribute to you.
Find High Profile Companies and Start-Ups to Work At. The name of your Employer holds value.
More Contact
Work in Roles where you're continuously meeting and dealing with people. An example of this is the Developer Evangelist Role. They communicate a Product's value, through demos and the like, to Non-Technical Staff and External Stakeholders. They also Demo Products to other Developers.
Developer Evangelists often land better roles once they quit being Evangelists. Why? Because Everyone knows their Name. They're in essence the Face of a Company's Product, and they're constantly displaying their technical expertise through Demos and Communication.
Work at a Role that requires you to be in front of People.
Network
Alongside establishing greater contact with People during your Work Hours, actively networking during your off-time is a valuable activity. Speak at Conferences, go to Local Meet-ups, Write a blog and have an Email List. You don't need an Audience to do this.
Make a strong effort to build things and show them to people. This is integral. Ensure you're constantly soliciting feedback.
Brick by Brick
Looking at an Impressive Career, from the outside, it looks like a Herculean Task to get to where they did.
In essence, it's solely being consistent with the steps above.
Delivering Good Conference Talks, a few weeks writing a useful OSS Library, Posting another Blog Post about an issue you had, Shipping a Product with your name where people will see it, Podcasting with people you met via networking.
Be consistent.
Make things you can Keep
Side Projects can give you tangible results comparible to your day job, better yet, these projects can help you land a higher-paying job, or a job where you're exposed to more people. In essence, this is the option that gives you more options.
Never on Github
When you put your code on GitHub, or the Like. It becomes too easy to consume, to the point where a Junior Developer clones your code and submits their Project. With your name never reaching a Decision Maker.
That won't push us further, rather, build a Stand-Alone Web Presence for them. Through a website, detailing your features at length, and at last including a way to use your program.
Take Action
Reading, Learning, Growing, ... are all valuable actions.
In reality, working on a single side project is much more valuable. Not only do you gain the same benefits - Improved Hard-Skills and the Like. Working on a Project gives you tangible proof of these skills, and allows you to flesh your knowledge out. You stand to gain more - In your Career, Network, and your Note-Worthiness.
Don't end the week with Nothing. Keep moving, Keep Shipping.
I first read about this topic here.