

Ask HN: Advice on settling down as web dev or grow to get hired by Facebook - swiftydev

I&#x27;m college junior who is really good as as web dev and mobile dev, I can have fun in these last two semester and get well paying job as web dev in enterprise or startups. Should I do that or master data structures, algorithms (I&#x27;m weak at those), github building and oss contribution and try to get job at Facebook?
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hakanderyal
You sound like a smart person, and using it to your advantage will benefit
your career.

There is a cognitive bias in psychology called Dunning-Kruger effect[1],
stating that individuals tend to rate their skills higher than their actual
level, without realising they are doing so.

You may have the skills you claim you have, or you may not. The only objective
way of showing that is to build stuff, and let other see your skills through
your work, not try to tell them with your words. "Show, don't tell" is a very
effective way to get others see your level.

And, with the technology continues to advance at a higher speed everyday,
constant learning is pretty much a requirement to stay competitive for
software developers.

Nobody can choose your path better than you, every individual is different,
and your life is yours to live as you see fit.

A general advice would be to continue learning. Knowing the areas that you are
weak, and admitting it is a great virtue. Study, learn, and use your newly
acquired knowledge to build better stuff.

And build projects. Contribute to open source. Write a blog. Do some contract
work to have a portfolio to show that you are good, and earn money along the
way.

When you are applying for a job, having these under your belt to show to your
prospective employer will get you far ahead of your peers.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)

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swiftydev
Whoah! I didn't realize this, may be it is so. I need to start building my
portfolio. Is writing a blog recommended, even if I kinda of person who is not
into sharing my feelings?

~~~
hakanderyal
Blogging is not for everyone, and certainly not a requirement. On the other
hand, writing is a good medium to share knowledge, to get your name out there,
to have a connection with other people.

You don't have to share your feelings either. Just open a Medium account, or
self-host Ghost/Wordpress etc., and document things you've learned, problems
you've encountered, interesting discoveries you made etc. In my experience,
this contributes to the learning experience.

Good luck in your journey!

------
wallflower
Unless you are truly an exception, it is unlikely you are as really good at
web dev or mobile dev as you claim. It is hard to be good at something unless
you truly love the frustrations and joy of it. The only way to calibrate your
true level of knowledge is easy: have you participated in the community and
given technical talks that have been received with some level of success? If
not, it is possible you have a naive sense of your abilities.

~~~
swiftydev
What I mean by really good web dev is that I can program stuffs assigned to me
faster and better than senior developers in this big IT company and can work
at being better at it. I am asking on directions on whether I should keep
focus at web dev or branch out to data structures and algorithms.

~~~
pestaa
I'm sure as hell as a manager at a big IT company I would not want the fastest
delivery but a rock solid one with deep understanding from the developers
behind it.

Your tone is very agressive; you need a serious record of work and credibility
to make statements like yours.

There are data structures and algorithms in web development too, so it
wouldn't really be branching out anyway.

~~~
swiftydev
What I meant was that, in general all the stuff being done in big IT company
for web dev is making UI to get data into database through multiple layers and
presentation that data back in many form exposing through services, APIs and
consuming it and I'm really good at it. Data structures and algorithms used
are fairly basic or implemented itself in the mature frameworks used.

~~~
wallflower
Ok, thanks for the clarification. Take this advice with some healthy
skepticism: the one action that will benefit you most in life is to become
part of a community, to be part of something bigger than yourself. I was once
quite like you - a real efficient developer who could "outcode" and "outlast"
the weaker coders. Ultimately, however it felt empty. Developing relationships
and friendships with people who care not what you do but share something is
important. You are still young - travel the world outside University, endeavor
to learn a skill that takes time to become better at. Do not make the mistake
of assigning emotional value to how hard you work unless it is for something
you own.

Good luck!

~~~
swiftydev
Thanks man.

