

Most marketable skill to teach oneself? - kylelibra

I'm tired of sitting around after work and not doing anything productive.<p>I am tech savvy, like everyone else here.  What is the most marketable skill I can teach myself?  Guides would be appreciated.
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pg
Right now, probably writing iPhone/iPad apps.

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weaksauce
To expand on this, the apple documentation is great. See
<http://developer.apple.com/iPhone>

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ecaradec
voted up for invisible irony

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weaksauce
To love learning. What are you trying to market? Find a job? Get a raise?

Anyways for some actionable advice: writing well is in shore supply as well as
being able to give a good speech. If you are a technical person learn
usability as that gets overlooked very often. (see don't make me think by
Steven krug) I think anything you learn will give you a context in which to
learn other material so no learning is in vain.

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kylelibra
My end goal would be to find a new job and move to a completely new place. I
like learning for the sake of learning, but learning as a means to an end (new
job) is my goal in this instance.

Thanks for the reading recommendation, it definitely looks interesting.

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weaksauce
No worries about the link. You can easily burn through that book in a few
hours but the concepts are timeless.

What stuff do you know right now? Where do your interests lie? If you are
halfway decent at programming in ruby/python/c++ you should be able to hammer
your way into a nice job at a company of your choice. I was helping my last
employer interview programmers and it was abysmal how many could not even pass
a basic FizzBuzz test in the language of their choosing.

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zmmz
Chances are you already have all the hard skills you need.

The most useful skill is communication. Being able to "talk the talk", market
yourself and come off an interesting and intelligent individual is the
greatest asset somebody can have.

Also, learn another language (aim to know three). This is especially important
if you happen to live in Europe where most companies are a mixed bag of
various nations.

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fakelvis
When it comes to learning another language as a marketable skill your mileage
will vary massively. If you do not have other reasons for learning the
language, your ROI could be negligible (or negative).

To learn a language well enough for it to be of the level required
('marketable skill' level) will take a very long time. Even then, it may be
unnecessary.

I concur that communication is one of the most useful skills. My writing and
public speaking always brings questions and is often a topic of conversation.
That I (attempt to) speak the language of the country I live in and have
knowledge of a number of others? It's never mentioned.

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wmwong
Try self-improvement. Improving who you are is never a bad idea and often
leads you into other areas of development. It can lead you to explore new
ideas and learn new skills which in turn can be marketable. Try to start off
with reading "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". I thought this
book was wonderful.

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kylelibra
I've actually already read the Stephen Covey book, what others would you
recommend which are of a similar nature?

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wmwong
I found the first edition of StrengthsFinder very intriguing. It's the type of
book that gives you a paradigm shift.

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aymeric
What do you want to do with your "best marketable skill"? Earn more money?
Join great startups? It will help us give you some advices.

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kylelibra
The end goal would be to find a new job.

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wicknicks
To love what you do.

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MisterWebz
How is one supposed to teach itself to love what he does?

