Welcome guide for self-taught IT infoxicated people

If there is one thing I have learned on this journey of self-discovery in the IT world, it is that the inherent technology is bound to imprint many more layers of uncertainty. I will explain it to you, but first some context.

You can think of my profile by placing it within the following items (which I may share with you), if you feel identified with any of them, you will probably be interested in reading on:

1. You found an area within the IT world that you liked by an internal locus of control (personal/professional interest, affinity with a previous study) or by an external locus of control (stability, career development, a bag of money in salaries).
2. Your context, family, friends, social networks, media, robots and aliens, all of them point to the fact that, if you don’t enter the tech world, you will be the coolest bohemian homeless person in the craft breweries… oh no, that would be me. I mean that feeling that, if you don’t choose to take the plunge now, your professional future would be at risk.
3. You might be a little lost professionally and took a gamble, a leap of faith.

A little disclaimer is that this short guide is valid for all kinds of roles, could be software development, QA, UI/UX, web designers, testers, implementers, networks, functional and business analysts, etc, etc, etc, etc… For this guide, they are all united by the self-taught path and the difficulties they are subjected to. So let’s get to know them:

We are not as self-taught as we think we are

I have a degree in pedagogical sciences, so I transited my IT learning with a certain structure that did not free me from making some mistakes that I am about to show you. I have divided it into three major problems:

Traditional learning vs the new self-taught educational era

We have to think that traditional education (thinking in a curriculum format, with subjects, established schedules and a clear graduation profile) has a large portion of a structure that provides certainties and many more things that we may address in another post. There are also questions about other things such as the validity of the contents, evaluation systems and educational quality, but those are issues for another day.

From the other side of the river, we can see the autodidact who faces his learning by looking at the mountain from the base, in this moment some processes occur sequentially, first, there is the overexposure of contents that provide you with infinite paths, second, you find that you must reorganize your daily dynamics or routine to devote time to research, content selection and study, and finally, there are several of internal processes that each student faces DURING the fact of going through his learning. Let’s talk a little about them.

The existentialist burden of the learner

We were talking about internal processes… coping with the insecurity in the loneliness of not knowing can be overwhelming, so each self-taught learner is faced with iterating over his or her own ignorance without support, guidance, or the safety of those certain “boundaries” provided by a traditional curriculum, within a traditional educational institution.

On this journey, each person has small injections of gratification based on their accomplishments or concrete projects. One problem is the time between these moments, so it is ideal to work towards that sweet spot where the results are constant and in relatively short periods of time. It is like seeing a block of distance in which we must walk from corner to corner, just by taking a step we will move forward a little, and that step is important in the total vision of the journey. You have to add step by step. At a good pace.

In addition to the consistency and periodicity of the results, we must also work to make them tangible and, in the best of cases, public. I am not referring to spams through social networks or tormenting your friends. The important thing is that you have records that you can go back to or show. If there are no precedents of what you have learned, the mind will not have the capacity to retain the information. It can be things as simple as your notes, mind maps or content outlines, prototypes, scans with notes on the side, programs, or whatever. Look for a tangible result.

Consistency — Periodicity — Tangible results

Infoxication. Enemy n°1

Let’s keep in mind something, research is an area of expertise by itself, it demands a certain Buddhist talent and a lot of organization, so most people do not know or were not taught to:

- Discriminate large volumes of information.
- Cross-reference data.
- Search for references.
- Understand the depth levels of the content we consume.
- Validate our information sources.

That said, we are conditioned to this intoxication of information from the beginning, which in many cases paralyzes us, disorients us or, in the worst case, discourages us to continue.

The best thing I could have done in my path was to rely on others, but not just any other, another validated with expertise in the area. People who may or may not be known to you, just have the audacity to ask someone via social networks, linkedin, or look for that kind of “transitional mentor” that at least will suggest, guide, and advise you on an initial roadmap.

Having a roadmap as a basis, it is up to you to keep the focus, you have to stop the tap of consuming information that diverts you from capitalizing your learning in the terms of the formula I mentioned before.

Consistency — Periodicity — Tangible results —Keep the focus

There is nothing written with the destination you will reach

At the beginning I told you that this is a path of self-discovery, although you choose a path, the results, projects, tasks or evidence of your relationship with what you have learned, will give you clues about how you see yourself in the work environment you want to enter. You may have great and transcendental discoveries for the better, as well as disappointments about your expectations.

You have to be flexible to understand who you will be, what interests you most, what areas motivate you and what areas discourage you. At this point you must iterate again and repeat the formula, adding the extra step of reflecting on the road you have traveled:

Constancy — Periodicity — Tangible results —Keep the focus — Retrospective

Just keep going

Step by step you will cover great distances, yes, but it is important to assume it, do not fall into the traps of instant gratification, there are no overnight experts, you need to assimilate the fact that this is a marathon and not a sprint.

Being self-taught will demand from you that you are your own structure, you are your own supporter and motivator, as well as your own auditor.

If you have read this far, I thank you and ask you to comment, it may be a reflection on your own path, a message you would like to leave to those who are on this path, or simply an idea that you would like me to go deeper into in the next opportunity. I will be happy to do so.

Step by step, you will find your way.