Here\’s this interesting number I have learned today. As an engineer or doing any job that is based on your technical skills, how much you could achieve is 15% based on your technical skills which is how well you could do in the industry, and the rest 85% is based on how well you could sell your skills, your ideas, and most importantly, how well you could sell yourself.
I used to not believe in that, but gradually I realized that it is really the case. At least as graduates, our technical skills might not vary that much(really? I am starting to have doubts about that), somehow it is how well we could sell ourselves that could land us in different levels of positions. Of course, personal goals might be different, and what we want to do as graduates are different, but still, our starting point is determined by mostly soft skills, not technical skills. Except that one could be extremely great technically, that\’s a whole nother case. But the truth is, few people could become that coding freak that companies would want no matter what.
So, here\’s my plan. I\’m gonna take two paths. Firstly, I would try my best to become that \’freak\’. To learn through experience and self-studying, and hopefully, I could build up a fancy portfolio before I graduate. And hopefully, that portfolio is great enough to get me into my desired position. It is doable, cus basically, for tech people, we got hired for what we have done and what we could do. The portfolio of our past projects matters a lot, it is more important than grades and internship experiences which are listed on the CV. And secondly, I would learn to sell myself wisely. I am currently reading the book How to Win Friends and Influence People(1936). And I am taking courses about marketing and management and stuff like that. I take notes, I step out and try, and I will update my further process here.
Tomorrow has always been better than today, and it always will be. Just keep going.