- Working 8 hours in one place is considered "poor"
In China, you should never think that studying technology can bring you a stable life and high salary. You should also not think that those who work in market development or running errands have no future.
Do you know that there is a considerable number of software companies in China whose software development teams are very small, even with only 1-3 people, not even enough to form a project team? Yet, these teams have to undertake all the software development tasks of the company, working day and night during the critical stages of software deployment and development. They also have to worry about the bugs found during testing and the delayed submission of software module functionalities. If you unfortunately join a team that does on-site development, you will have to leave your hometown and say goodbye to your girlfriend, and focus only on coding, eating, and sleeping.
What's even worse is that your social circle becomes very limited. Apart from a few technical personnel, you will hardly meet people from other industries or positions. Your circle of friends becomes small and limited, and it may even ruin your existing relationship (imagine being away from your girlfriend for more than two months without seeing her, she might get angry at you).
Perhaps you may receive a so-called white-collar salary, but you will lose the freedom to enjoy life. If you want to be a technical person, especially a developer, I believe you will soon understand the desire to stay in one place for a long time, make friends, and have more time for life.
Compared to our lives, social relationships, and work, those who work in pre-sales and market development have more time outside of work. Sometimes, their work and personal life can be balanced. Through market development, they can meet people from various industries and make different kinds of friends. They have more opportunities for wealth and development compared to us, as long as they are as diligent as us (there are ordinary people who, if given a different opportunity, can immediately become diligent and outstanding).
- Don't let one aspect blind you
When studying technology, never think that being the best in technology will earn you 100% respect.
Once, during an interview for a project manager position, someone said, "I only want obedient people who follow my instructions. As long as they are obedient, I will hire them, even if they have excellent technical skills."
Subsequently, this person got a trial opportunity, and if nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely be the successor to the next project manager.
Do you know, my friends? No matter how strong your technical skills are, you cannot have the freedom to spend time studying LINUX source code like others, or even write a masterpiece like LINUX to showcase your talent. What you need to do is write code according to requirements, and the meaning of writing code has already been defined. If you follow the rules, you will soon realize that there are many similarities between the code you wrote yesterday and the code you wrote today. After writing code for a while, you will understand the importance of copying, pasting, and duplicating (if you haven't been involved in real development for more than a year, don't argue with me).
If you are lucky enough to overhear conversations among market personnel or leaders, you will vaguely feel that they see technical personnel as coding machines, and your value is not as important as you imagine. Within the team, you may be engaged in internal disputes with colleagues over technical issues because they don't agree with you and you don't agree with them. Both of you think you are right, but the purpose of the argument is to prove that you are better than the other person in crucial situations (in a project development, no one wants to listen to others for a long time, everyone wants to change positions and lead others).
- The outside world is much more complex than we think
You should not think that if you have good technical skills, you can start your own business and have the capital for entrepreneurship because you are involved in technology.
If you think that way, you are really mistaken. If you conduct a survey among non-technical people, you will find that very few of them know about C# and JAVA, let alone appreciate whether your technical skills are good or not. In other words, technology is just a tool, and those who are good at using this tool to work for others are often not good at using this tool to start their own business because these are two different concepts, and the skills required are completely different.
At the beginning of entrepreneurship, your social relationships, your ability to handle interpersonal relationships, your understanding of social rules, your ability to understand others' minds, your ability to say likable things, and your planning and marketing of the services you provide, there may be tens of thousands or millions of issues worth considering. But you will find that technology is rarely included in these tens of thousands or millions of issues. If you reach a stage where your business is about to succeed, you will tell yourself, "Why should I do the technical work myself? I can hire someone else." At this point, you will truly understand the role of technology and your role as a former technical person.
- Conclusion
Based on the above discussion, I advise those who are studying technology not to approach it with the mentality of an imperial examination. Do not become obsessed with learning technology, trying to master all the skills, and become an authority and expert in the field of technology, just to show off to beginners online when necessary.
Technology is just a tool, a tool for survival in a certain stage of life. You can love it for a lifetime, but it is better not to rely on it for a lifetime.
The sole purpose of mastering technology is to use it to find a job (if you don't want to make technology your second life). It is about doing something that others can use, something that can improve their work efficiency. Imagine, what is the use of solving 10,000 technical problems? It will only make people feel sour. Instead, during your learning process, cultivate a pragmatic attitude, such as researching which software companies in your local market are hiring, how far you are from meeting their requirements, and what specific steps you need to take to meet their requirements. After analyzing these, you will realize that the contribution of technology to finding a job is not as high as you originally imagined.
Whether you are studying technology to find a job or start a business, you need to have a clear understanding of technology itself. In China, there will not be another Bill Gates because the country currently does not fully respect technical talents. It is still in an awkward situation where software technical talents are treated as talent machines (if you don't understand, it is possible that you have only worked in technical positions, and most of your friends are in the technical field, or you haven't started working yet but enjoy reading biographies of Bill Gates).
- Understanding
"Do not rely on technology for a lifetime" is a realistic statement. Many people think that in their 20s, earning a monthly income of 20,000 to 30,000 RMB or more is good enough.
The premise of understanding this statement is that you are not satisfied with your current income (if you have a short work experience, you can look at the income of people who are doing well in this industry and see if you can meet their standards), and you have concerns about your future or the industry. Only then can you truly understand this statement.
This is also why most people who understand this statement are around 35 years old.
Indeed, for a programmer who has worked for seven or eight years or less, technical skills are necessary at this stage. You need to have a deep understanding and the ability to find a job the next day if you are laid off.
If you are lucky enough to become an expert in a certain field, someone that the younger generation cannot replace, then the statement "do not rely on technology for a lifetime" may not apply to you. Great masters, I salute you. However, for most people, it is impossible to become irreplaceable in a field (due to opportunities and talent). Therefore, you need to find a way to ensure that when you get older, have a family, and have subordinates, you will not be laid off, your income will not decrease, and your quality of life will not decline.
If, at this stage, you are still studying how to implement a certain feature or how ingenious an algorithm is, I think you are not too naive, but rather using technology as an excuse to avoid reality. In a vulgar saying, my mind is filled with thoughts of making money and improving the lives of my family. For those who work in technology, if they haven't achieved this (regardless of financial freedom) before the age of 35, do you think there will be opportunities after 35? Or ask yourself honestly, how much of what you are doing is something that only you can do and others cannot, and how much technical expertise do you really possess? Therefore, technology is just a skill for survival at this stage.
Everyone's technical skills have a limit. When you reach the limit, will your income be sufficient for you? This is something you need to consider. Of course, if you have a mine at home or several properties in a first-tier city, then you can completely treat technology as a hobby.
- Technology is your first pot of gold
Programmers are essentially learners, constantly learning and not being eliminated! And age, so-called high salary is the foundation for the second industry! As the saying goes, when you have money to invest, why would you do it yourself? Starting a business is risky and tiring. Of course, if you are running a small business, it's a different story. Basically, save some money before the age of 35, as a foundation for future career changes or side businesses. And during these ten years, figure out how to earn the money that others would take 20-30 years to earn. For programmers, the best way to do this is to improve yourself!