This pattern compares the rigorous process leaving your comfort zone in a programming work environment to learning how to swim in the deep end of water. But it is a little more intense as it explains the scenarios of the water and your ability to swim. There are going to be job opportunities that might in fact be out of your skill level.

There are also jobs that might be out of your skill level but not out of your reach. Meaning, if you can reach the skill level with hard work and determination, you should go for it. Just put in those extra hours for however long it takes at the new job to catch up. But also, you need to be able to recognize your own abilities. If you can’t reach, there expectations consider other options.

The pattern includes strategies on what you should do if you find yourself struggling to keep yourself afloat in an environment filled with deadlines that you are struggling to meet. It really tries to touch on the possibility of the worst. As in, if you were hired and you are struggling to meet project deadlines. What should you do? That is what this pattern really tries to break that down how to take one step back and regain.   

I thought this pattern was extremely thought provoking. And really instilled in my own anxieties about my future in the field. What path do I want to dedicate my next year, my next five years, my next ten years? This pattern changes the “Long Road” into the “Intense River”. And I am trying to figure out what river I want to kayak on. Will I be safe going down an intermediate river? I need to create skills that will allow me to adapt.

This chapter also causes me to address my own faults and indiscipline’s. The Software field the way I see it requires a true passion to get better every day. I am all for that. That is exactly the type of thing I need to do something for the rest of my life. It is extremely exciting, but the severity is certainly no joke. I have a lot to improve on to contribute to some of these amazing things we are seeing today.  

From the blog CS-WSU – Andrew Sychtysz Software Developer by Andrew Sychtysz and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.