Ask HN: What skill gave you the most ROI?
22 comments
Going to go slightly tangential and say cooking. It is a skill which will save you money, help you be in control of your health, and is useful on a daily basis.
The soft skills: sales, marketing, persuasion, public speaking and/or charisma in general.
Get a sales job. Shadow a CEO. Become a bartender. Learn about people and what makes them tick.
Get a sales job. Shadow a CEO. Become a bartender. Learn about people and what makes them tick.
How did you learn about marketing?
Also, how did you get the opportunities to shadow a CEO? I am not sure how can I provide value to the CEO as a student.
Also, how did you get the opportunities to shadow a CEO? I am not sure how can I provide value to the CEO as a student.
I think he is saying he shadowed a CEO by working as her personal bartender.
> How did you learn about marketing?
I only learned the bare minimum, which is to do cool things and tell people about them. Even that tiny bit of marketing knowledge made a huge difference to my career.
> how did you get the opportunities to shadow a CEO?
Not all CEOs run fortune 500 companies. My step-father is the sole IT guy at a small manufacturing company. I asked the CEO if I could shadow him one summer and he said yes. The guy knew absolutely nothing about computers, so whenever he had to do anything with a computer, he had me do it. I was always able to get it done in a fraction of the time it took him. He considered that a worthwhile value trade.
If you google around, you'll find stories about how ambitious people have gone about getting their opportunity to shadow CEOs at much, much bigger companies.
I only learned the bare minimum, which is to do cool things and tell people about them. Even that tiny bit of marketing knowledge made a huge difference to my career.
> how did you get the opportunities to shadow a CEO?
Not all CEOs run fortune 500 companies. My step-father is the sole IT guy at a small manufacturing company. I asked the CEO if I could shadow him one summer and he said yes. The guy knew absolutely nothing about computers, so whenever he had to do anything with a computer, he had me do it. I was always able to get it done in a fraction of the time it took him. He considered that a worthwhile value trade.
If you google around, you'll find stories about how ambitious people have gone about getting their opportunity to shadow CEOs at much, much bigger companies.
Meta learning. Follow Barbara Oakley and other's work to understand the process of learning. Try practising these on some new concepts you are tackling at the moment.
Reading about systems theory. I read Niklas Luhmann (e.g. Trust and Power) in undergrad and it made strong impressions on me. Throughout my PhD (sciences), I tried to view every problem I tackled, every collaboration from the lens of understanding the social system of the research scene, the problems tackled, the conversation happening within that community etc.
I believe systems theory can provide a real edge when competing with people who few most things at work as intellectual d*ck measurement contests, including career advancement based on naive notions of being just more clever, or just working harder to advance. Especially in academic settings, focusing on the social dynamics of your research community is key.
N.b.: This is under the consideration that you are already good/constantly improving your main professional skill, be it coding, writing, selling.
I believe systems theory can provide a real edge when competing with people who few most things at work as intellectual d*ck measurement contests, including career advancement based on naive notions of being just more clever, or just working harder to advance. Especially in academic settings, focusing on the social dynamics of your research community is key.
N.b.: This is under the consideration that you are already good/constantly improving your main professional skill, be it coding, writing, selling.
This is something I have never heard of. I study Politics and Economics in university, minoring in Data Analaysis. I will dig deeper into systems theory and see how it can be applied to Politics. Thank you for sharing!
Saying no. You have limited amounts of time and must be judicious as to what you spend it on.
Not really a skill per se but sticking to an intense, daily workout/running routine. Nothing has increased my productivity more than being active for 60 minutes every morning.
Being able to write succinctly and effectively.
Could you tell more avout writing? How did you learn it and how did the skill help you?
Good general education. Identifying it as a valuable skill. Consciously working at it.
If I send an email to my team (30 people) I spend time crafting it. Making it shorter and clearer. The combined time they spend reading it costs money. Plus they will actually do what I'm asking.
Most people just write the email and hit send.
If I send an email to my team (30 people) I spend time crafting it. Making it shorter and clearer. The combined time they spend reading it costs money. Plus they will actually do what I'm asking.
Most people just write the email and hit send.
c++,
it allows me to learn any other language quickly.
I learned it by writing 3D graphics apps/games.
it allows me to learn any other language quickly.
I learned it by writing 3D graphics apps/games.
get really good at leetcode, unfortunately, the highest paying software engineering jobs go to whoever has studied it the most.
If I have to choose between being really good in Leetcode and doing more projects, which one should I prioritize?
I agree with your point that the highest paying works go to people who has studied the most.
I agree with your point that the highest paying works go to people who has studied the most.
accurate touch tpying :-)
Summer break is around the corner in the UK. This year, I will have six months of holidays and I want to put the energy to learn specific skill. What skill did you learn that gave you the most ROI over the years and how did you learn it?
Thank you and have a good day!