Actively Participate in your Career
About six months ago I wrote an article (since pulled due to flaming) that put forward the premise that a student needs to participate in their education. Whether we call it participation, activation or student interest is beside the point, a student needs to engage as an active participant to learn. This is regardless of any contemporary theories of education that state everyone learns in different ways. Of course they do. But if you aren’t willing to go to classes, do the content or read the information you won’t learn. And the same goes for your career. Nobody is going to pay you to watch YouTube and do the things you already know - in the real world learning is a career skill in itself.
Which brings me to a post this week from Seth Godin titled Getting vs Taking. He’s asking which one you are? Do you go to school (or work) and get the knowledge and opportunities they give you? Do you wait for the teacher to give you information or your boss to give you the things that add up to a career? Or are you the sort of person who does projects in your own time, you go back and ask teachers extra questions and make opportunities for yourself in the workplace that add up to a career? In other words, are you activated? Are you participating? Are you engaged and amazed by what you do? Are you the sort of person who goes out and takes the education and career you deserve? I think I’m a taker. The things I do activate my brain nearly every single day.
I’m always amazed at other students in my degree (a bachelor of computing) who only do their units and never work on private projects. Its the first thing employers are interested in knowing - what have you done, where are your experiences and responsibilities? That so many people are willing to be given an education is an interesting issue. One real world project in your resume will count for a lot more than programming in a controlled environment, for example. Dealing with a real client and showing some entrepeneureal dash will take you a lot further than simply doing a course. Any course. Which is where the whole conversation about the relevance of qualifications versus practical experience and skills comes into play. Takers are working at both ends of that stick.
If you were an employer who would you want in your company - a getter or a taker? Do you want some plod who turns up and ticks the boxes and goes home at five or are you looking for an employee who is actually interested in the work? An employee, God forbid, who is engaged and participating in their own career.
Don’t let your life be about what happens to you, make it about continuous learning and rich experiences. Pick up a pencil and draw or get coding on that mashup you thought about at 2am last week. Become an expert in your domain through continuous engagement. Be a taker every step of the way.
