Once again, Cory House has a blog-inspiring question:
One of life’s hardest decisions: Earn vs learn.
When you’re reached expertise, do you stay put and harvest the returns as long as possible, or consider the expertise as a sign it’s time to move on to new challenges?
— Cory House 🏠 (@housecor) December 27, 2017
Earlier in my Career
Much earlier in my career, I would take pay cuts to learn technologies. I thought that was the way to do things. Once I felt comfortable enough with a technology, I wanted to know enough to apply it but not enough to deep dive and harvest the returns as long as possible. I knew early on that if I sat still too long, I would feel like I wasn’t learning as much and growing stale while technology evolved around me. I would rather have taken a pay cut and learn new technologies than harvest returns and stay put.
Current Point in my Career
Having been in technology for about 15 years, knowing what I know, knowing that I have an immense skillset with an aptitude to learn new technologies fairly easily, I find that I am not as quick to take a pay cut for new technologies. I learn new technologies as side projects so that if I want to work with them professionally, it’s an easier slide and less chance of a pay cut. Now, if I had to learn a new technology for a gig (which I’ve done A LOT in my career), I am fine with that. However, my employers and clients pay a certain rate for me, knowing that they’ll get a certain quality out of me. If I feel like I cannot deliver the quality while learning new technology, I might lower the rate, but it depends on the impact overall.
Constantly Learning
Regardless of the earning part, I am always learning. I am one who cannot stay put, sitting still, getting idle. I need to always stay busy – whether it’s work or play. So for me, if I have down time, I am playing with new technology, learning how things work. What can I say? I find technology fun, and learning how to learn technologies early on has set me up for a good career path. 🙂
These are my experiences. Yours may vary. I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment below!