Here is why you should not become a (lame) programmer

If you are a non programmer, you probably have been drooling over the excellent job opportunities for programmers for a while by now. You probably have heard that you will be tackled by startups if you yell out loud “I know Ruby, Javascript”, “I am an iOS developer” in downtown San Francisco’s and offered six digits job in no time. Not only I heard that many times, I also know many solid programmer friends of mine getting a multiple lucrative job offers within a week after they land in San Francisco.

Yes, the job opportunities are promising.

No I don’t think you should spend time learning how to code, because it will sure turn into waste of time if you see yourself fit the following “bill”.

1. You never liked solving puzzles. You don’t remember (ever once) you attempted on any puzzle problems.
2. You have never been a top student in any fields even when you tried really hard.
3. You attended a programming class in college and never really got interested in it.
4. You want to make better salary by finding a programming job.
5. You don’t like “making” things. You might like to “make things happen”, but never get your hands dirty actually make things.
6. You think “girls who code” is cool and want to be part of “movement”

Nowadays, Technology has made learning so much easier, my favorite sites like codecademy.com, and countless video class sites make it so much easier to learn from anywhere. That creates a false impression that it will take just a few weeks or months for anyone to become a solid programmer.

If above 1 to 6 fits your profile, the likely outcome is you spend a few weeks “coding”, create a few “web pages”, get a few “badges” and feel good about your “coding skill”.

No, that doesn’t make you a programmer, won’t find you a job, u can’t pass tough interview questions a real solid engineers will throw at you.

And if you spend a lot money on those courses, you will likely not see any ROI materialized anytime soon.

If you really think becoming a programmer is the “best career opportunity” , think again. On the contrary, if you are curious, want to exercise your brain a little more and started learning programming and actually enjoying it, can’t wait to get back on it when you are NOT doing it, you have hope.

The basic rule of thumb for a career success has never changed, even when technology created so much hype and false movement. The rule of thumb is always: your success depends on the value you create for the society. There is no shortcut.

Not being good on programming doesn’t mean you won’t succeed in your career attempt. I think the real question to ask ourselves is:

- what do I really enjoy doing?
- what have I done that “wowed” people in the past.

Finding these dots and connecting them are our best answer to become Happy and Successful