What Should I Learn to Get a Job?

You've just graduated from a bootcamp - congrats! Now you’re thinking: what do I still need to learn to get a job?

Or maybe you're already in your first full-time position. What’s next? How do you move up that ladder?

Let me tell you by first telling you what it’s not.

It isn't the latest hip Javascript framework of the month.

It isn't the algorithm for traversing a binary tree in reverse order.

It isn’t that new programming language you just heard about on reddit this morning.

The answer is to what should learn next is whatever is adjacent to what you already know.

This is key concept in the learning sciences. Our brains learn by attaching new information to existing knowledge, like how a spider expands a web by adding new strands to its existing network.

For example, suppose you're a relatively new Rails developer. You know some Ruby, some Rails, something about using your Terminal command line, and perhaps even something how to use your browser’s devtools.

And there are things that you don't yet completely understand about Ruby, about Rails, about the shell environment, or how the browser works.

Ask yourself: what do I wish I really understood?

This is how you identify the “next thing.”

Here are some concrete examples that might make sense for a new Rails developer:

1. Have you seen the official Rails guides? Pick a chapter you've never seen before and read it carefully. Then apply one thing you've learned into your code, to make sure you really get it.

2. If you can develop a small Rails application with a few models and controllers and run it locally on your laptop, can you deploy it to the internet with a hosting service? If not, that's definitely the next thing to learn. Services like Heroku or Render as a good place to start.

3. If you've gotten comfortable writing a Rails application, have you ever added a feature so that users can download some data as a CSV file? That's a great practical skill to have.

4. Do you know how to observe the entire HTTP request-response cycle in the server log? How about In your browser's dev tools? If not, learn both to master the details of the HTTP protocol.

This list is just off the top of my head. I could do the same thing for new Python developers, new React developers, and so on.

Be curious. Go down the rabbit hole. Spin another layer on your web. Find the next adjacent thing. Slowly, but surely, build your expertise.

That’s the best way to get that next job.