your passion doesn’t matter

Here is a hard pill to swallow.

You are only as good as you can prove it to the world.

I know you are probably passionate, hard-working, and honest. I know you love to code. I know you always do your best.

The bad news is…

None of that stuff matters. Unless you can prove it.

You love to code?

How about some live coding with a suspicious dude looking over your shoulder?

Do you like Software Architecture?

Could you pass a System Design Interview about the app your company is building?

If it sounds hard, it's because it is hard.

Oh Dragos, but technical interviews are so unfair. They are testing you on stuff you won't even use on your job.

I agree.

And I am waiting for you to get to CTO and change the way developers are being interviewed.

Until then, keep on coding.

Because the truth is...

It doesn’t matter how you feel about the game. If you want to change it, you have to win it first.

Your love for coding is irrelevant unless it produces working software.

On budget and on time. For someone that can pay for it.

Passion is not self-evident.

The market judges who you are on the inside by what you can produce on the outside.

Before calling me a capitalist pig let me ask you this…

When was the last time you’ve been nice to the delivery man/woman who forgot your package?

They are very nice people.

And they did their best.

But forget a few more packages and they will soon visit the unemployment office.

Because society wants things. And it wants them on time.

You get pissed because your Starbucks coffee is too hot and too bitter. They get pissed because your code is too buggy. Same people, different tables.

The point here?

Passion is not enough. Knowledge is not enough.

Is what you can do for the world with your passion and knowledge that matters.

I know a lot of “very passionate” Senior developers who can’t pass a mid-level technical interview.

Guess what?

They are still in the same crappy job as 6 years ago. The company made them Senior because they couldn’t give them any other title.

Developers say the market is hard these days.

It is a lot easier than swallowing your ego and saying “I need to improve”.

The truth is the market is the market. More software is getting written than ever before. AI just made most existing applications obsolete and started a new gold rush.

The only thing you have to do is to get as good as you can at your craft. <https://www.theseniordev.com/free-training>

It means crystal clear focus. It means accepting reality for what it is. And you have no other choice. The market doesn’t forgive.

The good news?

The world needs great developers more than ever.

And it needs YOU.

Take care, Dragos

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