I actually had the idea for this journal entry last week, but I didn’t have the right words for what I wanted to share, so I decided to put it on hold until Monday. Sure enough, I found those words this morning while enjoying my shower time. For me, shower time always happens to be when I would get inspiration of words. I’m sure you’d have a similar place as well. Perhaps not in a shower, but someplace regardless.
I woke up this morning from a rather strange dream. Let’s just say, I haven’t had a dream like that in a really long time. I dreamt about myself coming into some funds this week. I remember signing into my bank account to see $2,200 that is already inside my acc. And then for some reason, in my reason, I was expecting to receive another $8,000. I’m not sure where that money is coming from in my dream, but I suppose it could be from a UX consulting gig. It’s like receiving project payment in increments (intervals according to meeting certain milestones). And then I would wake up.
Clearly, it must be a result of my recent stress and anxiety. Financially, I’ve been running on empty. It is likewise with my faith and hope. Last night as I laid on my bed, I made one of those truly desperate and earnest prayers to God. It’s not very often that I would pray like this. But I do remember that every time I did, God would somehow come through for me. Maybe not immediately, but it’s always when I feel like He would hear me. Is it strange that I feel like this?
Anyway, let me get on with what I wanted to talk about this week.
Hoping for the Best (Ideal)
Ever since last week, I have been thinking about this need to start preparing myself. “Preparing yourself for what?”, you might be thinking. Well, I have been thinking about two possible outcomes to my current situation. First, would the ideal situation where I would land a career opportunity that either:
- allows me to use my talents in UX/UI and Frontend Dev in one of my dream companies to work for.
- allows me to use my talents in UX/UI and Frontend Dev in some company somewhere.
At the current moment, I am still holding on to whatever little hope I have that this might still be a real possibility. The current hiring trends might not lean in majority towards what I am hoping for, but it does present a projection of where the trends are heading. So if you were to think about it, maybe my current chances are slim at best, but it’s still a chance nonetheless. With that in mind, I am keeping myself open to the possibility of landing a role in one of those dream companies, or any company that is looking for someone with my unique/niche set of talents.
Practicing my Skills in UX/UI/Frontend Dev
That is why I have it in my mind to continue practicing my skills in UX/UI and Frontend Dev. That way, my skills will continue to remain up-to-date with the latest practices and demands. While I might not own a MacBook Pro right now, with my Windows PC, I can still do quite a number of things including:
- Using Lunacy (it’s the Windows alt to Sketch App on macOS)
- Using UXPin to design some fictional apps, and also explore design patterns and identify better ways to implement those designs.
- Practice coding with frameworks like React, Angular, and VueJS.
- Practice automated frontend testing with different testing tools that are available on the market.
- Make some videos and publish some online articles about everything that I have just mentioned above.
Recalling my past experiences from before, it was this shared focus on bettering myself and the passion that I had for sharing about what I’ve learned that helped to materialize my first dream career. Everything that I did then helped to draw all the right attention from the right people, which then led to Progress offering me a role in their APJ office here in Singapore.
I might be uncomfortable with the idea of self-promoting on social media, but I do recognize that sometimes, the situation calls for us to be a little thick-skinned. You cannot be afraid of being bold, and stand out if you want to be seen. I’m just more comfortable talking about my passion and what I’ve been doing rather than talking about myself.
Preparing for the Less Than Ideal
On the flipside, I have to also consider the possibility that what I am hoping for might not be realistic in the current hiring climate. Because the possibilities of landing a dream career opportunity is slim as it is, I felt that it would be wiser for me to plan for what could most likely happen in the immediate future.
It is not the most ideal outcome, but then at least, it would still put me in a much better financial situation than the one that I’m in right now. Yeah, I’m talking about keeping my software development skills up-to-date as well. As much as I want to keep my strengths sharpened like a katana blade, I have to ready for when the opportunity arises for me to return to being a software developer. Between my skills as a software developer and being a UX specialist, I think it is clear where I stand. I’d still like to think that I’m rather good as a software developer. I did have 15 years of dev experience under my belt. Well, nearly 17 years actually. But I can never really compete with the specialists of the software dev fields. I’ll always be second, or third best when it comes down to comparing who’s better.
That said, I know there are plenty of software/app development opportunities out there. They won’t pay nearly as good as being a UX specialist, but hey, it has got to be better than what I’m currently facing.
I’m Thinking ASP.NET (C#) and Python
When it comes to software development, I have been pretty much a jack of all trades. I believe I’ve established that pretty clearly before. So, when it comes to this area of skills, I’ve been thinking hard about where I want to really invest my time. Again, not to state the obvious, I can’t possibly do everything. If I have to choose between all the different skills that I’m capable of, I’ll need to pick one or two and become much better at them than all the rest.
ASP.NET (C#) – My Roots of Web Dev
If you were to look back on my career history, you can immediately tell where I really started out. I was a .NET developer for many years. In all the years of being a .NET developer, one area of focus was ASP.NET (C#). So, it does make perfect sense for me to go back to that, and make it one of my main areas of focus. But it’s not just that also. In recent years, there’s been a great deal of integration between ASP.NET, React, Angular, and maybe, Vue. I’m not so sure about the last one. But I know both Angular and React have integrated templates for creating new ASP.NET projects. With that in mind, it would also not deviate too far from the Frontend Dev frameworks that I’ve mentioned.
As part of my professional self-interests, I’ve been thinking about learning more about Blazor, and also to see if the original Razor pages have made any changes from the last time that I coded in ASP.NET MVC. Enough talk, maybe I should just dive right into it.
Python – Apart from being used in STEAM Ed
There’s a reason why I loved Python programming. Long before Python became so popular (thanks to STEAM Education for the exposure), I have been trying to pick up Python programming on my own. My work at that time didn’t require me to have this skillset, but something in me knew that one day, Python was going to be important. That’s the thing about being gifted with foresight. I don’t always understand how it works, or where that spidey-sense is coming from. I just get this feeling some times. And when it does, I just can’t shake it away. I knew that I had to follow through with it or I will live to regret it.
That was many years before STEAM Education ever became a thing.
Today, Python is so widely used, not just in STEAM Education, but also in real-world applications that include:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Data Science
- Big Data
- IoT and Robotics applications
- Application Development
Python in recent years has risen to the top of the charts for the most in-demand programming skill (likely alongside skills like JavaScript). One thing that makes Python so popular is because of how easy it is to pick it up. It’s way easier to learn when compared to other programming languages like C++, C#, Java, and so on. But don’t let its simplicity fool you. It is still one of the most versatile programming languages on the planet. That is the reason why I still believe today what I did all those years ago – that Python is still a really important programming language to know. In my case, to master.
Closing Thoughts
I had another dream last night that was so vivid. After I woke up, I could recall every single detail of my dream. Yeah, it’s one of those. Nope, it wasn’t a nightmare, rather, it had everything to do with UX. Yeah, of all the dreams that I could’ve had, I had one about UX, right? I know. In case you’re wondering, it did take me 2 days to finish this journal entry.
So, I dreamt that I was already hired by some company to help lead one of their existing teams. This team consists of everyone from UX/UI to frontend dev professionals. Think of it like managing/leading a full stack of frontend professionals. As it were in my dream, I was conducting one of those lunch time workshops because the company is trying to create a second team of professionals and due to the current lack of experienced talents on the market, perhaps they needed someone to teach/coach/mentor them. That was the main reason why the company had hired me (I assumed).
I’m not new to conducting workshops and training related to UX. I used to do it on a regular basis (almost weekly, and sometimes monthly) for a period of time (between 2014 – 2017). So yeah, I’m dreaming about doing something that I have already done before.
Maybe I wanted this to be my reality more than anything else. It’s probably how much I wanted to end up in a position/role where I can use my skills and talents purposefully. It’s where I know I can be of the greatest value-add.
But I know…I know…a dream is still just a dream. One can always hope for things to be better. We all want things to be better. But that’s not how real living is done. We have to hope for the best and prepare for anything (I wouldn’t consider the alternative worse, so that’s why I’m not using that word here). So I’ll get to work. Readying myself for whatever might be possible. That way, I know that whatever the Universe decides to give me, I’ll be ready to take it on right away.
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