What is hardest about beginning your journey in tech? Transitioning from the outside or trying to specialize after studying all-round computer science without specializing? Which route do you think is easier in discovering where you would want to settle or is it really bad to want to dabble a little in everything? Here is what I think: “It is okay to dabble a little in everything”, wrongest piece of advice? I do not know but I have seen a lot of devs and designers alike with all-round experience, it is hardly common that you find a dev who knows just one thing with no experience in any other stack or technologies, in fact, the journey to reaching senior developer or designer height, would require you to dabble in different stacks and technologies. It requires you to be proficient enough with at least similar stacks and technologies. So, how do you figure out what you are interested in and what you would rather do? Here are 8 ways to find and carve your niche in tech.
P.S.: I am still carving mine, so continue at your own risk, I will give you the results in 2 years anyways.
Do Your Research
First things first, research is key, and knowledge is power! You want to be sure of what is even in existence and what is available to you, you want to know ground information on the various possible fields before you begin to make a selection of just where you might belong. Being armed with enough information or ground knowledge levels the field for you and allows you a high level of discernment to carefully pick an area of focus that would translate into the perfect niche to blossom in your tech career. So, research and discover yourself. Materials and resources to rely upon are in abundance at no cost. So, you want to take advantage of this availability and explore various grounds.
Find Your Digital Interests
What is it you genuinely like to do? Especially once you come in contact with a digital device or space? What are you most keen on in the digital space? Are you an inept artist? Do colors and styles and looks fascinate you more or are you drawn by how products work or the thought that could have gone into building the product? Or is the logic as to how the product functions? Or do you analyze as you experience digital spaces and products? What is it for you? What always captivates you first? How can you translate this interest to your niche in tech, try to give it some creative translation that interprets how you can create technological solutions in your way. For instance, you like to analyze the apps you use, why is this slow? How can I make it faster? What is making this lag? Where is all my information stored? How do I get to view it when I want to access it? Stuff like these could hint interest in backend development, this involves translating your interests into a tech niche representation.
Discover the things That Excite You
What intrigues you? What are you the most excited about and can feed information about to someone else? The things you think you can most properly communicate to someone else with vigor and passion when you know what these things are, try to simulate them into a tech space or field. One of the best things or habits a dev could be is to be passionate about their field, this passion fuels their interest and practice culture and consequently their growth, for instance, you like to read and research and write or report events, this is a passionate engagement for you, one can consider technical writing as a niche. Thus, merge your passion with digitally driven ideas to create solutions and see what sphere of tech it resides under and this could just evolve into a great place to pitch your tent.
Take Note of Your Strengths
Are you a thinker? Are you the one with the plan or the one to execute the plan? Where does your strength lie? Answers to these questions will further provide you with a perspective and direction as regards your tech self-discovery journey. Figure out what you are best at, this is not just about passion now, but beyond passion, a reality check, where is your best foot when it comes to what you can do and your specialties. For instance, you can’t love to look at color combinations, aesthetics and appearance generally but are genuinely not creative when it comes to focusing on these and trying to come up with acceptable design templates and want to be a designer, it is one thing to have interest and love as drives but another thing to have the skill in that area, so observe what you are naturally more inclined to and chase it, you are more likely to do better there for a start. This does not mean that passion alone is not enough, because, with more time, passion combined with practice can get you where you want to be.
Pick What Never Bores You
With your conscious interest in getting a niche in tech, trying to get started and breaking out of your shell, at this point, you are aware that you want to properly venture and find your space. Find that area of focus you would gladly listen to a lecture on, what is that topic that a more experienced person would talk about and you will only be too glad to be able to hear them go on about it. In that area of focus, you just cannot get bored with discovering new layers and consuming more information. Now, that is a good way to know a direction worth going, is it about a specific stack, task, technology, ethic, process, design or technique? Whatever it is, if you are happy to learn new things about it constantly then surely you would be even happier to grow and develop a product or solution in that space as your niche.
Get Hands-On and Test The Waters
You might have come close to finding the sphere you want to settle for at this point, now everything else from 1- 4 is based on how you feel from your assessment, next you want to get your hands dirty after all this assessment, try out that area of focus you think you are best fit for, get your hands on tiny challenges and garner a little insight into what your niche may be like if you pursue it as a direction in tech. A lot of resources are available online for you to consume and truly ascertain your level of alignment with this niche, it may not be easy, seamless or comfortable to begin with, but I bet it will get better. Best make sure to keep your hands on deck and be as active as possible in the process, do not forget… the more you do, the more you know!
Find A Community
Finding a group of people who are on the same discovery journey is a beautiful step to take after testing the waters, you can discover that many others, struggle to find a balance as newbies and that is okay but there is much progress in the communion of your companionship with these other techies than alone. You do not want to focus on only finding a community of inexperienced newbies like yourself still in the discovery phase, having a ready community of people with ample experience is a giant plus and being able to learn and draw insights from their own experiences passively or actively puts you spot on in getting solid in your niche.
Pick A Mentor
When people talk about picking a mentor, they usually feel that it has to be a personal level relationship, but many times, your mentorship relationship with someone more experienced can be on autopilot. How? It means you can be mentored by someone who does not know you personally, the life they live, simply gives you inspiration and guidance, and the daily knowledge they share on social platforms can be relatable, relevant and essential to your growth process, that you want to walk in their footsteps; they slowly transition into a personality you want to look up to and emulate when you start to resonate with techperience or field, you want to discover someone with ample experience and a will to guide others directly or indirectly in that same niche and fly under their radar; learning from their experiences, taking up their challenges and motivating yourself through their highlights.
If you try out these 8 ways, then you are certainly going to be closer to discovering yourself, you want to be keen about your process and progress. You have the opportunity of being deliberate about your actions, habits and general culture towards growth because you are reading this piece and you are more informed, so you definitely want to use it to the best of your advantage. Try out these 8 ways to discover what part of tech you want to focus on and thank me later.
Yours Truly,
Sushi❤️
Not the fish, the techie!