I was reflecting today on what it actually takes to do my job - the skills, knowledge, and experience that supposedly make me "qualified."
My hypothesis: Most of us aren’t doing anything that special. There are probably 10 people out there who could do my job better than me. The barrier to entry for what we do is lower than we think.
Most professional skills can be learned. Most industry knowledge can be acquired. Most workflows can be mastered with practice. And with AI filling knowledge gaps and guiding complex processes, the learning curve is only getting shorter.
Every week, I get DMs from people way more technically skilled than me, asking how they can break into VC. Same thing when I was an operator - people wanting to get into great startups.
The most hireable people aren’t necessarily the most skilled. They’re the ones who are curious, adaptable, and willing to evolve. They know expertise isn’t static - it’s a moving target.
Stay humble. Stay curious. Your ability to grow will take you further than any single skill ever could.
Would disagree a bit. Although my job is a mix of technical and managerial tasks, many in my team can't do what I do (w.r.t. effectiveness and efficiency). They can learn to do the tasks, but there is more to the work than meets the eyes. Active and passive learning, multi-tasking, ownership, quick problem resolution, resourcefulness, etc, these are soft skills, can be learnt but takes time if it doesn't come naturally to an individual. And after working with tens of people, I have come to realise that not everyone can do everything because many people don't push themselves enough.
Agree with your point that almost everything is learnable.
So true. There is a standing joke I tell my team. "A monkey can be trained to do what we do"
You must be real fun to work with 😂
Semi-agree. The amount of idiots in the world is beyond our comprehension. There's a real shortage of people who can think on their feet and do things efficiently. Rote learners, code monkeys and buzzword throwers are abundant.
Going one level beyond, visit any government office and you'll realise even basic common sense or motivation is missing.
Well, government jobs aren't the ones that are going to go away - OUR jobs are the ones on the line
Tbh, its not a wild thought. I have been saying this to myself for quite sometime now, everytime I am asked to take a new responsibility or when in self doubt. And I say the exact same thing, if its not rocket science, then anyone can do it. In reality, even rocket science can be acquired to some extent, eg. Elon Musk 😅
By wild I mean it's something most people won't agree with but nevertheless is true
Elon can build a company that builds rockets, get the best people to build the rocket but can't actually build rockets; case in point why not any random person can build in deeptech/spacetech
Pls don't be under the impression that Elon actually knows rocket science, he is perhaps just "good" at making decisions.
One can cook doesn’t mean one can be a chef.
I can make a chair if i have some wood, but i cant make artistic chairs.
And about being a surgeon, money is the only barrier, i can be a decent surgeon in 8-10 years
Exactly my point - with enough time and resources, most skills can be learned, even surgery. The real barriers are often time and money, not ability.
The technical part of any job - even complex ones - can be mastered. What matters is having the dedication to learn and adapt.
This seems like a very generic take on the "AGI incoming" scenario. Expected better insights into how the industry is evolving from an investor.
Technical skills can be learnt, but it's the communication handling that make us what we are. It's the soft skills, decision making, planning and proper architecting that is the key skill to develop for now, until the industry evolves more into an automated one.
Only possible point i can agree with is that a majority of the world are idiots. And they would probably be out of a job making everyone around them miserable unless information is spread on a global level.
This is not related to AGI incoming - this is just the truth of professional life.
A human or AGI - anyone can take your job and can do it better than you; only way to secure your seat in the workforce is to stay humble and keep growing.
The most hireable people aren't necessarily the most skilled.
This is something I recently observed, as someone who strives everyday to be the master in my domain. It made me realise that even if I become the best, my value addition only happens when I'm thrown at a complex and challenging problem to solve. Even then, AI can be as good as I am.
I've been wondering these days what to do with my life, knowing the AGI is inevitable and even if I'm a founder of a company that's solving some real world challenge, I'll be surrounded by a handful of people and the rest is AGI. Even worse, AGI might start its own company and create competition and maybe even eat up 😂. So, in that case, what do we, as human species, do with our lives ? Literally everything will be handled by AGI within the next 50 yrs. My friend said we'll be maintaining these AGI physical bodies. But what if one AGI can offer the service of maintaining another AGI, basically self reliance, a psychological trait every species has in its roots, to take care of its own.
I can go on and on and on. But what did you observe here ? You are living in a "possible" future. Not denial or ignorant. But you are just not living in the present happily. You are worrying way too much. Isn't it ?
People refusing this are in a deep state of denial
A mechanic doesn’t charge for hitting the hammer but for his wisdom and knowledge of WHERE to hit the hammer.
You might not be skilled, I sure as hell am!
Oh and theres a flat sold in GGn for 100cr; doesn’t render one with a 20cr home as poor now does it?
I recently read an article about the growing skills gap in the tech industry. Apparently, universities just can't keep up with the lightning-fast changes in the field.
It got me wondering - how do you all stay relevant in your careers...
To the people who've experienced both ends of spectrum, as an new grad, which is better overall?
Is software industry oversaturated? Do you feel companies will discriminate with us once we hit 40+ age as more and more people are coming into it? I can see class 6 th and 7 th std kids are doing coding just like we had fad for jee clas...
As someone from a tier-3 college, is it possible for me to bag a good job and slowly climb the ladder and make 30L, 40L like some of you do?
Is this IIT branding so needed even today to get a job at top companies?
I have huge regrets ...
