The best — enemy of the good
When retraining professionals from other fields into programmers, you notice an interesting feature. People who have already worked somewhere are very eager to retrain. And the more their experience outside IT, the more diligently they study. But students sometimes slack off blatantly.
Talking with both groups, you can see that students still believe in the "magical employment" waiting for them right after graduation. And for those who haven't taken off the rose-colored glasses yet ...
Guide to the real world
Each of us has needs. Needs for family, friends, home, work, hobbies, ... But now I want to talk about one of the most important and always relevant needs — the desire to live well and earn well.
This need exists in most people. And almost everyone tries to satisfy it through work, profession, and career. And it seems quite logical to achieve this goal through professional development and self-realization. Who among us wouldn't want to become a top-notch specialist, an international-level professional: recognition, respect, high income, great opportunities — sounds fantastic.
And what is the plan of action for all these millions and billions of future high-level workers? Quite often, this plan looks like this: finish school, prepare for university, enter university, study, graduate, find a good job, work, build a great career, retire.
This plan only seems correct, but it's not. A correct plan differs from an incorrect one in that the correct plan leads to the goal, and the incorrect one doesn't.
The above plan ignores so many real-life factors that it's hard to even call it: primitive, outdated, or just wrong. What does this "most common success plan in the world" overlook? Competition...
Competition
1. The winner takes all
5% of the best specialists get 50% of all the money. 20% of the best specialists get 80% of all the money.
Some companies look for a better employee, while others look for a cheaper one. The first are not afraid to overpay but want to get the best for the money they have. The second want to pay the least for the minimal acceptable quality.
You will start your career from the far left side of the graph. And it's best to be on the far right. You have a long way ahead. You need to move as quickly as possible at least to its right half. A specialist from the right side of the graph differs from one on the left by having experience, and quality experience at that.
While you're on the left side, the number of such specialists as you on the labor market is much higher than the demand for them. So, it's a buyer's market (employers). And you have to compete with others like you for the worst vacancies.
But once you've gained enough experience and moved to the right side, the rules start to change. Demand begins to outstrip supply, and salaries start to grow. Five years of good experience can lead to a tenfold salary increase. So think, look around, and learn.
And even better — join the top 5% of specialists. Here, your earnings will be limited only by your clients'/employers' budget. If they want to hire the best — they should pay the best. Just like at an auction.
A smart and hardworking person can reach the top 20% of specialists in 5 years. And in the next 5 years — into the top 5%. Of course, this requires a lot of self-education and frequent job changes. Sometimes working beyond the norm.
But you don't need to work long (or much). The best specialist doesn't do more work — he does it better. Better than everyone else. That's why he can't be replaced by ten average workers.
If in the presidential election you got 48% of the votes, and the second candidate 47%, you didn't get the support of the majority, you didn't beat your competitor by double. You only outperformed him by one percent! But you'll become president and get everything, while he remains nobody and gets nothing.
2. The loser gets nothing
If you've already entered a university, you might have faced the situation where 200 people are accepted, but 2000 want to get in. Out of 1000 applicants, only 100 will become students with a competition of 10 people per spot, and the remaining 900 will get nothing.
What do you think will happen when you finish university and look for a job? The competition will grow exponentially!
Suppose you graduate this year from a law faculty in Berlin. Let's say there are only 10 universities in Berlin, which together graduate 1000 lawyers annually. The market has two vacancies with a salary of $80,000 per year, 8 vacancies with $40,000, and thirty vacancies in government organizations with $20,000.
Disappointment 1: 1000 "lawyers" and only 40 vacancies. So, only 40 out of 1000 lawyers will get a job in their profession, and the other 960, after 5 years of study, will work as "sales managers".
Disappointment 2: You're one of the top 40 law graduates — what are your chances of getting a job? Much less than 100%, because there are also nepotism, family professions, connections, etc. Most of these 40 vacancies will be taken by the children, nieces, and grandchildren of top managers of these companies.
Disappointment 3: You're the best graduate of your year, but you still lack real practical experience. And the market will also be contested by people who have been working in the field for 3-5 years. They've gained experience, reputation, and connections. So, you might have to start from the very bottom.
Disappointment 4: You'll have to work for about 3 years in "free" jobs for experience, while also self-educating, and only then will you be able to compete for good vacancies with prospects, valuable experience, and high salary. This stage should have been completed in university. But if you studied at a regular university, now you'll have to do all this yourself.
3. You have nothing
All you have is a diploma, and in most cases, it doesn't mean much in the eyes of your future employer. Most employers know the "real value" of your diploma and its microscopic usefulness compared to real experience.
Do you have higher education? Who doesn't? Many people have higher education. It doesn't guarantee anything. It's like a certificate that you're not a fool, and that's all. Universities don't provide any super-modern skills. Usually, in a year of real work, you learn as much as in four years at university. That's life, whether you like it or not.
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