Useful Tips for Teaching Yourself New Tech Skills

Firstly: Why SHOULD You?

It’s beneficial knowledge.

Learning technical skills is useful knowledge, and can help you in the long run in any aspect, whether it’s handling your own devices at home or devices in the workplace.

It can be fun, if you let it be.

Personally, I found great enjoyment learning things that I never thought I could do previously. What I’ve noticed is that, when you enjoy the process of whatever you’re learning (and not forcing it), it sticks in your mind a lot longer.

It can be utilized in a professional setting.

Technical knowledge is the type of knowledge that would differentiate somebody from getting hired or not.

For example, being able to set up a website quickly on your own is a useful skill to have that employers will look at as a valuable asset, especially if you can build on it and adapt it to company needs.

Tip #1: Less IS More.

Don’t try to learn everything and cram all the skills into your head, but only the skills you want or need for your ideal role.

Before making this site, I was trying to learn as many skills as possible, but when I realized it would take way too long to finish learning all those skills, I took another look at my curriculum. What I noticed is that about a third of what I was trying to learn didn’t apply to my field directly.

So, I took them off the list and moved on, saving me a lot of time.

Tip #2: Seek advice from people inside AND outside your network.

Especially if they’re in the field you’re trying to break into, they’ll have valuable insight that might be what you need.

If there isn’t anyone you can reach out to, don’t worry, just look through forums on LinkedIn for example and connect with the most active members on there.

If they’re willing to speak with strangers on what they know in their field, another stranger messaging them won’t be any different.

Tip #3: Passionate teachers are the best teachers.

Passionate teachers care about what they teach and how they teach it, and as a result, they’ll want to teach you in the best way possible.

Teachers like that keep you in the know about big news and events within their field, as well as pointing you to resources that they recommend. This ends up making you and everyone they teach passionate and better learners.

Tip #4: Worry less about equipment and focus more on your work being valuable .

Of course, equipment and software are important. However, recruiters and employers don’t really care about what software or equipment you use, they care more about your work being valuable, to them and their stakeholders.

In fact, if you aren’t already aware, they can provide you with all the best tools and software if they hire you, but they’ll only hire you if you’re worth hiring, and you’re only worth hiring if you have skills that are valuable and a portfolio that proves it.

TIp #5: Start with free & open-source.

I shouldn’t have to explain why you should start off with free resources first, but open-source might need an explanation.

It’s not a bad thing to use a resource that’s free yet not open-source, in fact, I’d recommend using it if it’s what you’re looking for. However, open-source is usually 1) easier on storage, 2) have no strings attached (i.e. no free trials or require any personal information), and 3) usually made by passionate individuals who don’t care about making money and care more about making the best tool possible.

Also, with open-source, you can be a part of helping development of these tools, such as opening issues on Github to report a bug, or contributing to READMEs or repository code.

However, if you feel this is not suitable for you, you can always try paid or non open-source solutions. Don’t feel limited in your options unless you have real restrictions!

Tip #6: TAKE NOTES!

Notes aren’t just for school or to look smart, they are genuinely helpful when it comes to retaining information long-term. How much information would I have forgotten after one week of learning all those skills had I not taken any notes? A lot.

Don’t be that person who is too prideful to take notes or feels like they’re above that. If you feel like you’re above retaining information, then there’s a bigger problem than just the notes.

Also, don’t worry if your note taking habits aren’t as good as you want them to be. As you’ll see in the next tip, taking notes regardless of how good they are is good practice, and eventually you’ll get better at it!

Tip #7: Practice makes progress.

This tip is pretty straightforward. Just like with notes, you won’t be any good at anything if you never apply yourself.

You’ll also be too nervous in any professional setting if you’ve never done the process yourself before. Just don’t let that be you.

Tip #8: Track your progress, because untracked progress is as good as no progress (mentally).

Speaking of progress, tracking your progress will give you a reason to keep moving forward, while also giving you insight on how far you’ve come.

It’ll also help you monitor your pace, like you having to pick up the pace with the next learning objective if a certain software you’ve been learning took too long to understand.

Tip #9: Consolidate what you’ve learned into something, like a website or portfolio.

This puts a real goal in your mind, and something for employers to look at to really gauge not only your skills but your initiative.

In my case, I consolidated all my skills in technical writing, IT, UX, AI, open-source, version control, terminals, shells, time-management, and budgeting into this single Jekyll blog site.

Take the opportunity to put your mind to something that will show peers and employers how hard you work.

Tip #10: Try to enjoy the process, and if you don’t, you might need to switch gears or careers.

No sugarcoating, and no lying to yourself. Otherwise you’ll put yourself into a hole of a career that you’ll feel there’s no getting out of.

In fact, my biggest fear when it comes to career building is “being stuck” in a job that I hate!

The way you prevent that is through brutally honest self-reflection, and not being afraid to do what you actually want to do.