Transcription
For over 10 years, I've worked around IT as a tester in IT giants, launched and managed YouTube channels, built websites, and created games. And during this time, I've spent thousands of hours on projects and things that didn't meet my expectations. If only I had known then what I know now, I probably would have saved myself years spent in a cycle of uncertainty. Hello, I'm Nikita, and today I'll share with you advice that I myself would have wanted to hear many years ago.
You don't have to know everything. This is something everyone who is learning something new, changing careers, or looking for their first job should hear. When I was training to be a tester 5 years ago, I reviewed every job posting, Googled every unfamiliar word, read articles about all types of testing, development methodologies, and watched how each tool looked and how to work with it. It felt like a real tester knew about everything written in the job descriptions. And even after so many years, I still don't understand half the words written in job postings. However, this didn't stop me from becoming a sought-after specialist. It turned out that you don't need to know all possible terms and programs, but rather how the profession works as a whole. And when the time comes, how to effectively and quickly dive into something you've never tried before.
Learn how to learn. Believe me, I am an expert in completing courses. And before, everything always went according to one scenario. I would watch a course, repeat what the instructor did, and then, when the course ended, my mind would be blank, and I couldn't do even the most basic things. And I would have to take the next course because I couldn't do anything yet. This is how I learned testing, programming, and game development. There was always a feeling that just a little more and my third eye would open, and with a snap of my fingers, I would become an expert. One problem, this "just a little more" never ends. Simply watching courses and doing nothing, at most repeating what the instructor does, we, surprisingly, learn nothing. You need to be able to switch from consumption mode to creation mode. There are three ways.
The first and simplest. Before repeating after the instructor, watch the lesson entirely and only then do what he did. This way, we immediately check what we remembered and what we didn't, and immediately understand where problems arise. The second option is to apply knowledge using your own project as an example. That is, don't just copy; after watching a lesson, think about how you can apply that knowledge in your specific context. You can come up with a project in any field. So, if you are a tester and learning to write autotests, take on a different project, not the one from the course. Over the years, I've arrived at the third option. Don't watch courses at all and jump straight into a project. If you want to make caviar, just open the engine and start doing something. You need to create a character. Well, open Google, ChatGPT, or YouTube and ask how it's done. This way, we learn immediately where we want to learn, and solve problems that are important to us. True, if you want to become a neurosurgeon, this is, of course, not an option.
The best is the enemy of good. Or why perfectionism is a trap? If we do something that is dear to our heart, we want to do everything perfectly, write the cleanest code, come up with the most meticulously detailed game, draw the most beautiful illustration. But there is no limit to perfection. Therefore, with such an approach, we will forever be stuck in revisions and will never finish anything. Instead of doing everything perfectly, we need to create what is called an MVP, a minimum viable product. The task is to do the most basic thing that simply solves the problem and see the result. All the most successful startup founders do this. They develop quickly, test, and move on. If everything is good, they gradually, in small steps, make the project better. And if the project turns out to be needed by no one, they abandon it even before spending too much time. For example, for my school, I am creating a full-fledged educational platform, but instead of trying to do everything at once, I focused on what bothers me the most. This is the homework grading system. I built it, saw if it solved the problem, and gradually started expanding it.
Another example from the field of video blogging. I watched an interview with an editor for a famous channel, and he said the following: "We make videos so that they can be released at any moment." That is, they immediately make a more or less final cut and gradually refine it, add effects, transitions, post-processing, color correction, improve the sound. But if some stage is skipped, it won't prevent the video from being released. Yes, it will be less cool, but it will still be there. This MVP principle can be applied to any area of life. Well, for example, you need to clean up, do the minimum and assess the situation. Maybe that will be enough so that the apartment doesn't look like someone died in it.
You will never be ready. It always feels like you are not ready enough. You don't know enough to start your project. You don't have enough skills to start applying for jobs. And so you always wait for this magical moment when inspiration strikes you. I am ready, but this never happens. Even after 5 years of experience as a tester, when applying for another job, I still ask myself: "Am I really ready?" And you know what? Let's leave that question to others. If you're applying for a job, apply, and let the employers decide if they are ready to invite you for an interview. If you make figurines on a 3D printer, put them on Avito. And let future buyers decide if your product is good and if they are ready to buy it. To do something, you don't have to be confident. It's enough to be ready to try.
Learn to solve problems. When we constantly postpone or avoid things and constantly make excuses for why we don't do what we want. In reality, we are afraid of problems, mistakes, failure, wasting time. Call it whatever you want. My favorite excuse: it's too late for me, I'm too old, I'm already 30 years old. It's just a treat. You have no idea how many times in testing I've encountered tasks that make me want to tear my hair out, that I don't understand at all, that I have no idea how to even approach. And it's completely unclear why I chose this specialty. The trick is that problems can occur in absolutely any field. Often, we can't even influence their appearance, but we can influence our attitude towards them. Avoiding problems is, of course, painless, but it's much more interesting to go through all the pain of solving them. And when you finally figure it out, you get real pleasure. Problem-solving is perhaps the most important skill in any job, not just in IT.
Result, not execution. A developer is not paid for writing the most beautiful, clean, and elegant code. A developer is paid because their code ultimately works. We return to the topic of perfectionism, but from the client's side. Everyone needs results, and everyone pays for results. As a tester, my leads always didn't care how many test cases and checklists I wrote, how many steps they contained, and how exactly they tested the product. They only cared about one thing: that it was enough to prevent serious bugs that would cause the company to lose clients, money, and reputation. An editor can go to great lengths and spend several hours creating a beautiful animation for half a second. But no one will see it because they simply won't pay attention.
Time is the most valuable resource. Learn to spend it wisely. It's no coincidence that they say that 20% of effort yields 80% of results. And, accordingly, vice versa, 80% of effort, 20% of results. Ask yourself a simple question: is it worth it? Sometimes it really is, but in my experience, most often it's not. This idea inspired me to create my own course program, "Testing Engineer," where I value both my time and the students' time. Only the most in-demand and well-paid areas of testing without unnecessary theory and with an emphasis on practice. Instead of abstract tasks, projects from scratch, where each assignment hones a skill needed in real work. On my platform, lessons are not just videos. Each module is, how to say, a well-assembled educational environment. Video lessons, text notes, practical assignments, tests, and an advanced feedback system personally from me and practicing tester reviewers. Use promo code "10 years" for a nice discount on all courses and school programs. Check out the website, and if you like something, I'll be happy to see you among my students.
Know when to stop. Almost everyone sooner or later reaches a point when they stop enjoying what they used to like. You constantly feel tired, don't want to do anything, and even rest doesn't help. These are symptoms of burnout. It's a very nasty thing because it's very difficult to fight. It constantly comes and goes for me. First, periods when I'm passionate about what I'm doing, and then apathy, endless fatigue, and just going through the motions. For me, the best way to combat this state is to stop and do nothing, absolutely nothing. Sooner or later, it passes, and a desire appears, any desire, and you need to latch onto it. If it's something new or unfamiliar, switch to it completely.
It's hard for me to give this advice because I perfectly understand that success is achieved by those who simply bang their heads against the same wall until they break through it. Although I envy, I am very happy for such people, but it just doesn't work that way for me. I've quit good and high-paying jobs more than once simply because I felt, well, I can't do it like that. Maybe I would already be much more successful and richer if I had just done what I know how to do and what I'm good at, even if it doesn't bring pleasure. But I've made my choice. No worldly benefits are worth the feeling that you are not in your place.
You know, since I finished school, I've never read poetry, let alone read it aloud. But I want to end this video with a poem that I seem to have remembered for life. A person runs through life, sparing no legs. Home, work. Home, work, serving time. Weekends, a breather, vacation like a halt, old age, retirement, shortness of breath. And where did they run? Ah.