in reply to Autodidact Followup

  1. What do you feel you are hampered or limited by, either artificially or legitimately.
    I find that I have a particular approach to problem solving and development which is not always welcome. Having grown up with green screen applications, I feel comfortable with server and back-end technology. The Microsoft boys and the Java-ites both eye me with suspicion, and have little or no idea what I do - unless I get to work on a collaborative project, typically client/server.

  2. Do you align yourself more with being an autodidact or non-autodidact.
    Depends. I did a Computer Science degree many moons ago. I have also done the occasional employer sponsored CBT and training course. However, I do see myself more as an autodidact. I taught myself C, Perl, HTML, and several other languages that I have needed.

  3. How has that alignment effected you professionally.
    This depends on what the job requirement is. What is more important to me is the ability to adapt to a new programming team, standards and ways of working.

  4. Did you at some point (semi)realign yourself for personal/financial improvement?
    I believe, certainly for me, probably for most of us, this is a continuous process. Unless you adapt and learn new skills, you are dead in the job market. Whether these are autodidact or non-autodidact depends on the programming language. I am working on a Java CBT, and I may well be doing a Java certification later this year - all in the name of career progress and flexibility. For Perl, I recommend the autodidactic approach, supported by suitable books (Lama, Camel) and forums like Perlmonks.

  5. If you did realign yourself was it worth the effort and in what way?
    I see it more as adaptation than realignment. In my case the autodidactic approach has earned me more than one job, contract and assignment, and has boosted my reputation. In future I may well need some formal certification to keep pace with the competition.

In Section Meditations