The one which you are going to read is a true story and a lesson I learnt in my life. This will be a 3 min. read of an interesting event that occurred in my college years.
This happened when I was in my second year of undergraduate study. I was studying for an Aerospace Engineering degree but I was deeply attracted to application development and other cutting edge technologies like Machine Learning, Big Data etc.,. I started studying them and made the decision to pursue them as my career.
As everyone else, I was searching for a summer internship for the summer ( not necessary to do one as a sophomore but I wanted to do it.). I was contacting recruiters and people in high places on Linkedin to get internship (The usual stuff for students). Suddenly, to my surprise one of the persons I contacted replied me not with a vacancy for internship but with an opportunity to partner with him on his new company.
He was a serial entrepreneur with a good portfolio (from what my little brain could understand at that time).The conversation went on like this:
“
Me:Hello Sir, I need an internship [in a formal way :P]
Mr.Entrepreneur: Hey, I read through your profile. I want to you to work on a project with me. Call me at so-so time on so-so number.
Me: Will surely do, sir.
”
The crux of my conversation on phone with him was, “He wants to work on Stock Market Forecasting application with me. And I would be given some x% share in the company. He wanted me to give my response after 2 days.” Lots of things went through my brain the next 2 days. I drew some sort of SWOT diagram to weigh the benefits, loss, my capacity etc., into account.
Remember, I was just a sophomore back then. I am going to give a short run through of what went through my mind then.
Trust Factor:
He and I just had a conversation on LinkedIn and had a call. All I have is the data I have seen on LinkedIn. (Today I understand that’s all you will ever have when you are starting up and you just have to take the leap)
My Capabilities:
I was a rather adventurous (in software) student but I am still a sophomore pursuing a degree in Aerospace Engineering (which has nothing to do at all with the project I am going to take up). I would have to do self-study to improve my skill set (Today, I know nobody's ever gonna spoon feed you after high school ).I felt that my current skill set was not enough to take up this project ( Today, I know that in the chess of life, you may not have all the pieces wit you at the start of game. But you have to make them as the game progresses).
Taking the Leap:
As already said, there was a difference in my skill set required and skill set I had. I was not sure whether to fully commit to this and develop my skills in this direction ( This is the only train of thought that seems at least a little rational to me now ).
And the final response I gave him was, “No”. Yes, this is not the story of a hero who carved his way into business despite being a student. But rather of a coward who backed away at the most awesome opportunity till date in his life.
Lessons I learnt from this mistake:
#1 : If you are a student, never back away from any learning opportunities. What you learn is the best reward you can get. If you make money along the way, it’s like a cherry on top of cake.
#2 : You may not always have the right gear for the job. But if you have steep learning curve and are passionate to do the project, you can take the chances anytime of the day.
Feel free to express your views on what I did. Also, this is my first advent into content-writing. If anyone has any tips for me, I am all ears.
Despite my little experience, I had the opportunity to do a lot which taught me lots of lessons which could be really helpful to people.
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And if there is anyone who needs something done related to software (project/internship/freelancer), let me know on Steem Chat @mlwizardry. I know a bunch of talented people who might be up for the job.