If yesterday I was talking about the impostor syndrome, today is a good time to see what I have some experience with. My syndrome is already screaming at me that I am not an expert, but the truth is that I do them more or less well, possibly better than many who have never faced having to do them.
So I am going to create a list of skills that I have that, from a professional point of view, can be used to help others.
Computer Science
You will start first with skills related to my professional career and higher studies: computer science and software development. I am, modesty aside, frankly good at
- Application programming
- Collection of requirements
- Identification of patterns and systems
- Creation of IT solutions to automate processes
- Create scalable and combinable system architectures
- Select the best development tools
- Standardize the use of development tools
- Create frameworks to standardize development
- Explain the tools to development teams
People management
My professional career has led me to manage teams. Here I had practically no standard training. My knowledge was based on learning from the managers around me, studying books and learning from my own experience.
- Selection of technical staff
- Delegate work
- Create project plans
- Project monitoring
- Manage budgets
- Coordinate meetings in any field
Innovation
My skills with technology and in team management led me to a leap in my career to a new related field: innovation. Business innovation always with a technological base but which presented new challenges.
- Risk Management
- Subcontracting projects and equipment
- Generate new business ideas
- Create hybrid solutions
- Define minimum products
- Manage product launches
- Collect feedback
- Coordinate creative meetings
- Manage agile projects
Computers and systems
It’s really something I don’t feel like doing. I would say I hate it. Still, I’ve been working with computers for almost 40 years so something has rubbed off on me. And it makes me kind of uncomfortable when friends or family come to me for help choosing a computer or fixing something on their phone. What are we going to do?
- Selecting computers and devices
- Computer assembly and repair
- Installation and administration of operating systems
Productivity
To manage both my own work and that of my collaborators I have always been concerned with efficiency and effectiveness. This leads me to have to master other skills:
- Selection of productivity tools
- Organization of notes and documentation
- Time organization
- Task planning
- Timeblocking
Consulting
The jump from the corporate world to the independent consulting world forced me to perform other types of tasks that I had never had to worry about within the big company.
- Defining and selling my services
- Establish objectives and budgets
- Create and present specific proposals for clients
- Billing and administration of the company
- Presentation of taxes and bureaucratic documentation
Validation of business ideas
And related to consulting I have sought to create my own products and services in order to offer the services in a more global and scalable and this has required me to learn other skills
- Web development
- Creation of sales pages
- Logo creation
- Web design
- Content organization for SEO
- Management of Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaigns
- Social media management to promote my personal brand and other products
Networking
For a geek who understood himself better with computers than with people, this is possibly one of the evolutions that has surprised me the most. Initially motivated by the fact of finding possible clients and/or partners in my adventure as an entrepreneur, it has become almost a necessity to be in contact with other points of view and people who are an inspiration to me.
- Organizing meetings
- Share ideas and points of view
- Search for other ideas and points of view
- Helping entrepreneurs
- Introducing my personal brand
Public speaking
Another side effect of my launch as an entrepreneur and my need to present myself and my proposals to strangers led me to the world of oratory.
- Building presentations
- Presenting in public
- Evaluate speeches and give constructive feedback
- Help TEDx and similar speakers prepare speeches
- Acting as a judge for school debate leagues
Let’s see, I’m not saying I’m an expert in all this (Mr. Syndrome is here again). There are skills that I have learned out of necessity and that a specialist could certainly do it much better and faster than I could. But it is also true that I defend myself in the topics mentioned above and in some cases I feel especially proud of the results I have achieved, even in topics that are not my specialty.
This list is, of course, incomplete. I also have my hobbies but I don’t think they are relevant. And this list that I have elaborated in half an hour has surely left aside other topics that I do and that I can’t think of.
In any case, I have a good set of topics to talk about in the next few days. Any preferences? Please, comment down below!