<p>Mainly related to electrical, computer science, computer engineering majors (but any other relevant fields too that I don’t know about), how hard is it to keep up with the industry? The computer field is changing so fast, I’m anxious that people’s skills are going to be outdated very shortly and will be even faster as we progress into the future.</p>
<p>How do you guys keep up with changes? Seminars or self-study? Or are the changes small enough that you can learn them on the job?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about the dynamic nature of the computer field. Somebody said something like “consistency is the hobgoblin of weak minds”. I think something similar is relevant in this situation: “believing that knowing today’s technology is as important as having a strong foundation is the hobgoblin of weak minds”.</p>
<p>The fields will change, but you’ll keep up with what you need to almost on accident.</p>
<p>You make Borders bookstore and niche user-groups your best friends. Basically, you will keep in your head “who has the released the latest version of XXX”. Like clockwork, every few years I grab me a “New Features of Oracle Xg” (where X = 9,10,11,…) book and get up to date in a quick broad way and wait for new white papers and such to learn it in detail.</p>
<p>What’s funny is that many times a company will buy the latest version of some software and never use the new features…but hey, you can always put the latest on your resume and up your asking salary.</p>