Learn more than 99% of software engineers with just two tools
Summary
TLDRThe speaker shares their academic journey, highlighting a transformative learning strategy that led to a first-class degree in construction finance and a successful pivot into tech. They emphasize the Ali Abdul method, which involves creating a question-and-answer database from textbooks and using the Anki app for spaced repetition to retain information. The speaker also suggests using Obsidian for note-taking and emphasizes the importance of learning business knowledge alongside technical skills, as well as keeping up with industry news and filling knowledge gaps within your team.
Takeaways
- 🎓 The speaker initially struggled in college but eventually excelled in a construction finance degree, achieving a first-class degree with honors.
- 🚀 The Ali Abdul method was instrumental in the speaker's academic success, which involved using mind maps and a question-and-answer approach to learning.
- 📚 A friend's strategy of writing down questions and answers from textbooks in a Word document and using the Anki app for spaced repetition was adopted and adapted by the speaker.
- 🔗 The speaker prefers using Obsidian for note-taking, which allows for linking notes together and visualizing the connections between different pieces of information.
- 📈 The speaker applied the learning strategy to software engineering by breaking down an in-depth book into questions and answers, and supplementing with code snippets or images.
- 🏢 In addition to technical skills, the speaker emphasizes the importance of learning business knowledge specific to one's company to stand out in the workplace.
- 🌟 To get ahead, the speaker suggests learning from team members' strengths, finding knowledge gaps in the team, and staying updated with tech news.
- 👥 Networking and mentorship are key, as the speaker recommends learning from colleagues who excel in specific areas and taking on tasks that fill gaps in team knowledge.
- 💡 The speaker created a separate video detailing a workflow for problem-solving, which is a crucial skill in a software engineer's job.
- 📺 Consuming relevant YouTube content helped the speaker in their career transition and suggests others do the same to stay informed about the language and communication of software engineers.
Q & A
What was the speaker's academic performance in college?
-The speaker received two D's and two 's in college, studying physics, maths, English, and computer science.
How did the speaker transition into a construction finance degree?
-The speaker managed to get into a university through clearing to study a construction finance degree.
What was the speaker's achievement at the end of the construction finance degree?
-The speaker graduated with a first-class degree with honors.
What method did the speaker use to improve their learning strategy?
-The speaker used the Ali Abdul method, which involves creating a collection of questions and answers from textbooks and using the Anki app for spaced repetition.
What note-taking application does the speaker prefer over Word documents?
-The speaker prefers Obsidian, a note-taking app that links notes together and visually represents the connections between them.
How does the speaker apply their learning strategy to software engineering?
-The speaker breaks down in-depth books into questions and answers, supplements them with images or code, and uses Anki for long-term retention of the knowledge.
What additional knowledge does the speaker suggest learning for someone in a software engineering role?
-The speaker suggests learning the business knowledge of the company and staying ahead of how the business works.
What are the three points the speaker recommends to stand out in a team?
-Learn from the best on the team, find knowledge gaps in the team, and keep up to date with tech news.
How did consuming YouTube content help the speaker in their career transition?
-It helped the speaker understand the language and communication style of software engineers, making their transition from construction to tech smoother.
What is the importance of staying updated with tech news?
-Staying updated with tech news helps in being aware of new tools and technologies that can be beneficial in one's work and staying ahead of the curve in the industry.
How does the speaker approach problem-solving in their work?
-The speaker has a specific workflow for problem-solving, which is not language-specific and can apply to everyone. They made a separate video explaining this workflow.
Outlines
🎓 From Academic Struggles to First-Class Success
The speaker shares their journey from college, where they had poor grades in physics, maths, English, and computer science, to achieving a first-class degree with honors in construction finance at university. They explain how they managed to pivot into tech within three months and became adept at learning new strategies. The speaker credits the Ali Abdul method for their academic turnaround and success in the tech field. They discuss the importance of effective learning strategies, such as creating question-and-answer pairs from textbooks and using spaced repetition software like Anki for long-term retention. The speaker also emphasizes the value of using a note-taking app like Obsidian to link notes and understand the connections between different topics.
🚀 Accelerating Your Career with Learning Strategies
The speaker delves into the practical application of their learning strategies for software engineering and business knowledge. They suggest breaking down in-depth books into Q&A format and supplementing with code or images for better understanding. The speaker also highlights the importance of learning business knowledge to stand out in the tech industry. They recommend learning from team members' strengths, identifying knowledge gaps within the team, and staying updated with tech news. The speaker shares tips on how to consume YouTube content and utilize tools like GitHub to stay ahead of the curve. They conclude with advice on problem-solving skills and direct the audience to another video for a language-agnostic problem-solving workflow.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡academic performance
💡clearing
💡pivot
💡Ali Abdul method
💡Anki
💡note-taking
💡software engineering
💡business knowledge
💡learning from peers
💡knowledge gaps
💡tech news
Highlights
The speaker transitioned from struggling in college to achieving a first-class degree in construction finance.
The Ali Abdul method played a crucial role in the speaker's academic success and ability to learn effectively.
The speaker initially had doubts about the effectiveness of traditional learning strategies like mind maps.
A friend's unique approach of using a Word document and the Anki app for learning was adopted and adapted by the speaker.
The strategy involves creating a collection of questions and answers from textbooks, which are then used in the Anki app for spaced repetition.
The Anki app adjusts the frequency of reviewing flashcards based on the user's ability to recall the information.
The speaker prefers using Obsidian for note-taking due to its ability to link notes together and visually represent the connections.
The speaker applied the learning strategy to software engineering by breaking down an in-depth book into questions and answers.
In addition to technical knowledge, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the business context.
The speaker suggests learning from the strengths of team members and leveraging YouTube for professional development.
Identifying and filling knowledge gaps within a team can set an individual apart and provide unique value.
Staying updated with tech news and trends is crucial for staying ahead in the industry.
The speaker created a separate video detailing a workflow for problem-solving that is applicable to everyone.
The speaker's journey from college to university and then into the tech industry demonstrates the power of effective learning strategies.
The use of spaced repetition and active recall techniques significantly enhanced the speaker's learning process.
Adapting学习方法 to fit one's own preferences and needs can lead to greater success in learning and retaining information.
The speaker's experience underscores the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in a rapidly evolving field like technology.
Transcripts
when I was in college I did physics
maths English and computer science I got
two D's and two 's it didn't go well I
thought I wasn't academic I managed to
get in through clearing to a university
to do a construction Finance degree at
the end of it I got a first class degree
with honors and then spent 6 months in
construction and pivoted into Tech and I
was Sprint ready in 3 months in a text
act but I'd never worked in before and I
had no prior projects so in this video
I'm going to show you how the Ali Abdul
method got me a first class degree and
put me on the path to becoming pretty
Adept at learning the strategy I've end
up apply to become Sprint ready in 3
months and then the three things that
you need to do that will get you noticed
as being knowledgeable so how do you get
good at learning well after my failure
at College I realized that this was my
last chance to get my act together going
to University was going to cost a lot of
money and I wouldn't have a second shot
at it so I think I literally went online
and typed in how to get a first class
degree at University and this would have
come up now it wasn't this specific
video it was an old one but I think he's
deleted where he shared that he had all
of these strategies for learning that he
implied he did the mind maps he did did
like all of the classic things that you
think of when it comes to learning he
had a friend that was massively
outperforming him so he asked his friend
oh what what's your secret and the dude
had a Word document and an app called
anky and in this word document he would
literally just write down questions and
answers now these guys were studying for
medicine so it would literally just be a
collection of okay he's learned about St
Mary cury and he would write the
questions that would answer all the
things that he needs to remember about
them so when did she die and then he
would write the answer and he would keep
writing these questions and answers
until he' finish whatever textbook
section that he was on and it covered
everything and then he would copy and
paste feeds into an app called uny and
this is what the GUI looked like so
you'd simply get the question and You'
think okay what's the answer and then
down here there'd be a show button you
click show and it would show you the
answer and based on whether you could
remember what the answer was You' click
you'd either click again good or easy so
if you're struggling it will show you
more frequently you can see there 1
minute right so it's going to show you
again in in a minute but if you found it
easy it's not going to show you that
card for another 4 days so essentially
what it does is it it asks you the
questions that you need asking more
often more often and the ones that you
have learned quickly it doesn't show you
for a few days now really this only
takes about 5 minutes a day because the
cards become so spread out there's some
that are in my database that it only
shows me once a year because I just know
them like the basics of coding like
stuff that I day-to-day still have in
the bank just in case because you know
you never know what you'll forget and I
don't have to manage it anymore it's
managed by the software for me now I'm
not too sure I agreed really with having
a bunch of Word documents with all of
your notes because it's not a very smart
way of organizing what you've learned so
I actually use obsidian which links your
notes together in and this graph shows
it quite nicely right so this person has
a books note and he's linked it to some
authors and so he can literally see the
connections between what he's learned
and it's just an overall really powerful
note taking app that I use but I'm not
going to go into too many details just
so that I can give you the overall
framework of what I do so you've got
obsidian for taking notes and you've got
uny for remembering what you've noted
forever how do you apply that to
something like software engineering well
first I would get an in-depth book on
your text tack so I have the I have John
Ski C in-depth and I went through this
book and I broke it up into questions
and answers now a lot of this stuff I
already knew it was solidifying my
knowledge and making sure that I was
doing things correctly so for example I
might be taking notes on generics so I'd
write a question but what I'm reading in
the textbook answers I'd write down the
answer and then also I normally give
myself something supplementary if it's
not code then it's normally an image but
in the case of code I'll put in line
code so if I let this know that it's C
code and we give them better formatting
then we have our question and answer and
this is how I track what I learn in
coding you're a software engineer you're
not just here to learn code you've got
to apply it to a business context so
another thing is keeping ahead of how
your business works so you should also
be using this technique to learn the
business knowledge of your company
because the chances are your colleagues
aren't doing this and this is really
going to stand out after a couple of
months when you can remember all of the
technical terms and knowledge that is
specific to that business instead of
just generically bringing code like
every software engineer graduate does
once you've created these notes you just
copy paste them into ankey and there you
go you've got them memorized forever for
maybe five minutes a day so your last
question might be okay well that's
obvious learn coding and learn and learn
the business knowledge what else should
I be learning what else should I be
learning to get ahead I really want to
be that person that everybody knows
knows their stuff well I've actually got
three points on first I think you should
learn from the best you're going to be
on a team and people are going to have
strengths and weaknesses work out what
people are good at and learn from them
if you have a colleague who happens to
be really good at system architecture
and you have a task that's relevant to
that go and learn from them say look
this is what I'm working on I know
you're the guy for system architecture
they're going to love that you've
noticed they're more likely to be
willing to help from that in this way
you're making the most off of the
mentorship that you can get from your
colleagues it's what's going to set you
apart from the people who don't
currently have a job if you don't have a
job you've got YouTube I consumed so
much YouTube content while I was in
construction and that eased my
transition because I understood the
language I understood how software
Engineers communicate because I watched
them in my spare time right so the
second thing is to find the knowledge
gaps in your team your team isn't going
to cover every single aspect of what the
business needs you to be able to do find
where find the holes maybe somebody
recently has left and he was the guy for
a specific library or framework fill
that Gap if you're in a standup and
there's a feature that's coming up and
everybody throws their hands up and says
actually I haven't really worked on
something like that before I don't know
jump on that task take notes remember it
so then in a month time when you get
another feature just like it and
everybody still doesn't know what
they're doing you're the guy that goes
oh I I did it I remember what I did did
here's how we're going to do it and
lastly keep up to date with tech news
chances are you're probably using GitHub
co-pilot and that's because that
information has got to you think of
other tools that are equally useful that
you're not aware of just because you're
not keeping up to date with the industry
and you don't have to be sat there
reading you know the tech the tech
section of the financial times subscribe
to some YouTubers that make the news
interesting like I watch every fire chip
video and it's hilarious it's really
good and when I'm when I'm at work and
people talking about a new JavaScript
framework I already know about it and
the reason I remember that is because
it's funny if you follow this strategy
you're going to notice that your
knowledge for your career has exploded
but that doesn't strictly mean that
you're going to be good at problem
solving which is still a massive part of
your job so I made this video here which
talks about my workflow for how I solve
problems it's not language specific so
it should apply to everyone so if you
click this video here hopefully that
helps cheers
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