Rapid skill acquisition and adapting to new career opportunities

Joel’s original post is an excellent read, but I really enjoyed Justin’s statement at the end of his linked post:

One last note: showing up to a client following a weekend-long crash course in a particular technology doesn't make you a fraud. Nearly twenty years in consulting has taught me that the people most worried about misrepresenting themselves and their abilities are the people who have the least reason to worry. The fact they care so much almost always means they'll put in the work when they need to. The real frauds, meanwhile, don't worry at all. And while Joel was holed up in a Starbucks for 72 hours, I'm sure they were having a delightful and relaxing weekend. And Joel's much richer for it, as he's gotten four careers' worth of experience by repeatedly diving into new industries, organizations, and technologies, whereas the real imposters only learned how to talk a good game as they skated through life without ever stretching themselves.

I’ve seen first hand the nerve some developers bring to a first meeting, only to dim gradually over time.

I continue to struggle sometimes with confidence in what I do, but my entire career so far has been non-stop learning.

Every project is an opportunity to learn a new framework, a new project management style, a new business problem.

It’s a hard characteristic to put on a resume, but the ability to pick up new systems quickly is definitely one of my core strengths.