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10 Technology Habits of Professionals and Students in Silicon Valley

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Silicon Valley is a tech innovation hub where there is so much emphasis on growth. It’s common to find new tech positions ready to be filled on a daily basis. The place is full of brilliant minds who either work or study to become one of the best. They are generally curious, fierce and known to the world. If you work in Silicon Valley, then you are one of the best.

Despite the competition, there is still similarity amongst the professionals and students. One of the most talked about things concerning the brilliant minds in Silicon Valley is their technological habits.

Their tech habits reflect a lot about them. Habits are the cornerstone of person’s personality. Repetition makes habits, and that’s why they are a good role models.

All of this sums up to one critical understanding; if you know about a person’s habit, you can get a good understanding of their nature. In this article, we will highlight the 10 technology habits of professionals and students at Silicon Valley. They are in no particular order.

Always Learning On the Go

Learning is one of the most important aspects of Silicon Valley hustler life. To make the most of their time, they prefer learning on the go. LiveEdu.tv provides them a place to learn even when they are commuting. LiveEdu.tv gives them the opportunity to follow other people’s work on the go — making learning seamless during traveling. Just as reading other’s code could help a programmer improve his/her craft so do watching other doing their project help to improve our problem-solving skills.

They also find many other engineers from Silicon Valley working on their project. For example, you can check out macobr, a professional game developer in Silicon Valley who loves to code random stuff.

Are Security Cautious

Security is a big concern for tech users. It doesn’t matter if a person is a student or a professional, taking care of your vital information can help you in the long run. A lot of confidential information is exchanged on a daily basis by professionals. The same goes for students who are working on research projects. Other than that, they are also keen on privacy and take every right step to protect it.

Are Open Source Contributors

Most of the successful tech products that we have globally now are open source projects. Another common habit amongst professionals and students in Silicon Valley is their active contributions to open source. They contribute to worldwide projects and seek satisfaction in their contributions. They also understand the value of open source in the industry. Linux is a great example of an open source project which changed the world of computing and is available everywhere now.

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Are Collaborative and Open Minded

Silicon Valley is the land of ideas. It is full of startups that want to change the world through solving problems. Just like the place itself, professionals and students welcome new ideas and try to evaluate them with an open-mind. They are also collaborative and are ready to work on ideas that seem impossible at first glance which a unique trait that helps them to reach their true potential and create an environment where everyone can grow.

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Are Self-reflective

If you should ask any Silicon Valley’s professional or student about what makes them tick, they will always relate it to the contribution their project makes to the world and others around them. They are self-reflective of their contribution and always want to make the world a better place with their efforts. They alway find purpose in their work or academic pursuits, and it reflects in their personality as well.

Are Partakers of Challenging Projects

Another common habit is their willingness to work on challenging projects. Growth is often achieved when we are challenged, and this builds strength for Silicon Valley hustlers. Almost everyone wants to work on a challenging project that can help them engage intellectually, and also let them use their existing knowledge and acquired skills. Challenges are part of Silicon Valley’s culture which reflect the personality of these students and professionals.

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Are Lifelong Learners

The transformation of technology in the last decade have made more impact than in the earlier than in the centuries before that. Growth has been achieved through different industrial revolutions and now this radical and fast changing environment only breeds more demand from the individual in the society. The same is true for the Silicon Valley’s professionals and students. They understand the importance of lifelong learning and invest time and energy in growing themselves. This habit is extremely common so you can easily find them trying to learn new things learning more.

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Will Bring Their Own Device

Security breeds personalization. We have already discussed how security plays an important role in a techie’s life and since they are always in the habit of having everything properly locked up then bringing their own devices is a cherished habit which they love. Using their own device ensures that their work and data remain secure compared to using public computers which can have keyloggers or other form of malware. It also helps them to tag along with the tools (including study material, software, etc.) they are familiar with, and this promotes peak productivity.

Are Backup Pros

Making proper backups is a standard tech habit. Silicon Valley’s professionals and students are not exempted, they always ensure that they back up their work and other important personal files. In fact, they readily use the cloud to their advantage or have a local backup device with them for offline purpose.

Are Networkers

They have the habit of using networking to grow their careers and businesses. Networking is the number one way of landing a job or getting an investor, and this is why you often see these students and professionals networking whenever possible.

Final Thoughts

The above are the most frequent 10 technology habits of professionals and students in Silicon Valley. Do you agree with them? If so why? If you don’t agree with them. You are free to comment below and let us know what you thought!

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About author

I, Dr. Michael J. Garbade is the co-founder of the Education Ecosystem (aka LiveEdu), ex-Amazon, GE, Rebate Networks, Y-combinator. Python, Django, and DevOps Engineer. Serial Entrepreneur. Experienced in raising venture funding. I speak English and German as mother tongues. I have a Masters in Business Administration and Physics, and a Ph.D. in Venture Capital Financing. Currently, I am the Project Lead on the community project -Nationalcoronalvirus Hotline I write subject matter expert technical and business articles in leading blogs like Opensource.com, Dzone.com, Cybrary, Businessinsider, Entrepreneur.com, TechinAsia, Coindesk, and Cointelegraph. I am a frequent speaker and panelist at tech and blockchain conferences around the globe. I serve as a start-up mentor at Axel Springer Accelerator, NY Edtech Accelerator, Seedstars, and Learnlaunch Accelerator. I love hackathons and often serve as a technical judge on hackathon panels.