S.Y.N.C., Monarch's own job search system.
"You now have an extremely powerful tool in your toolbelt. You can slice through mountains with SYNC alone."
This system found me my first coding job.
"You now have an extremely powerful tool in your toolbelt. You can slice through mountains with SYNC alone."
This system found me my first coding job.
I then used it to quickly move up through the ranks.
Eventually, it landed me in a senior development job. Then, using it, I became a software architect.
I now own 2 software businesses. My team and I have designed + built software for startups, banks, trucking firms, SaaS companies, and more. And I’m the founder of Mintbean.
I have hired more developers than I can remember. With that knowledge and experience, this system has become refined to a science.
I will never charge for teaching you the S.Y.N.C. system.
SYNC has served me very well. It has given me endless work during my own career. It has helped countless other people find jobs, contracts, consulting gigs.
I am now sharing it with the world, for free. And with you, for free. In the hope — no, the knowledge— that it will help you advance your own coding career.
It is a sharp knife, a very fine and sophisticated tool. You can cut through all your obstacles with it.
S.Y.N.C. is a list of finite resources.
If you “get it”, you don’t really need more information. You can immediately apply the SYNC resources to your job search.
I grew up playing strategy games.
These games typically have resources. Starcraft had 3 resources: minerals, gas and supply. Warcraft had 3 resources: gold, lumber and food. Simcity had only 1 resource: money.
Turns out, the job search has 4 resources: Storypower, Yeetforce, Nopeshield, Codeskill.
Storypower (SP)
Storypower is how well you’re able to sell yourself. It lets you articulate your skills, talent, and value.
High SP gets you interview calls, impress hiring managers, and land a decent salary.
Symptoms of low SP are: few or no interview calls, trouble passing interviews, employers ghosting you, and lowball job offers.
Some great ways to build your SP:
Talk to other developers about their own careers.
Read more architectural and philosophical content.
Ask someone close to (nicely) describe how they see you.
Some ways you can lose SP:
Believing your impostor syndrome (having low Yeetforce)
Letting rejections affect you (having low Yeetforce)
Failing to improve your coding ability (having low Codeskill)
Yeetforce (YE)
Yeetforce is your warrior spirit. It is your grit, energy and enthusiasm during the job search. It measures your sheer will and fierceness. Robert Pirsig called it “gumption” (go read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance). Without it, your job search grinds to a halt because you psyched yourself out.
High YE lets you defeat impostor syndrome, get over rejections, bounce back from failure, and protects your sanity.
Symptoms of low YE are: applying to less than 10 jobs a week, severe self-doubt and impostor syndrome, inability to take rejections, and depression.
Some great ways to build your YE:
Read, watch, and listen to things that inspire you.
Hang out with successful and uplifting people who inspire you.
Regularly meditate and do physical exercise.
Some ways you can lose YE:
Getting distracted and losing focus (having low Nopeshield)
Believing negative stories about yourself (having low Storypower)
Failing to improve your coding ability (having low Codeskill)
Nopeshield (NO)
Nopeshield is your power of concentration. It is the ability to eliminate distractions, focus on your goal, and make necessary sacrifices with a smile on your face. This is the ability to say no to invitations because you need to finish working on your resume. Without a strong nopeshield, distractions will destroy your job search as well as your skillset.
High NO lets you gently say no to distractions, creates space for your coding practice, makes time for you to apply to jobs. It protects you from vices like social media and entertainment that would otherwise suck up all your time.
Symptoms of low NO are: being unable to focus on coding, applying to less than 10 jobs a week, too much Twitter or Facebook or TikTok or Snapchat, and feelings of frustration and guilt.
Some great ways to build your NO:
Gently explain to your loved ones why you need time away from them.
Install site blocking extensions that will stop you from using social media.
Turn off distracting notifications on your phone.
Some ways you can lose NO:
Working too hard and burning out.
Feeling uninspired and bored (having low Yeetforce)
Disliking programming (largely because of having low Codeskill)
Codeskill (CS)
Codeskill is, of course, your ability to code, as well as your ability to learn new tech. It is the reason why employers want to hire you. This requires little explanation because you already know it’s important.
High CS lets you build impressive projects, pass technical interviews, get high-paying job offers, and makes coding much more fun. (Because you’re great at it).
Symptoms of low CS are: being unable to focus on coding, finding it difficult to build simple projects, getting rejections during technical challenges, and high levels of frustration during coding.
Some great ways to build your CS:
Code at least 40 hours per week in chunks of minimum 4 hour time blocks.
Attend more hackathons that will expose you to pressure and new concepts.
Learn compsci fundamentals.
Some ways you can lose CS:
Failing to keep learning new stuff.
Not coding for a long period of time.
Getting distracted (having low Nopeshield)
Next episode: how the S.Y.N.C. resources tie into your job search.
SYNC has served me very well. It has given me endless work during my own career. It has helped countless other people find jobs, contracts, consulting gigs.
You now have an extremely powerful tool in your toolbelt.
You can slice through mountains with the 4 SYNC resources alone.
If you “get it”, you don’t really need more information. You can immediately apply the SYNC resources to your job search.
But they can be difficult to understand. Especially the first time around.
Next episode, I’ll be explaining how the SYNC resources tie into your job search.
Please give me your feedback
I will never charge for teaching you the S.Y.N.C. system.
I’m looking for feedback on this content. Did you like it? Did you find it fluffy? Did you find it useful? Did it totally get you inspired?
Please let me know. It helps me write more useful articles for you.
This article is clear and concise. I was able to make good notes from it. I appreciate how each point (S.Y.N.C) goes over:
- Why the point is important
- What the point gives you / lets you do (ex: storypower gets you calls, yeetforce defeats impostor syndrome, nopeshield gives you back your time for productivity, codeskill makes programming more fun)
- How you gain more of it
- How you lose it
Very helpful points.