C Hayes said:
There are so many professionals here. I'm really interested in becoming a
full fledged access developer and even consulting.
I've been learning VBA and Access ins and outs. What does it take to be
totally confident developer? I know this isn't a clear cut question but I
would like your input.
A healthy curiosity about why things work the way they do, spending lots of
time doing development work, learning from the heavy lifting done by many
others, and paying attention to more than your own assigned tasks (but not
enough attention that you don't get your own work done) is a good start. In
my 49 years in the computer business (much of it in development), I've seen
a lot of people whose interest resulted in them getting 20 years' worth of
experience in 15 years. But, sad to say, I've also seen people who had one
year of experience 15 times in 15 years, still only competent for
entry-level tasks.
FYI, many "totally confident developers" I have known were, in fact,
overconfident, and not nearly as useful as those who had an understanding of
their own limitations (you know, like Dirty Harry Callaghan said, "A man's
got to know his limitations."). Knowing what you don't know is sometimes
more important than what you do know.
Every Microsoft Access MVP that I know has confidence he/she can
research/find/explore/get the answers when need, but a realistic
understanding that he/she does not, personally, have all the answers.
Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP
