Adaptability VS Competence

in #ulog4 years ago

Hello world! Hahaha, that's like the most common pair of words amongst programmers. So, I stumbled on a post by @galenkp urging steemit users to "just write", it doesn't have to be perfect and writing is one way to find expression. So, here we are, I decided to take a break from by 2 years of not writing (lol). This piece is just an expression of something I thought about recently and I hope you will do well to drop your thoughts about it. Let's dive right in

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[Credit] (giphy.com)

it's been about 2 years since the last time I wrote something here and it's amazing the change that can happen in 2 years. In the last two years, I have finished college (Mechanical Engineering), gone for a compulsory one year youth service where I thought Physics and Mathematics in a rural school (*I might write about it someday*) and even had a change in career path!

While growing up, my dream was to become a medical doctor - or was it just the prestige of being called a Doctor that fascinated me? I finished high school but couldn't gain admission to study Medicine.

So, I thought about the changes I could make to increase my chances of getting admitted. By the way, in my country, getting admission into the university is a stiff competition for limited space. I then realized I didn't even like Biology as much as I liked Mathematics (Later on, Mathematical methods would made me reconsider this thought) so I switched and started looking for opportunities along the line of Engineering.

Lo and behold, I got double admission! One to study Metallurgical and Material Engineering and the other to study Mechanical Engineering. To cut the story short, I studied Mechanical Engineering and finished with a second class upper grade. While I was on the verge of completing the compulsory national service, I started seeking out job recruitment platforms to join online and I noticed there was more opportunity in the financial sector.


What did I do? You guessed right, I switched again and had a go at the recruitment exercise of a financial institution . At first I was worried but my fears were laid to rest when I got to know that successful candidates will undergo a 6 months training spanning business, banking and credit capabilities.

And then I was taught some core courses like

  • Economics
  • Elements of Banking
  • Financial Accounting
  • Business Accounting
  • Insurance
  • Law
  • Credit Analysis
  • Corporate Financial Management
  • International Trade Finance e.t.c

plus a whole lot of soft skill courses which includes;

  • Emotional intelligence
  • Project management
  • Presentation skills
  • Business etiquette
  • Work ethics amongst others.

No doubt, I am way better than I was before the training.

Looking back at this journey I couldn't help but wonder if this was really the right step or I should have stayed with Medicine or probably with Engineering.


Then came the question; **Is it better to be competent, good at something and probably be a master at it? OR Would you rather be flexible enough to "go with the flow"?