There are many people around you that know many things, but always remember that no one knows everything. It is quite common for individuals to feel uneasy about speaking up when conversing with others who seem to know a lot about what they are talking about. It is also common for new people in an industry to hold back on sharing what they know because they assume that everyone around them may be more experienced, and more knowledgeable. I just want to say, never assume that what you know will mean nothing or have no impact on the people around you, specifically your co-workers.
I have been in the web industry (employed) for just over one year now. When I first started I was that person who was quiet and shy, and afraid to tell co-workers what I knew. I would always be afraid to try and help someone if I overheard them having trouble with something because I assumed that if they did not know, then I simply would not know. I quickly learned two things.
The first thing I learned is this: you may not understand the task at hand, but a second set of fresh eyes may be able to pick up on something that doesn’t look quite right. It is common that an individual who has been trying to solve a problem for so long can miss something very easily.
The second thing I learned was due to the nature of the web development industry. A lot of things in the web industry change. In fact they change quite rapidly. Even though while attending college we were learning new technology and new ways of doing things, I still assumed that my co-workers already knew everything I was taught. As time went on and I heard some of the things they were researching, I started to realize that I knew some of those things. This helped me open up a little and I slowly started to share some of the things I had learned in school. I now find myself helping more often than when I first started and I realize that my co-workers appreciate it.
I would like to give one more piece of advice. If you find new information, new ways of doing something, or even ways to make things easier for your co-workers, tell them about it. Send them an email to the source of your findings or give them the information your-self. You may also have different departments at your place of work but this does not mean that your job has no effect on another employee’s job in another department. If you can do something in your department to make their job easier or more efficient then why not do so. Everyone will appreciate your efforts.
The moral of this post is, don’t be afraid to share what you know. There is too much to know in this world and you can never stop learning. Everything is this world is constantly evolving and this means constant change. It is next to impossible to know everything about anything. If you are passionate about your career then why would you not want to help your co-workers be the best that they can be as well? We always want to have the best people in the industry and to achieve that, we have to teach others what we know.