Career advice for a 17 year old Russian computer prodigy

Question

I have a 17 year old Russian friend. He seems to be some kind of prodigy when it comes to computers. He has been messing with computers and software for a long time. He is always mentioning some random project he is building in a new language, or some weird aspect of computing he is exploring. Hes made his own games, his own game engines, done stuff in assembly, C, C++, C#, python, javascript, etc. etc. all off his own bat. Also he is very creative and makes art and music and weird 3d animations.He's in what he calls college now, which is a sort of halfway between school and university, coming from his current college he can do a uni course in systems administration, afaik this is his only choice and the most computery uni course he can do.My advice for him is basically... 1. Do some kind of computery uni course 2. Get a computery job in an EU country and go live there.* What would your advice be?* Can you go into any more detail than I have done?* Are any of you Russian emigrants working in computing? What was your story?Thanks!

motohagiography · Accepted Answer

Go to school and stay in it. Success is a function of (Performance, Credentials, Relationships) Read Pfeffer's "Power" for details. They are weighted differently in different fields. If someone is really smart, they can solve problems at higher levels of abstraction and with more open dynamics than in code. It's useful, but in that PCR triad, technical performance is only ranked highly in very narrow areas like hedge funds and a few tech companies.
You can always leave academia but you can't pivot into it, so it may be worth just riding that system until you see an opportunity and only take it seriously enough to maintain its benefits. Use it to secure freedom to work on what interests you. People who make a lot of money tend to do it in a very short period of time, so there may be value in leveraging the relative freedom and low intensity of institutional living while you test concepts for traction.
If you are really that smart, do this 'concepts in mathematical finance' course and choose a path that makes enough money that you can use it to scale your mind and ideas by investing in them, or solve the problems of the world as a philanthropist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63ctJIEC1Un... . Bet on yourself and lose, then double down again until you don't. It takes a bit, but you need to be pretty smart just to understand what smart really is.

gus_massa · Answer

* Stay in School. A degree is no magic, but it open some doors. (I'm biased here because I'm a math profesor in the university.) I worked half time during the university, but in some areas it's impossible to get a half time job.
* Open a GitHub account and send PR, so he has something to show. Send them to projects he use and he likes, no random projects he never heard of. Start with trivial PR and increase the scope later when he is familiar with the process and know that the maintainer is not a moron. (Personal projects are also nice, but sometimes you dig to deep in the wrong rabbit hole.)
* Learn English. The word is in English. [Hi from Argentina!]
* A technical blog would be nice, but I'm not sure if it's useful to get a job. While writing the PR, or the personal projects or at school, sometimes you find an interesting anecdote/topic/problem that would be nice to tell to your technical friends, and that is a nice seed for a blog post. Write it in Russian and English. (Google translator does like 50% of the job, but the output is far from perfect.)
* Does he participate in the Informatics Olympiads. Russia has a very strong team. I'm not sure if he is still in the correct educational level. Another contests like Code Jam?

groffee · Answer

Don't neglect 'soft skills', interpersonal relationships with other shudder people, and networking. Long term that's probably more important than any code ability.

znt · Answer

Setting up a Github profile with sample code would be good start.If he can provide videos / screenshots of his work it would be even more impressive.

MilnerRoute · Answer

Yeah, the very best thing I could think of was start getting some actual work experience. Then you're coding all the time -- and getting paid for it. Learning on the job, making contacts at work. Maybe they'll even send your friend to tech conferences (for more learning and more networking).
Also, if your friend relocates there may be more educational opportunities. (There's also a bunch of stuff you can do online -- and some even offer certifications if not actual academic credit.)
The simplest advice is just to build up some "momentum" in your career, so what you're doing naturally leads into the next bigger thing. A job and/or really good classes, that sort of thing.

joshxyz · Answer

my advice is he should follow his heart and gut. its cheesy but this guy excels already, hes still young so he can try different things to find one that really interests him. that thing could intersect with any kind of domain or industry.better also if you guys can habe online presence / portfolios for getting exposure. writing a blog posts about his journeys could be maybe enjoyable too kf he feels like it.

econk · Answer

Speak to 80,000 hours and I think they could point him/her to a plethora of resources