Doing good work is important. But doing good work does not automatically mean everyone will know about it.
You can be capable and still be overlooked. That is not necessarily unfair.
- People are busy.
- Managers may not know everything you have contributed.
- Recruiters cannot see everything you have learned.
- Potential clients cannot guess what you can do.
- This is why you need to learn how to communicate your value.
Not through exaggerated claims.
Through evidence.
- What have you built?
- What problems have you solved?
- What have you learned?
- What decisions have you made?
- What changed because of your work?
- What can you explain clearly?
Your portfolio, CV, conversations and interviews should make those things easier to understand.
You are not bragging when you accurately describe your work.
You are providing information.
There is a difference between saying:
I am amazing at software development.
and:
I worked on a system where I had to understand the requirements, investigate an existing codebase, implement the change, test it, respond to feedback and support the release.
The second tells someone much more.
You do not need to wait for someone to discover you.
Learn to make your work understandable.