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So, you’ve landed your first job as a software developer and you’re keen to make a good first impression. In this post, I will cover 10 tips to help you impress your new colleagues and gain their respect.
1. Start a side project
While many developers use side projects to get into a software development role, you should be using them to outperform your peers. Side projects will consistently lead to better performance in your role as a software developer.
Working on a side project:
- Allows you to use the technology that interests you
- Teaches you project management skills
- Keeps your coding skills sharp
- Allows you to work on something that you’re passionate about
2. Take notes, lots of notes
Running a successful software product is complex. There are a lot of moving parts, from the background infrastructure to design. As a junior, you’re not expected to understand all of it, maybe not even any of it.
However, you are expected to continuously understand more and more of how everything fits together as time goes on. Your senior colleges don’t want to mention something to you five times before you write it down and do your research.
When something that you’re not familiar with is mentioned, or you’re being taught something new, take note of it. Go back through your notes when you have spare time and research each topic. It may feel like you’re not learning much, but I guarantee by doing this, you’re going to learn much faster than someone who doesn’t.
3. Plan before you code
While cowboy coding is fine in your side project, it’s not fine in the workplace. Take your time to figure out an elegant solution before you start writing code and you will consistently write better quality solutions.
When you first get the bug that you have to fix or the feature you have to create, start by breaking it down into smaller pieces. You can use a pad and pen to do it, or whiteboard it with a colleague. Either way, you’re going to have a better understanding of the problem and the solution before you start…
