Dear new developer,
I enjoyed this post from Hanah Yendler on how to succeed as a new developer. Note that she is working at Eventbrite, a larger company (1100 employees according to wikipedia), so some of the advice may be a better fit for new developers at bigger companies.
A few of the pieces of advice really resonated with me:
Take responsibility for something that seems slightly out of your reach. One of my previous managers at Eventbrite told me that he wants me to be sitting just on the edge [of] fear because that’s where intense learning happens. I have a huge fear of failing, but taking responsibility means pushing yourself and growing as an engineer.
and
It can be tough to get a subject matter expert (aka an engineer more senior than you) to explain things on a level that you can understand –especially when they have very intimate and in-depth knowledge of a system or complex subject. This is where asking questions becomes essential. You can use questions to help guide them to the answer you are searching for.
Both of these pieces of advice are true when you are new to the industry and true when you have decades of experience. (Pushing yourself to the edge of your comfort zone is how you grow, and asking questions is one of the fundamental ways to learn.)
The whole post is worth reading.
Sincerely,
Dan
Letters To A New Developer 