Dear new developer,
I was asked recently at a talk I gave about what was the best surprise of being a new developer. I was talking at Turing School, and had discussed some of the things that surprised me when I was starting out.
There are a lot of great things about being a developer. For all that is wrong with the software industry, when you are a developer:
- flow happens
- you are doing office work (typically)
- there are smart people around you
- you are paid well (compared to many many jobs–median pay for any job in the USA is 32k in 2018 and for software developers it is 105k)
- you get to learn all the time
So all in all it’s a pretty great job.
But the best thing and what surprised me a bit as new developer (and makes me sad) is how much developers are listened to. Or, rather, how little folks in other professions are consulted and listened to (based on anecdotal evidence and conversations, sorry no hard data).
So, being a developer (in a healthy team and company) means that your opinion is heard.
Sincerely,
Dan
Letters To A New Developer 