What I wish I had known when starting my development career
This is a guest post from Jeff Beard, lightly edited. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, Preparing for a university job fair or similar recruiting event is very important if you want to make an impression that results in a phone screen. A hiring manager and their recruiters receive an enormous number of contacts and resumes from … Continue reading Preparing for a recruiting event
This is a guest post from Cara Borenstein. Enjoy. Dear new developer, A couple of years ago, I started my first job in Silicon Valley. I was a junior software engineer at a fast-moving company and I was so excited to have the opportunity to learn. I worked hard. I looked up terms I wasn’t … Continue reading You know more than you think
Dear new developer, I thought that this post, "The care and feeding of software engineers (or, why engineers are grumpy)", from 2012 was still relevant today. It's a long one, so I won't excerpt all the interesting parts, but this really resonated with me: Both engineers and product managers tend to think, incorrectly, that product … Continue reading Why software engineers are grumpy
Dear new developer, Hopefully you'll work in a place where you'll have regular one to ones with your manager. I find these helpful for building a relationship and engaging with your manager and your reports (if any). I even did them with my co-founder when I founded a startup. These meetings tend to be 30 … Continue reading How to manage one to ones
This is a guest post from Morgan Whaley, lightly edited. Enjoy. Dear new developer, Honestly my #1 piece of career or technical advice to new developers is: Be adaptable and authentic. I don’t think there is any one magic bullet to helping someone “break into” a job, or business, or new city. Humans are all … Continue reading Be Adaptable and Authentic
Dear new developer, I was at a lunch a few weeks ago and asked some senior engineers and managers what advice they'd give to a new developer. One said: "never stop learning". I thought this was a perceptive answer and wanted to expand on it. I learn something new every day. I'm going to talk … Continue reading Never stop learning
Dear new developer, When I was newer to development, I thought that conference speakers were experts in their area, harbored no doubts, and that they knew exactly what they were doing. Speaking about technology seemed scary (until it wasn't). I enjoyed this post, "Confessions of a Conference Speaker", pulling back the veil on the experience … Continue reading Confessions of a conference speaker
Dear new developer, A few years ago I was job hunting (during a hot job market and with almost two decades of experience) and had a lot of people turn me down or say I wasn't a good fit. Sometimes it was for coding ability, sometimes it was for familiarity with various systems, sometimes it … Continue reading You have to fit the job
Letters To A New Developer 