This is a guest post from Caitlyn Greffly. Enjoy. Dear new developer, If you decide to go the coding bootcamp route, chances are you are going to have a few months of absolute madness. You are trying to change careers and pick up a mass of technical knowledge in a condensed amount of time. It's … Continue reading Changes from Bootcamp to a Real Dev Job
Category: letters to a new developer
Principles Over Syntax
This is a guest post from Ben Greenberg. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, Welcome to the wonderful and exciting world of software development! You may have chosen this field for any combination of innumerable reasons. No matter the reasons that brought you into this space, I am so delighted you are here. You are embarking on … Continue reading Principles Over Syntax
Questions To Ask To Have Influence Over People
This is a guest post from Jean Lee. Enjoy. Dear new developer, Change is hard, but you need to influence folks to make it happen. Here are five questions to ask when you want to have influence over specific situations or people. Who is this change benefiting? Is it me? Is it my teammates, my … Continue reading Questions To Ask To Have Influence Over People
What To Change If You Aren’t Getting The Offers You Want
Dear new developer, It's a crazy market right now for developer talent. But I still see plenty of new developers struggling. I also see some mid and senior developers struggling. "What? I thought senior developers had it made!" you might be saying to yourself. Unfortunately, one can fall into the trap of the expert beginner. … Continue reading What To Change If You Aren’t Getting The Offers You Want
“Work will never love you back”
Dear new developer, I heard this phrase on a podcast from a reporter and it struck home. I don't know how old you are. I don't know if software development is your first career or your fifth. I don't know if you have a family. But, I do know that work can be mighty fulfilling. … Continue reading “Work will never love you back”
Know your “One Job” and do it first
This is a guest post from Charity Majors. Enjoy. Dear new developer, Story time. Susan was hired as a database engineer. Her primary projects, which are supposed to be upgrading/rolling out a major point release and running load tests against various config options and developing a schema management tool, keep slipping. But she is one … Continue reading Know your “One Job” and do it first
Speak at a meetup
Dear new developer, Go out and speak at a meetup. This will have the following benefits: Decrease your fear of public speakingIncrease your knowledge of a topicHelp build a community of developersBuild your public profileTeach others something useful You don't have to do this every quarter or every year, but I challenge you to do … Continue reading Speak at a meetup
How to prepare to be a startup founder
This is a guest post from Joyce Park. Enjoy. To my newer colleagues: Welcome! I’m so excited to have you in the dev community, and honored to hopefully be able to contribute by sharing a few time-tested hints about entrepreneurship and early-stage startups. I’m a community-taught web developer who has enjoyed 22 years in high-profile … Continue reading How to prepare to be a startup founder
But First, Don’t Do the Dishes
This is a guest post from Sonja Parsell. Enjoy. Dear Developer, Don't misinterpret a small distraction, or even a big disaster, as a "sign" that coding isn't for you. There were definitely times in my journey when a break in learning was completely justified, but by no means should I have seen it as a … Continue reading But First, Don’t Do the Dishes
Be kind
Dear new developer, Kindness is an unsung virtue for software development. I touched on it in this post on empathy, but wanted to emphasize it again. Practice kindness. When I was young, I thought scoring points and being right were important. They are, but being kind and a good human is even more important. Be … Continue reading Be kind









