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
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
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”
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
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
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
Dear new developer, I had a friend who brought me into a club. The specifics of the club don't matter, but like most clubs, it had a variety of executive roles. Someone had to run the meeting, other people had to take notes, someone needed to keep track of the finances. As I took on … Continue reading Always be replacing yourself
Dear new developer, In certain areas of software operations, the concept of an error budget makes an appearance. An error budget is a way of tracking how often errors occur. When the budget is exceeded, you spend time and energy to decrease them. Having a number like this is a good way to align different … Continue reading Think about your career risk budget
This is a guest post from Adam Steel. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, Getting your first developer job can feel like a big accomplishment. And it is! It can feel so big and you can feel so relieved to have any job at all that you might start to develop your worldview around that one job. … Continue reading Take jobs that help you grow
Dear new developer, If you are totally thrilled with your job right now, stop reading. This letter isn't for you. Okay. So you may be unhappy with some aspect of your current job. I have some advice for you. Take a tour with a different department at your current employer. This won't work for everyone. … Continue reading Take a tour with a different department
Letters To A New Developer 