Learning Everything I didn't Know

The worst part about being a grad (a university graduate, just starting my career) was not knowing where to start learning, which ultimately led to boredom. Learning the technical side of development was important. But getting a feel of how the team worked together and checked off tasks was slightly more important. Unfortunately, most of the developers in my team were far too busy with an endless stream of bug fixes and production issues to give me the attention that they felt I needed. This ultimately caused the boredom that myself, and most of my colleagues, had to contend with as grads.

In all this boredom, I spent quite a bit of time chatting with my colleagues and team leads. Looking back at it, making friends with the people I was expected to work with was one of the best things I could have done with my time. Different developers have different strengths. Some have a strong technical background; others are great at adapting to new technologies and languages quickly. Picking the brains of your co-workers can help you learn the tricks and habits that give them such outstanding skills. And if you ever need help from someone with a specific skill (maybe a strong technical background), you know exactly who to speak to. Getting to know your colleagues also means that they may be more open to helping you out if you’re ever in a pickle.

Pair programming, as boring as it may have seemed at the time, helped me bond with the team and learn more about them as people, not just as co-workers. Most of the core software development techniques I know today, I learned through pair programming. It’s all about observing the coding styles of the people around you and combining the best of them. I’ve also learned that the best software developers in our team are all learning junkies. They have a treasure trove of online books about improving their development skills and taking pride in every piece of code they write. Asking the team for book recommendations can help to put you on par with the rest of the team.

But I couldn’t follow my team around all day; they had meetings to attend and production issues to resolve. For the first few days, I would sit around, scroll through Instagram and drink way too much free hot chocolate. Eventually I got bored, so I decided to research some of the tools that the team was using. These ranged from server management tools to code refactoring software. I thought about all the big words they used in meetings that I didn’t understand and I looked them up. Doing this may not have helped me in the short term, but it really came in handy when I started coding on my own.

The most important thing you need to know, that they don’t teach you in university, is how to build your career and your personal brand. Remember when I said that some of my colleagues were great technical developers and others were fast learners. That’s their personal brand. It’s what they’re known for in the team. Since I’d only been in the team for a month, there was no pressure on me to create a personal brand. But it got me thinking about what I wanted to be known for in my career. To be honest, it was overwhelming; I didn’t know where to start. But, thankfully, my colleagues were there to give me advice on how to improve as a software developer, not just as a coder. Reading software development books, building my personal GitHub, following the latest trends in my field. That’s what I would have to do to keep my career thriving. It sounded like a lot of work. That’s when I realized that this is what software development is. If I work to build my career as a software developer and enjoy the journey, then I know that this is where I’m supposed to be. I know that this is my passion.

Walking into work on the first day was honestly one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. The perceived expectations of bosses and co-workers weigh heavier than it ever will. The most important lesson I’ve learned was that my colleagues did not expect me to be a fully-fledged software developer in less than a month (most of them took about 6 months to learn the ropes). But the biggest mistake you can make is to waste this opportunity that you have to learn from the best.