When I was starting out, I thought being “good” meant writing the cleanest code.
I spent hours perfecting syntax, naming variables, and refactoring functions — convinced that’s what would get me promoted.
Then one day, in a code review, my senior looked at me and said:
“The code looks fine. But walk me through why you did it this way.”
I froze.
I could talk about what I did. But not why. And in that silence, I realized something:
The real skill isn’t just building. It’s explaining your thinking.
Bootcamps Teach Code. Real Life Teaches Communication.
In bootcamps, you ship projects that “work.”
In jobs, you ship projects that must be understood, maintained, and defended.
That’s where communication makes the difference.
Can you explain to a product manager why you chose approach A instead of B?
Can you describe to a teammate how your code flows — without them opening the editor?
Can you justify your design decisions in simple, non-technical language?
If the answer is no, you’ll always feel “junior,” no matter how many languages you know.
The Interview Wake-Up Call
In one DevOps interview, I was asked a simple question:
“Explain how your last CI/CD pipeline worked.”
I thought showing them YAML would be enough. It wasn’t. They wanted me to tell a story.
What problem the pipeline solved
The steps it took
Why I chose that tool
How it reduced errors or saved time
That’s when I understood: the best engineers don’t just build solutions — they translate them into stories everyone else can understand.
Why This Matters
Influence: Senior engineers get promoted because they can explain decisions to stakeholders, not just peers.
Collaboration: Teams move faster when ideas are clear and decisions aren’t hidden in one person’s head.
Trust: Interviewers and managers trust you more when you can break down complex work simply.
How to Build This Skill
You don’t need a communication class. You need practice.
This week, try this:
Take one piece of work you’ve done (a project, script, or pipeline).
Write a short “explainer” for it.
Problem it solved
Tools you used
Why you chose them
One lesson you learned
Share it with a friend, colleague, or even on LinkedIn.
You’ll be shocked how much clearer your own thinking becomes once you write it down.
Final Thoughts
Code gets you hired.
Communication gets you promoted.
Master both — and you stop being “just another developer.”
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