Good code won't save your career.
For so long, I chased perfectly clean code, thinking better code = better cod-er. That turned me into a clean code cop, looking for infractions around me. That attitude got me fired from my first job.
Focusing on syntax alone was my biggest mistake as a new coder.
Why code isn't enough
Two experiences taught me good code isn't what mattered most.
#1. At a past job, when the team leader left, the one promoted wasn't the best coder, with perfectly named variables and short methods in his pull requests. It was the one who showed initiative to own the core feature.
#2. Then during layoffs, I talked to a leader from another team. He was told to sort people into buckets: A, B, and C. Bucket C left first, then B, then A. The criteria wasn't perfect code. It was whether the leader wanted you on the team. Of course, the ones writing horrible code got into the C crowd first.
It was always something else besides coding.
Your code can't speak.
Addy Osmani, a leader at Google, shares why you need more than code to stand out.
Your code doesn’t advocate for you. People do.
...Code sits silently in a repository. Your manager mentions you in a meeting, or they don’t. A peer recommends you for a project, or someone else.
Get good at coding to stand out. No doubt! Otherwise, you'll be the first one joining Bucket C. Don't be a C coder.
But your code won't speak for you.
Here's what will:
- Asking the right questions in meetings.
- Working on something that brings (or saves) money.
- Sharing your achievements after every project.
- Being responsible for a feature from end to end.
- Being the team member everyone wants to work with.
People won't remember your code. They will remember your attitude.
To help you stand out beyond lines of code, I wrote Street-Smart Coding. The roadmap I wish I had starting out.
Top comments (1)
Another instance of PeopleWare, or dealing with people. You never work in isolation, you have to cooperate with your colleagues and work under a team leader. Your relationships with all of them is as important as your code!