If you’ve just joined a company as a fresher and you’re lucky enough to get a project early, there are a few important things you should always keep in mind:
- Don’t hesitate to discuss your task.
- Don’t hesitate to ask questions.
- Don’t hesitate to ask for help from seniors.
- Stick to the ETA you commit.
- If you realize midway that the ETA isn’t enough, highlight it immediately. Don’t wait for the catch-up call.
- Document your work.
- Don’t be shy to talk about your work.
- If you’re doing great and you stay silent about it, nobody will know the effort you’re putting in.
- Always talk about your work. Always.
If you don’t communicate, it may reflect poorly on your performance. And if you’re stuck somewhere, ask your senior in a polite way — don’t rush or panic. Seniors have more responsibilities, so your patience and clarity matter.
Discuss technical things with them, take guidance, understand how they think. This will help you grow faster and understand your role and responsibilities from a senior perspective.
Most freshers (including me once) make a very common mistake:
When a task is assigned and the TL or RM asks for an ETA, let’s say you say 3 hours. Freshers usually start coding immediately — and that’s the biggest mistake.
Instead, spend the first 30 minutes understanding the requirement properly. Take a pen and paper, or open Excalidraw. Think through the flow, break the task down, understand what exactly needs to be done.
Once the flow is clear, then start writing the code.
You may face challenges depending on the complexity — that’s absolutely normal. Let’s say coding takes 1.5 hours. At this point, you’ve already used 2 hours. Now, if your gut feeling says the 3-hour ETA is not enough, immediately inform your TL or RM. Don’t wait to be asked.
Now you still have 1 hour left. Since you’ve already communicated the risk, your mind will be calmer, and your TL/RM will also be aware. Use that remaining time to push as much as possible, and if needed, take help from a senior.
And lastly — don’t forget to document your work.
And during catch-up calls, openly talk about your analysis, what you faced, and how you solved it. It builds trust and shows ownership.
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