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Discussion on: How to grow in a developer career despite being introvert?

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matmooredev profile image
Mat

I think a key point is that introversion is not the same as being bad at communicating, it just affects the way you prefer to communicate and what takes more effort.

There are people who are very extroverted, and are terrible communicators, they just don't recognise it. Your example of being talked over is a great example. It's not really fair to blame yourself for talking quietly. The entire group is not communicating well if one person gets drowned out. They should be able to listen to everyone and respect their point of view.

I think workplaces are in general biased towards extroverts, but ultimately it depends on who you're working with, and the way the team does things. This is something I'd try to get a feel for at the interview stage rather than reading too much into the job description.

As a senior dev communication is a big part of my role, and it doesn't come naturally to me, but certain things are easier than others (written proposals, 1-1 discussions, slack) and certain things come with practice (presenting, giving and receiving feedback). IMO there is also nothing wrong with just listening to what people say, taking some time to think about what was said, and then following up with them at a later time.

In a meeting environment a good facilitator can make all the difference because they can actually steer the conversation, stopping people from interrupting, or highlighting when somebody has something to say. Where I work we also have a slack channel for introverts which is an awesome support network.

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leoat12 profile image
Leonardo Teteo

Exactly, I believe that it is just a matter of the way you communicate. My current job is like that, we communicate mostly through Google Hangout by text and so I don't think there is any communication problems. We have some meetings sometimes, but the daily communication is through text. Since then, I've been more careful about the positions I consider, it is not only the company that chooses you, but also you choose the company based on how good the environment is to be productive no matter your personality, respecting everybody for who they are.