Who Am I?
Hi, my name's Stephen, and I'm a full-stack junior developer based in Portland, Oregon. I'm nearing the two-year mark of being in the dev world as a junior, and I thought I'd write out my tips and general thoughts about my process.
Background
I took part in the Bloc.io bootcamp on their frontend developer track. I was determined enough to bust my ass for three months and started my first job as a developer just after the 4-month mark. Now I'm fortunate enough to work on a stellar remote dev team (HelloWorld) primarily dealing with PHP, Drupal, JavaScript, and a touch of WordPress, React & React Native.
This post is likely to be a bit longer than some on this site, but I'm going to throw out some tips to those who are thinking about becoming a dev, or those who have just started!
Learn, Learn, Learn
I can't stress this concept enough! The ever-changing landscape of tech means that...well...things are always going to be evolving. This doesn't mean you have to learn every new framework, library, CSS style, blockchain tech, etc., that comes on the market...let's be real...you're never going to know absolutely everything about everything.
Live the life of a sponge and soak up everything you can. If you hear someone mention something on one of your weekly meetings that stands out, write it down! Make notes, and refer to them as often as you can. If you're struggling with a dev problem and you pair up with a team member, remember that solution for future use.
Deconstructing other peoples' code is one of the ways that I feel like I get the most done, and I encourage everyone to do it. For instance, the very first task (for a client) I had to do with my team was to make a modal work properly depending on certain conditions. Now, this was in Laravel...something I had never used before. I was obviously feeling like it was over my head when in all actuality, it wasn't! Of course, I visited the well-written Laravel docs and waded through a bunch of years-old StackOverflow posts, but ultimately what I did was this: find another modal that's currently active on the site, and deconstruct it. Find out how and why it's working in the exact way that it is.
You could also read the title of this section as "Read Read Read" because that's exactly what I like to do. I, admittedly, don't read a lot of books, but really enjoy absorbing other peoples' knowledge, experience, and tips from other developers.
You may have done something 1,000 times, but there's possibly a better (and more efficient) way to do it! I feel that this is super important for a junior dev to grasp. Just because you learned a "proper" way to do something in your Bootcamp, tutorial, or YouTube course, but it's important to not get 100% married to those ideas.
"Be Humble"
I think this is a really important point that I don't see that many people talk about. If you're just starting out, then you likely don't know even 1/10th of what the mid-levels on your team know. But that's not a bad thing! I was always worried that people would "see right through" my dev skills (or lack thereof), and know that I was a "sham." That's imposter syndrome, and if you ask any senior dev I'm sure they still deal with those annoying little demons on their shoulders from time to time.
I've seen a few instances of junior developers (especially ones who landed roles pretty quickly out of a bootcamp or college) that are arrogant, think they know the "latest and greatest," and just have a bad attitude about them. This is a really easy way to turn your team off from ever wanting to teach you things.
TLDR; don't be a jerk.
Future Surf...
...but not too much!
Keep your eye on this one...it can bring anxiety if you're not careful! Don't worry about the future, but embrace that there is an unknown, and explore your options/goals for your professional self. I always knew that I wanted to work for a team/company that I felt like I could grow with, and one that would help me grow my personal and professional skills.
I've always found that looking toward the future, planning your short term (< 3 years), mid-term (3-5 years), and long term (6+ years).
Alright! This has been long enough! Thanks for reading and I hope that you haven't been too bored with this stream of thought.
Feel free to add me on LinkedIn and Instagram if you'd like!
Be well,
SP
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