But when it is not enjoyable, consider stopping and doing something else.
There is always tomorrow!Not saying “I don’t know” enoughIt’s easy to get stuck on a problem or task you are trying to complete, it happens all the time, even to the most senior developers.
A mistake I made whenever I was a junior developer was not saying “I don’t know” enough.
If management asked me a question I wasn’t sure about I would bluff an answer instead of saying “I don’t know”.
I felt if I said “I don’t know” people would think I didn’t know what I was doing.
The reality is that this is not the case.
Nobody knows everything.
So if you’re asking a question and you don’t know the answer, say that.
The benefits of this are:You’re being honest and not misleading the person who is asking the questionYou’ll learn something new when it’s explained to youYou’ll gain respect for saying you don’t know something.
Not everyone is capable of admitting they don’t know something.
Trying to progress too quicklyI’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “you have to walk before you can run”.
Never does this saying have more relevance than in the field of web development.
When you start your first job as a junior developer, you’ll be eager to hit the ground running, and get your hands on nice big coding tasks.
You’ll even be thinking of how to get a nice promotion to the next level!Whilst ambition is good, the reality is that these sort of things will not come straight away for a junior developer.
At the start of your career, you will more than likely get the smaller, easier tasks and bugs to work on.
These might not be the most exciting things in the world to work on, but it’s necessary.
It allows you to put one foot into the codebase and get familiar with the process.
Secondly, it allows your team and managers to gauge how you cope with working as part of the team, and where your skills lay.
I made the mistake of getting frustrated at these smaller tasks, and I let this frustration get in the way of my work.
Have patience, perform every task you get to the best of your ability, and the more exciting work will come!Not getting involved in the community & building a networkThe development community is great.
The community is always willing to help, provide feedback, and can even help with motivation.
Being a developer is tough, and can sometimes take its toll.
As a junior developer, the tough times would have been easier if I had got involved in the community earlier.
Getting involved is also a great way to learn.
You can contribute to open source projects, see how other’s write code, and see how developers collaborate on projects together.
These are all skills you can bring to your day job and will make you a better developer in the long run.
Find communities that interest you — freeCodeCamp, CodeNewbies, 100DaysOfCode are some good ones — and get involved!.You can also get involved in local meetups in your home town or city.
Check out meetup.
com for this.
This also lets you build a network.
A network is basically a bunch of people you know in your industry.
Why is a network important?.Let’s say you are looking to move into another job.
By reaching out to your network, someone may be able to recommend a specific role, or even refer you to a company.
This gives you a solid advantage going into the interview, as you’ll have someone to vouch for you, and will no longer be another “name in the pile of resumes”.
Thanks for reading!To get the latest guides and courses for junior developers straight to your inbox, make sure to join the mailing list at www.
chrisblakely.
devOriginally published at www.
chrisblakely.
dev on March 25, 2019.
.