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Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#31

Post by zlnimda »

rue wrote: post #19
euroclydon wrote: post #7

If you already got hired, I would just relax. Get some exercise, find a couple good books [1] you can read later when you want to take your mind off work. Then, when you start work, pour over the source code. Understand it. Ask or research anything you don't understand. Make a list of things that suck about it -- there likely will be a lot of technical debt, but who knows... If you want to get ahead, combine working…

Gonna second this. Do something fun , whatever it is. You don’t need to be a hero the first day. Go in well-rested, motivated, and open-minded. The company pays you to learn their stuff.

Moreover, they need you to learn how it works in your future team. And for that you need to work there.

So, that's simple : - First, rest right now ! - Second, when you'll be there, work hard !

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#32

Post by iandanforth »

Here's what I did to prepare for my latest job.

1. Break the time remaining into one or two week blocks.

2. Assign one layer of their stack to each week, starting at the bottom. ( e.g. OS )

3. Each morning make and practice flashcards for terminology or things that just need to be memorised, about the tech in that stack layer. ( e.g. What is the /opt dir for?)

4. Each afternoon work on a small project around that layer. (e.g. cmd prompt customisation)

5. Get plenty of sleep so you actually retain this information.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#33

Post by arenaninja »

mardurhack wrote: post #13
arenaninja wrote: post #9

It would've been useful if you'd at least posted the language. My recommendation is this: be pragmatic. I've been asked plenty of times to forgo software development principles to get a product out the door ("hardcode this", "copy/paste that"). I never copy/paste, but I have hardcoded things to get a product shipped on time. You may have a better idea of how to do a lot of things, but only bring it up when you unders…

Thank you. The language will be mostly Python. Being pragmatic is a good thing but I guess that comes after I start working.

Is this Python 2 or 3? The ecosystems are pretty different

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#34

Post by kazinator »

A week or two before starting, find out whom you will be reporting to. Get in touch with that person and ask about what kind of tasks they have in mind for you and whether it would be useful to prepare in any way.

Other than that, I wouldn't do anything.

Algorithms and CS stuff: you might not ever see it again.

If you study four algorithms, but you are asked to work on a fifth one that is completely unrelated, that is of no use. In development, you brush the dust off the specific algorithm or theory that is needed for a task, when that time comes.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#35

Post by new1234567 »

Ok I'm guessing you're a new grad. If you're already working this might not apply.

Use this time to do things OTHER than work. Work out. Travel. Rest. Visit friends. spend time with family. Read for fun.

The other suggestions here are all good. very useful. It's just that this is a great opportunity to do things you can't do when working. Once you start your career it's VERY unusual to get a month or more time off. It might feel like you have lots of time on your hands, but the opportunity you have is actually brief.

I especially recommend travel. If you're young and single, you can afford to travel cheap. You know you have a job starting, so it's ok to spend now knowing you have income ahead.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#36

Post by rifung »

I think many other people have posted good advice on how to get ready. I just want to second the other post that recommends against preparing for it.

When you interviewed and got hired they knew your qualifications and knew you might not know some things. You're about to get paid to learn what they need you to learn. I don't really see why you should your own personal time learning something for them.

Instead, I'd recommend you spend this time relaxing and learning things that YOU want to learn. This is going to be good for the company most likely in the long term anyway (assuming it's related to CS anyhow) and you probably aren't going to have as much time to do it after you start working. This will also make it less likely for you to get burned out in my opinion.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#37

Post by jmilloy »

I think it's easy to feel a lot of pressure at the beginning to know everything and to be productive right from the start. Hopefully this isn't necessary. Everyone will expect you to need to be familiarize yourself with the tools and the code base. They aren't paying you until September, and they know that.

Unless this is a short-time consulting gig, they haven't hired you for what you can do in the first month, but what you can do over the course of a year or two. It's okay to learn on the job; it may seem like a lot of time to you when you first start, but in the context of recruiting, your yearly salary and benefits, providing your office, etc, the time you spend learning in the first few weeks is nothing.

I think the most important thing is to be relaxed and have your non-work affairs in order as best as possible. You don't want to be distracted by stuff at home while you at work, if possible. If you are like me, you will also find it very hard to turn your brain off when you go home at the end of the day for the first month or two, and it's important to have things going that are interesting and relaxing (hiking, movies, craft, trivia night, whatever). And whatever those things are for you, do them a lot now while you have the time!!

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#38

Post by rajeshmr »

dsiegel2275 wrote: post #10

Learning their stack is good advice. You'll impress folks if you can hit the ground running. Another area that I'd recommend is start to learn the business domain. If your company builds accounting software - start to learn some basic accounting principles. If your company builds healthcare insurance software, start to learn about the relationships between healthcare providers, insurance providers, health plans, etc.…

+1

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for my new job as a software developer?

#40

Post by busterarm »

robotnoises wrote: post #23

I have had three "bigboy" software jobs in my career and the same thing has always served me well: It is always the expectation of those charged with the task of training or managing you that early-on you will start slow and be an impediment to the company. If you can figure out a way to violate that expectation, e.g. produce something meaningful in your first 1-2 weeks, you will have made a good impression that will…

Absolutely the best career advice I've ever received, btw.

In my first "bigboy" job, a nine-month contract-to-hire gig at a very well known financial, I failed to violate this initial expectation. I did great work there (eventually) but was still not hired full-time because my slow start left lingering questions for a few key people that were never answered.

Some managers fought to keep me, but it wasn't enough. On the day I was terminated, my manager told me that the one piece of advice he would give me was that wherever I go, make sure to kick ass right away. I've followed this ever since and it has paid huge dividends (constant, rapid promotions).

Always be delivering value.

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