Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#1

Post by theyoungwolf » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 6:18 AM UTC

I am a younger developer (3 years) who has been fortunate enough to be given a lot of responsibility in the projects I work in. I spend most of my time teaching myself what I need to know or have to know for the job. I realized I currently don't learn much from my surrounding peers (small team: 2 other senior level developers). To increase velocity, my company recently contracted some of the work for our project. And from my experience working with these contractors I have learned new things that I wouldn't have gotten from my peers or teaching myself.

How important is it to learn from your peers or be surrounded by peers that you can learn from?

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#2

Post by tzhenghao » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 6:28 AM UTC

Short answer: Very.

Longer answer: I think one's skill level starts to taper off (or degrade / converge down to) the peers that they work closely with in time. This works both ways. Books and online sources can steer you in the right direction too, but generally with smaller effects. Approximately 1/3 of your day is spent in the office anyway.

Having worked at two startups now, both have very different senior engineers that have different philosophies on what good code is like. Neither camp is wrong, but I've learned to see things from another angle ever since. You then can bring cross pollination to the table to make contributions that one party isn't aware of before, or fill up a gap in your knowledge / skillset that you otherwise would've missed by not being exposed to others outside your common circle.

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#3

Post by atlasunshrugged » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 7:22 AM UTC

tzhenghao wrote: post #2

Short answer: Very. Longer answer: I think one's skill level starts to taper off (or degrade / converge down to) the peers that they work closely with in time. This works both ways. Books and online sources can steer you in the right direction too, but generally with smaller effects. Approximately 1/3 of your day is spent in the office anyway. Having worked at two startups now, both have very different senior enginee…

Not a developer but I'll echo the sentiment above. I think especially in your career it is critically important to be surrounded by people you can learn from. This also implies (to me) that they are 'high performers' with something worth teaching and therefore likely to be promoted and/or do something interesting in the future and these are the type of people you want to be around for general career development and network as well.

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#4

Post by null0pointer » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 7:33 AM UTC

I would say it's critically important. You may be a good self learner, but even then you may not know _what_ to study. It's the whole unknown unknowns situation.

Another thing I would point out is that your peers offer more than just textbook-style knowledge. They can offer concise, intuitive explanations tailored for someone at your level. They can demonstrate the things they're teaching. They can provide immediate responses to any questions you may have.

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#5

Post by em0ney » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 7:41 AM UTC

Learning from others is invaluable.

Listen to the perspectives of those around you, but don't regurgitate what they say or follow what they say blindly. Ask them questions, challenge conventional wisdoms and ask "Why".

Experience is a form of bias and must always be taken with a clear head and a grain of salt.

My grandfather would always say: Advice is free, until you take it.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#6

Post by throwaway662184 » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 7:45 AM UTC

The product itself used to be my #1 priority when searching for a developer job. Dating apps? No thanks. Smart doorbells? Yeah ok...

But then that changed when I brought on a senior engineer on my team that was worse than mediocre. I can't do anything about it because he plays office politics better than he can write code.

Because of this experience, my number one priority with my job hunt is finding a small, talented team to work with. Compensation and the product itself fight for second place.

It's advice I don't think most people have the privilege of exercising, there are bills to pay, but you really ought to not work with anyone you can't invision yourself working with for the rest of your life (or maybe a decade or two at the least).

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#7

Post by Jian-Yang » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 7:48 AM UTC

You are the mean of the 5 people you spend the most time with. So always try to surround yourself with people you can learn from, especially in the first years of your career. I personally find that the best growth comes from people that challenge you and make you challenge yourself.

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#8

Post by throwaway662184 » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 7:49 AM UTC

throwaway662184 wrote: post #6

The product itself used to be my #1 priority when searching for a developer job. Dating apps? No thanks. Smart doorbells? Yeah ok... But then that changed when I brought on a senior engineer on my team that was worse than mediocre. I can't do anything about it because he plays office politics better than he can write code. Because of this experience, my number one priority with my job hunt is finding a small, talente…

To add some more practical advice, I would search for employers that have good internship programs. I think it's ideal to learn from both students/new grads and senior engineers with proven experience. The most enjoyable learning experience I had on the job was when I had a recent CS grad on my team.

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#9

Post by beagle3 » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 7:51 AM UTC

Always strive to be the stupidest person in the room, despite being as smart as you can be - as long as the people you interact with don't make you feel bad (either because they are being a-holes, or because the difference in knowledge/experience/attitude is too big to be useful).

I've had the fortune to be in that position for a very long time, and I wouldn't do it any other way. Many people / teachers / mentors don't know the limits of their knowledge, regardless of how well meaning they are (and some aren't). Intellectually aim the highest you can afford to. Luck has a lot to do with it, but you can (and should) help luck.

That's true about your career, but also about other stuff like sports, music, or any other hobby.

Re: Ask HN: How important is it to be with peers you can learn from?

#10

Post by collyw » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 8:15 AM UTC

em0ney wrote: post #5

Learning from others is invaluable. Listen to the perspectives of those around you, but don't regurgitate what they say or follow what they say blindly. Ask them questions, challenge conventional wisdoms and ask "Why". Experience is a form of bias and must always be taken with a clear head and a grain of salt. My grandfather would always say: Advice is free, until you take it. Good luck!

I learn most stuff by myself. Sure it speeds up the process a bit when someone teaches you, but often making all the mistakes by yourself you get a deeper understanding.