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Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

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Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#71

Post by emteycz »

leetcrew wrote: post #30
mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #16

> “ Don’t like your new boss? Just quit. Enough people do it, and their boss will fix it. You don’t like your company’s policies around privacy, diversity, inclusion, human rights? Quit.” This is psycho advice. It ranks up there with the crazy myths about just being able to instantly get new software jobs (when the actual time of job searches is usually longer than 6 months, despite the tone deaf wave of gainsaying c…

recruiter: based on your impressive linkedin profile, I think you'd be a great fit for a full-stack role with my client! let me know if you have some time to discuss opportunities this week. my linkedin profile: literally just desktop c++ work in a completely different domain. yeah, something tells me these messages are not likely to lead to a real job.

Actually, I tried, and it does.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#72

Post by ajarmst »

ajarmst wrote: post #32
ajarmst wrote: post #9

An observation: a lot of these---especially 'soft skills'---can't be properly learned earlier. They're a side effect of experience, and the 10 years doing the job is the only way to properly get them. The things I most often hear from potential employers when we ask what we should focus on more in teaching them are "soft skills" and "troubleshooting". My response is now to ask which of the long list of technical skil…

An aphorism I occasionally use (I can be tedious): "the only way to make a twenty-year old comfortable leading a meeting is to wait until they're a thirty-year old." Doesn't stop us from forcing the poor bastards to do public-speaking assignments or dropping them into "teams" of completely inexperienced people they've never met with no leaders in the name of ephemeral "soft-skills."

I should add that there is one other way to make that twenty-year-old comfortable: have them be a sociopath. But our problem of distinguishing between sociopathy and confident leadership is a much, much longer conversation.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#73

Post by ajarmst »

aiisjustanif wrote: post #54
ajarmst wrote: post #9

An observation: a lot of these---especially 'soft skills'---can't be properly learned earlier. They're a side effect of experience, and the 10 years doing the job is the only way to properly get them. The things I most often hear from potential employers when we ask what we should focus on more in teaching them are "soft skills" and "troubleshooting". My response is now to ask which of the long list of technical skil…

As a counter observation: I agree with you but I don’t think it takes 10 years, but it’s not a bad estimate. Being deeply involved in teams working important products for your company can speed this up.

Agreed. I allude to that in my last sentence of the original comment.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#74

Post by ant6n »

mgkimsal wrote: post #26
davzie wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with a family, my preference is that I can work from home to be around my family more. I feel this is more valuable to them than some more money in our savings account but that’s just me. To each their own!

Had a colleague die a few years ago. He'd lost some project work, and let his life insurance lapse. Had a heart attack just a few weeks later, and left a wife and 3 kids with very little. He worked from home and spent time with them, but had hit a point where money was a problem. The story sticks with me because he'd contacted me just a couple months before he died asking if I had any work/referrals, and I had nothin…

You can also get a smaller house/Apartment, which young kids probably won’t mind, and have the less paying job that allows you more tone with family. That may also reduce the chance of heart attack, btw.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#75

Post by mrits »

fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #21
mrits wrote: post #4

Googling how to bubble sort seems a bit extreme. I'm not much for Cracking the Code Interview type questions but this would certainly be a red flag.

Part of the problem with things like "implement Bubble Sort" is that most actual programming tasks are "here's a problem, find the best implementation". There aren't many sorting tasks where Bubble Sort is an appropriate implementation: a _better_ interview question would be "here's a list of numbers, sort them without using a standard library function." Followed by "what are some advantages/disadvantages of the meth…

That isn't a bad interview question but certainly not _better_. It's perfectly understandable for some shops to want to filter out people that don't practice fundamentals from time to time. We all have our own predictors of success and they all suck in different ways.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#76

Post by scns »

montenegrohugo wrote: post #3

Good read, especially the part about soft skills. Sometimes it seems to me like it's almost impossible to change them. It's "easy" to learn something hard and defined, like coding. But changing how you communicate? How you react to conflict? Your body language? It's even harder if you're trying to change these soft behaviors of someone else, like a partner. Not sure what the takeaway is here, just wanted to express m…

Get a coach, worked for me.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#77

Post by otagekki »

leetcrew wrote: post #30
mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #16

> “ Don’t like your new boss? Just quit. Enough people do it, and their boss will fix it. You don’t like your company’s policies around privacy, diversity, inclusion, human rights? Quit.” This is psycho advice. It ranks up there with the crazy myths about just being able to instantly get new software jobs (when the actual time of job searches is usually longer than 6 months, despite the tone deaf wave of gainsaying c…

recruiter: based on your impressive linkedin profile, I think you'd be a great fit for a full-stack role with my client! let me know if you have some time to discuss opportunities this week. my linkedin profile: literally just desktop c++ work in a completely different domain. yeah, something tells me these messages are not likely to lead to a real job.

But have you ever tried? Back in 2018, less than 6 months into my new job I tried and got a solid offer (and found a client) that could be bumping my salary from €41,000 to €47,000. For reasons unknown I turned down the offer, and I retrospectively kind of regret it.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#78

Post by troelsSteegin »

lllr_finger wrote: post #11
bjornjajayaja wrote: post #5

I tend to disagree with many of the sentiments. In particular, many software folks don’t know the most rudimentary data structures and algorithms. Those should be memorized, frankly. Lately I have been exploring old programming books on archive.org and realize how downhill the industry has gone from fundamental principles, which leads to “language-z” zealots to satisfy some business need. The author mentions COBOL as…

It sounds like your position makes use of those data structures and algorithms - and the author's didn't. I think the key here is that you memorize the important aspects of your role while knowing how to get the answers for anything else.

Right. The author is otherwise memoizing ... via google.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#79

Post by leetcrew »

otagekki wrote: post #77
leetcrew wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

recruiter: based on your impressive linkedin profile, I think you'd be a great fit for a full-stack role with my client! let me know if you have some time to discuss opportunities this week. my linkedin profile: literally just desktop c++ work in a completely different domain. yeah, something tells me these messages are not likely to lead to a real job.

But have you ever tried? Back in 2018, less than 6 months into my new job I tried and got a solid offer (and found a client) that could be bumping my salary from €41,000 to €47,000. For reasons unknown I turned down the offer, and I retrospectively kind of regret it.

I'll respond if their initial message sounds like they actually read my profile and thought about how I could bring value to their client. this almost never happens. usually they are hiring for a mid-level role for which I have zero relevant experience. I have a hard time believing that's what they really want to do.

in any case, I really like my current team and manager. it would take a lot more than a €6000 (~$7000) salary bump to make me consider a different job.

Re: Things I Wish I’d Learned Sooner After Being a Developer for 10 Years

#80

Post by edbob »

deckard1 wrote: post #57
mgkimsal wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had a colleague die a few years ago. He'd lost some project work, and let his life insurance lapse. Had a heart attack just a few weeks later, and left a wife and 3 kids with very little. He worked from home and spent time with them, but had hit a point where money was a problem. The story sticks with me because he'd contacted me just a couple months before he died asking if I had any work/referrals, and I had nothin…

> I'm actually amazed at how many folks work for decades, then something happens, and there's a gofundme set up for the family to help with day to day bills. Not to go all Bernie Sanders on you, but... welcome to America? Maybe you don't live in the US. But here in the US, a single medical bill can wipe you out. And because we value free market healthcare, that means you don't know what the price will be until after…

US health care does not even resemble a free market system. Every incentive is perverted by the government, starting with the tax code practically forcing insurance to be tied to employers.
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