A Recipe for Success
By: Coral Fussman
Tags: Software Development, Coding, Codingbootcamp, Software Engineering, Algorithms

Things you wish you knew before entering the Dev Workforce. As told by Up and Coming Software Engineers.

When you’re working towards a goal, you get tunnel vision for the finish line. You have your eyes set on the prize. You may be mastering a language, learning a new framework, finishing a project. The work can be engulfing and you may not come up for air until the task is done. Understandable. However, on occasion the journey becomes so great in the moment we forget to think about what comes next. And if you’re about to finish your education, start a new job or both, the “after” may catch you off guard if you forget to look ahead.

I always like to be clear about what you can expect from my articles, in case you’d like to turn back now!! This article is meant to save you a little panic, and a little grief. And with the help of several kind, brilliant developers, prepare you for day 1 in the real world of coding.

Expectations v. Reality

Summer Expectations vs Reality

You’ve finished your education, you’re out the gate! “Now what?” For many people entering a new field or even “week 1” of moving to a new company, even though you are qualified, you must familiarize yourself with the new landscape. One quickly finds which skills will really be honed in on and possibly which skills will be needed to supplement their tool belt.

So I asked recent grads and young professionals who still remember what it felt like on day zero… “What do you wish you knew before getting out into the workforce?”

_________________________________________________________________

I think something important that many bootcamp students do not tackle early on is data structures and algorithms for technical interviews. Another thing is refining your code skills in the domain you learn, so its clean.

Garrett Halstein, YouTuber & Software Engineer @ IBM

_________________________________________________________________

I wish I knew just how important that first job is. It defines a ton of how you grow and develop as an engineer.

Shirley Lin, Full Stack Engineer at DataCamp

_________________________________________________________________

You’re never going to feel at the top of your game and ready to go out into the workforce. There is always more to learn — be it new technologies or just diving deeper into previous material to get a more solid grasp. JUST GO FOR IT. You’re more than capable and the sheer fact that you’ve made it this far proves that. You’re never going to feel 100% ready, and if you keep waiting until you feel 100% ready, you’ll miss out on some great opportunities. Don’t sell yourself short…you’re allowed to recognize how amazing you are!

Cindy Kei, Software Engineer

_________________________________________________________________

I wish I knew more about data structures, algorithms, and system designs before getting out into the workforce. Because that’s what most company hiring processes are all about, even when you are trying to switch jobs, you still get tested again with the same process.

Osgood, Software Engineer

_________________________________________________________________

My Bootcamp didn’t have a module or part of a module where they specifically cover CSS. It’s more of a learn on your own, as you go process regarding CSS. It is quite straight forward but you can clearly see the difference between people that are amazing at CSS and us plebs who are just okay at it. CSS gives your projects so much more presentation value. Another thing would have been Databases, Big O notation and Algorithms. Although we have been studying on our own outside of the program amongst ourselves, it would definitely have been nice to have a small section or even a module to go over these topics as these are very important areas that we MUST know and feel comfortable with as developers.

Joseph Cha, Software Engineer

_________________________________________________________________

I wish I was more familiar with hosting my own projects. I also wish we’d woven algos into more of our mod learning.

Andrew Casarsa, Software Engineer

_________________________________________________________________

What Worked?

We’ve all heard the expression hindsight 20/20. After completing a long process, often times we can look back and better isolate what happened and what were some of the keys to our success. That’s exactly what I’ve asked the following Software Engineers to specifically reflect on.

“What resources helped you most along your journey to SE?” Once again here are their invaluable responses.

_________________________________________________________________

(as mentioned above) You can refine your code skills in the domain you learn so it’s clean, by checking out Colt Steele’s or Stephen Grider’s courses on the specific domain of interest. For example, they teach react extremely well, clean and industry grade. Something you can’t pick up in the short time of a bootcamp.

Garrett Halstein, YouTuber & Software Engineer @ IBM

**Garrett also has a great Youtube channel link here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxFU0nGRBUEkidfiDGL4yWg

_________________________________________________________________

Definitely the thing that aided me the most was being able to blend my interests with development. It allowed me to build a really unique project that stood out and helped me land my first job.

Shirley Lin, Full Stack Engineer at DataCamp

_________________________________________________________________

Error messages are your friend, it’s way better to have an error message and something be wrong than not have one at all.

Facebook Developer (preferred to remain anonymous)

_________________________________________________________________

Collaboration with my peers and wider network was the tool that helped me most in my engineering journey. Collaborating with my peers provided me with fresh perspectives, advice, moral support, and an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other. I would not have made it through my engineering journey or have learned as much as I was able to without all of the people who went through this experience with me. You have to know when to put your pride aside and ask for help, but be sure to pay the favor back when someone else is struggling!

Cindy Kei, Software Engineer

_________________________________________________________________

I would say Google, Youtube, friends, and my brother were the most help toward my journey to engineering. I am lucky enough to have a brother who happens to be a software engineer.

Osgood, Software Engineer

_________________________________________________________________

I’d say one of the most helpful things was having the support of friends… As for things that the school provided, the practice challenges were always very helpful. One of the most helpful things were the rare occasions you got one on one time with a lead…Having one on one time with someone as advanced as a lead who can look over the code that you wrote yourself was such a big help. It was a lot different than reviewing code that was written by someone else. Learning something seemed easier when the example was specific to your own experience…Also, it was always helpful to have some sort of debugger especially before react, like byebug or pry, rails console, to just test things out. It’s a simple thing but I think it was very useful.

Andrew Casarsa, Software Engineer

_________________________________________________________________

In Short…

There’s no way to sum up absolutely all the invaluable wisdom that has been bestowed above. However, I know some folks are very busy and looking for the abridged version! Some key takeaways became apparent very quickly. You have probably already become aware of them. Algorithms and data structures were almost unanimously highlighted as necessary, depending on the job and field you are looking to work in. Teamwork and peers, an obvious tool, but somehow still constantly underrated. Finally, self-appreciation and utilizing personal assets.

I’d like to give another special thanks to everyone who so graciously gave me their time and answered my questions. I’m sure their responses will resonate with a few of you out there.

As always I would love to hear from you the reader, if you have any feedback or questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.