Things I wish I knew before being an junior Dev: Networking
Tags: networking, webdev, beginners, programming
Published: 2022-05-08 13:44:09

Hey guys, I have been thinking about how I have seen a lot of growth in my self, I have had since I met certain people, since I opened up to learning better communication skills. There is definitely a plethora of skills, understandings & opportunity you will get from being around the right people, so allow me to share tips on good networking skills and how it benefits you as a junior developer or anyone who wants to get into programming.

## What is networking?

- I think the best way to describe networking in a personal and also professional  sense is that it's a skill and part of your life that allows you to see your software developer's growth from a different perspective. 

- It's a way to keep yourself updated on programming languages, tools, and libraries that are efficient and effective.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/df4e4fgpl9muuavyxrld.jpg)
- Networking is also the process you use to add value to people's lives and this is done through sharing what you have learned and also showing people pitfalls that held you back.

- Reading comments from coding groups, developer blogs facebook programming groups and see what you can learn from them.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/sfgvs37i6megi0haxlo1.gif)


## The Benefits of networking

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/41d27fclifwwwfktvmqy.jpg)

- You can better prepare for a project or standard of code you create by learning from the people in your network who are writing better code than you.

- [Stats](https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/employment-research/how-does-networking-affect-your-job-search#:~:text=Network%20searches%20have%20higher%20finding,shorter%2C%20according%20to%20the%20authors.) do say that people with a healthy network will have better employment opportunity.

- You can and will always get good advice and guidance from those with much more experience than you on a certain language, framework, or library.

- You will understand frameworks or libraries quicker because someone can explain them better and share the fundamentals.

- You will have a chance to grow a good reputation through helping others and also taking initiative and learning important but hard skills.

- You can grow a committed circle of people you can trust and count on for certain networking platforms like [linkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nqubeko-gcabashe/).'

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kq1nlnm3xhjrpu4gjq7s.jpg)
- You will have an update about where the industry is going and what companies are using.

## How do we network?

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ysafvi8o27jp76q1gbma.jpg)

- Work on your communication skills. Work on how you speak, and the motive for opening your mouth. 

- Work on how to be more welcoming, and that could be either having a good smile or sharing ideas that you think a developer might like or enjoy looking at like another developer's portfolio or your code.

- Only build relationships with people you actually like for who they are not what they have or can do for you.

- Offer value for free to people around you this can be done by solving their software issues or fixing their bug issues or sharing learning material.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5so1haoe95ttx15baacu.jpg)

- Give genuine compliments from time to time on people's work and progress, and also be open to compliments from others.

- Use your social media and speak to people and ask about what they do.

- Use networking platforms like LinkedIn that will help you have a narrowly targeted network.

Ultimately getting out there will help you grow better, it will help you handle things with much better information to decide on as a developer on your journey.

I have so much to learn still and to accomplish and I know it's actually going to happen mainly because I trust my network and my mentor, and I hope you could have that trust in what you doing and your growth.