Things I’ve learned in a skeleton crew
Tags: career, life, junior, lessons
Published: 2020-01-28 01:35:23


---
title: Things I’ve learned in a skeleton crew
published: true
description: 
tags: career, life, junior, lessons
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/zeycdnvto26s5x81f70g.png 
---

So, I started a new job two months ago and arrived immediately in a [skeleton crew](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skeleton_crew). Missing deadlines, clients always calling back with new issues and I having to learn about the product. All that at the same time. I had to put a lot of effort and concentration on what I was doing, but I have learned a lot. 

#There are seven things:

**1.	Always make a To Do list.**
Especially if you are starting at a new job it is really important to make a to do list because it helps you to be organized and know exactly what you have to do. Write every step and show it to the person who asked you to do it. In the future it may help you with a new issue.

**2.	Never go home with a doubt**
Do not be afraid of asking. Maybe the person next to you has already passed through the same. In life is better learn from others mistakes rather than yours. When you ask someone you can have a new vision of what is going on.

**3.	Talk to the team**
Sometimes you are surrounded by good people and don’t even know. When I first arrived at this new job I was kind of scary about the people I was about to work with because at the last job was in a small company and it was easy to talk to everyone. So I started to be opened up to life talks and discovery people who studied at the same college as me, people who are my neighbours and some people with amazing life experience. 

**4.	Be opened up to suggestions**
When you are in team with limited resources group knowledge is a great key to achieve goals. So listen to people even when you think you already know about what they are talking about. It is important to understand their view point. It makes you grow as a great professional. The great leaders are opened up to constructive suggestions.

**5.	Assumptions are your enemy**
This one is one of the most important things I have ever learned as a developer. Never start coding guessing of what you have to do, make sure that what you are starting is exactly what you were asked for (back to the number one).

**6.	Be careful on touch a working code**
Maybe this is the most important thing to ask about before start something. If someone came to you telling that the working code shouldn’t do what it already does for months BE CAREFUL. Make sure if it is something new, something that at first was wrong codified or if applicant really knows the workflow of the system.

**7.	See potential on what you have**
This is not only important on professional life but personal too. When you have limited resources, your team are always busy, everybody working hard and huge demand you need to believe and use the labour you have at that time. Try to make personal week targets and apply all that six last points into your work day. At the end of the week be proud of the ones you achieved and take the not achieved ones and try to figure a way to make it next week.

Thank you for reading :)