First steps in IT: how to learn fast
Tags: beginners, webdev
Published: 2020-08-04 14:20:44

Junior in IT – this notion is very broad. One started working in an IT company for the first time after University, another decided to master a new stack of technologies, and the third radically changed the field of activity and came into development from a completely different specialty.

All three options are united by one thing: in one sense or another, a person is a junior, and he needs to learn everything as quickly as possible. Today we at [WebSailors](https://websailors.pro/) are telling you what to do if this is your case.

**Getting rid of stereotypes**

This is especially important if your first steps are not in the technology stack, but in the field itself. There are quite a lot of myths about the profession of a programmer, and it is worth parting with at least most of them. Here are the most common ones:

- "programmers make millions." IT-sphere is really one of the most profitable and rapidly developing in the labor market, but in reality, the salaries of newcomers and trainees range from 15-35 thousand in the regions to 60-170 thousand rubles in Moscow and St. Petersburg;

- "I will only program." Another common misconception. Meanwhile, when working on each task, writing code takes on average less than half of the working time - everything else is spent on code review, testing, documentation, communication with the client, etc. In Other words, you need to learn not only to program;

- "you can become a Senior very quickly." It is quite difficult to give an objective assessment of the level of your work on your own. Usually, this can only be done by a more experienced developer or a competent manager. But the fact is that each IT company has its own scale of assessment of competencies, and the vision of Junior/Middle/Senior skills in one organization rarely coincides with other points of view. 

You can only know one thing for sure: senior is the highest professional level of a developer, which requires deep knowledge in several technology stacks at once, experience in both the frontend and backend, and at least several serious successful commercial projects in the asset over the past years.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/okd8srx65gtxtvbub9hj.jpeg)

**Communicate with your mentor**

Often you have to learn new technologies yourself. But if you are lucky enough to work for a company, then most likely you already have a mentor - or at least a more experienced developer who is willing to share their knowledge. This process may not always go smoothly - in the eyes of a mentor, you will in any case be an unintelligent child who still has a lot to learn. 

Try to contain your emotions and learn to take positive advice and constructive criticism. This should be taken as an axiom at least until your level of professionalism comes as close as possible to the level of the mentor. It is very important not to go to extremes: asking questions about each written line of code and waiting for everything to be done for you will not add to your good reputation.

**Don't reinvent the wheel**

Simply put, to come up with new ways to solve old problems most often does not make sense: it turns out either for a long time, or very difficult, or completely wrong. If templates for solving certain problems already exist, then this means that another developer has already faced a similar situation before you and it is completely optional for you to spend time on your own discoveries. The so-called best practices (best practices) are easiest to find on Habr, Github and other similar portals.

**Write well right away**

Among web-developers often arise discussions whether it is worth it to write “beautiful” code right away? We at [WebSailors](https://websailors.pro/) are absolutely sure that a beginner should make it a rule to write both beautiful and working code. Do not allow work in the spirit of “let well alone”. 

Of course, you can’t do without hacks in development, but try to at least minimize their number. Be sure to remember your mistakes when they arise. Be sure to keep them in mind for the future. A code that is understandable not only to you - saves time and allows you to move forward much faster in terms of professional growth.

**Join the community of like-minded people**

Mentors and your own experience of trial and error will, of course, serve you the good turn, but you can’t quickly develop and keep abreast of all the latest trends in development without leaving your office or home. Communication and exchange of experience in the IT community is ongoing, and the best places for it are meetings, conferences and hackathons. 

You can learn about them most often from colleagues, and if this is not your case, then monitoring groups on social networks and chats in instant messengers is what you need. Look for a conversation or channel in the Telegram of the local IT community, browse through the IT-events portal at your leisure and subscribe to useful VKontakte groups, listen to a podcast or interview with a well-known developer: you will definitely find something suitable. 

Get to know at least a couple of like-minded people at the nearest meeting, and then it will become much easier to find out about everything. One has only to start, and then everything will go by itself. And new knowledge and experience of other developers always help a beginner to learn everything faster - not only in theory but also in practice.

**Accumulate practical experience**

And of course, the truth as old as the world last: nothing can be learned without practice. Try to do yourself as many different types of tasks as possible. Perhaps, over time, it is worth the risk to even complete your own small project - write a small program or application (even if no one ordered them). In any case, this is an experience that will come in handy sooner or later.

Source - [WebSailors](https://websailors.pro/)