#1 - You have just started
This is the first part of a series of chapters where I'm going to share with you what I have learned from the book "Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual" written by John Sonmez.
Please note that this article is nothing more than a summary with my opinions. I still strongly recommend that you read the book as it brings various life experiences and important insights into the life of a software developer.
In the first section, John talks about the career, so let's start from there.
You are a business guy, just accept it
One of the most interesting tips, which involves a change in how we approach our work, is right at the beginning of the book: You are not just a worker; you have a business, and that is how you should treat your entire developer career—not as an employee working 40 hours a week for someone else, but as someone who is running their own business and constantly seeking ways to improve, add value, and evolve. Even if you are working in a company with a signed contract and all, in John's words:
"It's better to think of an employer as a customer for your software development business" (Sonmez, John. Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual).
To eat a pizza, it's better in slices
After teaching us how to look at our career in a way that constantly strives for improvement, the author provides us with a great method for setting goals of any scale and always keeping them in sight, maintaining a sense of progress. For those who have studied calculus in college, you know that the area under the curve can be calculated by summing up the areas of tiny bars:
This is the fundamental concept of integrals and serves as the foundation for achieving big goals, according to John: by setting smaller goals that are part of the larger goal. The sum of your efforts will result in the accomplishment you desire, so always set tangible smaller goals that are steps towards something bigger.
You have a mouth and you will use it
Moving forward, John shares a truth that may be somewhat painful for some of us: development is not just about writing code; in fact, there may be days when writing code won't fit into your tight schedule. I myself have an experience in my career that supports this statement. When I was an intern, one of the senior developers in the company was helping me with some implementations while we were pair coding. He was sharing his screen to show me some interesting things when he received four consecutive email notifications, and guess what? Four meetings scheduled for the same day. He simply said, "Okay, today I won't be coding." And that's exactly what John mentions in the book. Software development is not just about programming; you will still need to attend meetings, discuss your tasks, and provide input on relevant topics. In other words, it's possible that 50% or more of your work will involve dealing with people, so you need to know how to do that. Yes, that's right. Your course on "Learning JavaScript in a Week" is not enough. You will be a much more valuable professional if you can effectively communicate with your coworkers.
Summarizing this first part of the series
- Treat your career like a business
- Break down your goals into smaller objectives
- Enhance your skills in dealing with others
In the next chapter on the teachings of the book "Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual" by Sonmez, John, we will discuss the importance of good resumes, the three paths of a software development career, and why you should specialize.
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