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Discussion on: Junior Developer Check List

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald • Edited

...a lack of an ego.

Eight years experience hiring junior developers, and I'm still shocked at the egos I see sometimes.

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kodekage profile image
Prosper Opara

"Junior developer ego"

is that a pointer to overly being defensive? or being proud generally?

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald

It has many flavors, including:

  • "I know what I'm doing, let me work my magic."
  • "I'm the most talented developer you'll ever meet. Let me teach you a think or two."
  • "What could a(n) person ever teach me?"
  • "You'd be fools not to hire me."
  • "I'm already so proficient, you're just a way to get 'experience' to prove what I already know."

The two most absurd candidates in this way we've encountered were:

(a) A 19-yr-old who had built "half an app in C#" (and nothing else), but was determined to school everyone in the company at how we should be building software, and

(b) A candidate in his late 30s who showed up to the interview wearing dirty, torn clothes, and whom hadn't showered or brushed his teeth (I could smell him when he shook my hand), and proceeded to tell us what a brilliant coder he was...when his code was actually sub-par by even our forgiving standards. And then he tells us he had already taken another job, but "he could fit us in maybe".

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kodekage profile image
Prosper Opara

Wow! 😂

I guess a lot about being a junior developer is tied to the trait of BEING HUMBLE (especially since transitioning is dependent on how well Juniors act upon feedback. No one will want to give feedback to a proud folk)

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garethbrown82 profile image
Gareth Brown

I'd attribute this to the Dunning-Kruger effect (A term I've very recently learnt about).

a condition in which people without competence are extremely confident
linkedin.com/pulse/worse-syndrome-...

Senior devs should not instantly disregard junior devs input as they often are very keen to follow best practices and have great knowledge about up and coming technology. But like Jason suggested there can also be a lot of unfounded ego, or at least a lack of understanding of the bigger picture.

I'd agree with Prosper in the being "humble" is the most important trait for junior and also senior devs. There always someone else, regardless of experience, who knows way more than you about something!

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald • Edited

I agree.

Also, for a split second, I thought "Dunning-Kruger" was also the name of the company in The Office (it's actually Dunder Mifflin). 😂