What (not?) to do in your new tech role

#career #webdev

Recently on the Salted Bytes podcast we discussed what to do (and NOT) to do in your first few days at a new dev role.

Some of this advice was very applicable to most jobs:

For developers though, whether in your first role or your twentieth, we had some very industry-specific tips:

Don't cling dogmatically to your old tooling or coding style - it may be familiar but you need to learn the way things are done in your new place of work - it's very likely they've arrived at their stack for compelling reasons, which are worth hearing out, and respecting. One you've done that, if you still feel duty bound to evangelise your new colleagues on your perspective on tabs v space, go right ahead.
Get to know people outside of your immediate team. This can give you invaluable insight into your new role, either from top level strategy and culture or from the low to ground must know info like how the holiday calendar works and how to claim expenses. (most companies should absolutely cover this in your orientation, but let's be honest, it's not always thorough).
Be curious, and ask the obvious question. There's a great deal of pride, and conversely, imposter syndrome permeating software development. Don't be afraid to ask even the most humbling of questions: better now than 5 months down the line. There are myriad paths into development careers, not all of them computer-science based, and sometimes you'll encounter knowledge gaps that you didn't even know existed. Swallow that pride and ask the obvious question - clarity trumps assumption every day of the week.

James & I covered more tips & tricks on the Salted Bytes podcast. Why not go check it out?

Till next time

Chris