As the title says, I landed my first role a month ago and still can’t believe I am being paid to write code. It’s been a hobby forever and I fancied upskilling and it actually happened.
I am a relative fuck up and I guess a late bloomer.
As the title says, I landed my first role a month ago and still can’t believe I am being paid to write code. It’s been a hobby forever and I fancied upskilling and it actually happened.
I am a relative fuck up and I guess a late bloomer.
Congratulations and welcome to the industry!
So, what are your first impressions? Is there something so far that has surprised you about the job?
Thanks.
Yeah so much has surprised me.
Mainly I would say it’s the shock at the amount of stuff my SE knows. Like I know my stuff and in two bootcamps I did I was far and above the rest of them and even some tutors. Yet here I am nothing lol.
How hard it is to get used to conventions. So I’m doing TS React and C# .net. I know react but this app is something else. So many custom hooks. I was sure on day one I was hired by mistake. It’s getting easier.
This last one is hard for me to get to grips with, but there are no timescales (only 6 employees). I get given something to do and left to it. I’ll be wondering am I doing it right is it taking too long but nobody ever comes for an update. The boss is busy on other projects and this being a new one isn’t due for a while.
It’s just difficult as I’m used to working shitty jobs where you are pestered all the time.
Hmm… A few thoughts based on my somewhat extensive experience (~25 years working in this industry now).
There are two things here. One is getting used to the conventions – that’s something you actually pick up fairly quickly after you’ve done it a while because you start seeing the same (or nearly the same) conventions in new locations. The other is getting used to a new codebase you haven’t worked in before – and that one never goes away. As far as I can tell it ALWAYS takes a while to get familiar enough with a new codebase to feel comfortable in it.
That can be a bit of a red flag. For the moment, while you are brand new, just take advantage of it. But in the longer term you probably want to push for some clearly expressed expectations, or else set some yourself. A project with no dates tends to float along blithely for some time until one day someone suddenly decides it’s 3 weeks overdue and has to be finished by tomorrow or heads will roll! Once you have enough experience to be confident in your estimates, you’ll probably want to head this off by creating estimates even if they aren’t requested.
And THAT, unfortunately, isn’t really a feature of the job so much as a feature of having a good boss. Poor tech managers will micromanage and pester you all the time; skilled tech managers will set clear expectations then let you handle it yourself. You likely won’t always get a manager who does this well but you should enjoy it while you have it.
Hey thanks for the detailed response. Sorry for delay.
Just wanted to address the timescale issue. This project is due in October so I’m sure in his head he has timeframes for when he will jump back on to it.
I guess I’ll try and set my own timeframes just for peace of mind and practice.
One thing that does concern me is I get directions for new components with very little details. I’ll go away and do what I think is required then he comes back and is like yeah not like that, but gives praise for working with little direction and then extends in it.
I can’t work out if it’s to see how I do, or getting all the logic tied up then it’s easier to make changes or something else.
I guess I expected a lot more mentorship given that I was hired as a junior with no commercial experience.
Terrified that at the 3 month probation end that they’ll can me due to all the refactors, but the logical side of my brain says no, but the anxious guy is yelling at me.
Honestly, from what you are saying it sounds as if you have a fairly GOOD boss who just isn’t giving you the level of support that you need as a brand new developer. My advice would be to say that to him something like this: “Boss, I understand you are busy and have a lot of other things requiring your attention, and you have been very understanding when I’ve tried to operate with little direction. But I am feeling that as a relatively new developer I need a bit more mentoring and direction. Are there any assignments where I could pair up closely with another developer and do the work together? I think that after one or two assignments like that I would be much more effective.”