Advice to young developers: Get the job and stay cool

CodeConnexx 2013

There are two key career stages every singe developer and designer has to go through for which advice is really forthcoming. There are places that people can go when they are students to get advice and when they have cemented themselves in the industry where they can go to expand their horizons and share their ideas. But what about in between?

The reality is you are left to your own devices when looking for a job and when you do get one many young developers and designers fall into traps driven by their fears and egos. I want to help you in those two steps and share my experiences.

Transcript

1. Advice for young developers:
   Get the job and stay cool
   Richard Askew
   @richaskew
   

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2. Who am I?
   ● Went to Uni
   ● Got a job as part of course
   ● Left that job, got another job
   ● Set-up my own company
   ● Teach at the University on a part-time basis.
   

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3. Today
   Two parts, aimed at “Young” developers
   - Getting a job
   - How young developers interact and common
   traits
   

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5. Flickr: Bunches and Bits
   

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6. Getting a job
   Tip 1: Create a portfolio
   

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7. Create a portfolio
   

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8. Create a portfolio
   

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9. Alternatives
   

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10. Alternatives
    

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11. Alternatives
    

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12. Implications
    - Implies you don’t love what you do
    - Implies you aren’t curious
    - Implies you do the bare minimum
    

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13. Getting a job
    Tip 2: "You get the work you do"
    

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14. “You get the work you do”
    

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15. “You get the work you do”
    

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16. “You get the work you do”
    

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17. Getting ideas
    

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18. Getting ideas
    

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19. Getting a job
    Tip 3: Become part of the community
    

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20. Become part of the community
    

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21. Getting a job
    Tip 4: Finding work
    

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22. Finding work
    

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23. Finding work
    

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24. Have fun
    

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25. Getting to work
    caseorganic
    

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26. Making life easier for you:
    Understand your code
    Flickr: bobsfever
    

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27. Tips on working with yourself
    - It’s OK to rewrite
    - Don’t be afraid to Google
    - Complexity != Quality
    

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28. Value other disciplines
    Flickr: jakedobkin
    

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29. Value designers
    

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30. Value designers: We all design stuff!
    Flickr: hackny
    

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31. Tips for working with designers
    - They are perfectionists
    - Technical limitations (Don’t stagnate)
    - Compliment
    

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32. Value project managers
    Why do business analysts and project
    managers get higher salaries than
    programmers? - stackexchange.com
    

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33. Value project managers
    - Programming is more difficult, but managing sucks more.
    - “Programmers are usually logical, intelligent, individuals,
    who tell it like it is. Executives hate that.”
    - Reducing management to creating charts and writing
    documentation is like saying that programming is typing.
    

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34. Value project managers
    - Business pressures
    - Are you comfortable with what you are doing?
    

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35. Tips for working with project
    managers
    - You might not know the whole picture
    - Become an ally
    - Business reasons don’t make everything OK
    

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36. Value Customers
    

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37. Top tips for working with customers
    - Be proactive
    - It is OK to assume
    - They don’t speak your language
    - Referrals are important
    - Say ‘No’
    

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38. Dealing with Users
    - BUFH
    - You are the BUFH!
    

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39. Value everyone.
    

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41. Give feedback
    Flickr: b@nfy
    

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42. Give feedback
    Flickr: b@nfy
    

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43. Looking down on lack of knowledge
    Flickr: Lorena Cupcake
    

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44. Jargasm
    

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45. The mocking of recruiters
    

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46. The mocking of recruiters
    

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47. Don’t be how I was
    

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48. Tips for being happy
    - Take responsibility
    - Money. Money. Money.
    - Perspective
    

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49. Thank you.
    

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