Finding A Junior Friendly Team
Part One
As with any job, experience is integral to growth and career progression, but what people don’t really speak about is the right kind of experience. It’s not enough to land a job as a junior developer, you have to be in the right environment, one that fosters growth and progression. There are a few signs I have seen that can help you spot the best places to work for juniors.
- The Job Description
Finding the best place to work really starts with the job description. Does it just read like a list of qualifications and expectations? Do they only brag about the “benefits” they can offer (bonuses, holidays, equipmen? Do they use buzzwords and ask for unrealistic expectations? This is probably not a place that has really thought about how a junior developer would fit into the company, and is just looking for another hire. A good job description for a junior role will mention how they intend to support juniors (pair programming, code reviews, mentoring, one-to-ones, etc) and also how they expect the junior to progress (in X months you will be doing tasks such as _____). Bonus points if they mention how learning is fostered within the team (learning lunches, personal development time, conferences or educational fund).
2. The Code Test
The best code test I ever did was for a small consultancy. There were two parts, a written article part (on any technical subject of my choice) and a development part. What made this code test amazing was that there was an accompanying marking guide, this meant that I could stay focused while coding & giving all my attention to what they would be marking me on, I wouldn’t need to wonder if they cared about the front-end because I could see I wasn’t being marked on it. I was also able to treat the marking guide as a checklist and make sure I did all the things they were expecting. A not-so-great code test I did was a CSS test for a Rails position. Now, it’s not that the actual test was bad, but it’s definitely a big fat red flag if your test doesn’t reflect the role. If it’s more complicated or in a completely different coding language than the role you’ve applied for, this is telling of what the role is likely going to comprise of.
3. Communication Skills
I make a point to talk with any potential employers before I apply, mainly because I now want to make sure my next role is as close to perfect (for me) as possible. I have a standard set of questions that I send out, a good mark of a CTO or team with good communication skills is the amount of detail they’re able to give in my answers. I have asked a potential employer for more information on role that wasn’t advertised and he gave me a one sentence answer which didn’t really tell me about the role, what was really expected of me or what they had to offer me. However, I have also had employers give me very detailed answers and even returning questions and prompting more. This is a good sign and often leads to a telephone or face-face interview. Also, if an employer leaves you hanging for days with no explanation, even after prompting, that’s not a good sign.
4. Communication II
When you’ve joined a team, it’s important that you feel like you can trust your team mates and a huge part of that is communicating, in the right way. How are mistakes addressed? Are they pointed out to you or do you have to hear through the grapevine? How are your opinions or suggestions treated? Are you heard and do you feel comfortable voicing yourself? When pair programming, are you able to make coding suggestions, or are you expected to just sit and watch? It’s important that you feel valued and that your contributions, even if not suitable, matter. You should never have to hear that you’ve made a mistake through someone else, especially if your team practices peer review. If there are any problems, there should be a senior member of staff or someone from HR who can mediate and help the situation. More often than not, it’s a case of misunderstanding.
5. Work Load
Okay, so you have your job and you’re good to go, coding til the cows come home. Your first week on the job they ease you in with some simple HTML/CSS stuff, then Javascript, you’re a rails developer but you’re still new so maybe they’re just trying not to overwhelm you. Don’t fall for it. If an employer is invested in you, they will put you to good use. Now, of course you’ll have to do some HTML/CSS/JS however, if you are a rails/ruby/python/etc developer, you should also be doing that stuff to. If you’re not there’s a big problem. It means that your employer is not really invested in your career progression or growth. Ideally, you should be partnered up with someone for the first few months who can help you get to grip with the systems before you begin working more independently on your own tasks. If you’re working on the same unchallenging things six months down the line, you need to reevaluate. If when you ask for more challenging tasks, you’re brushed off, you need to reevaluate.
This is just part one of finding a junior friendly team, I have more tips so do stay tuned for part two, you can help :bgt out by donating so that we can keep coming to you with more blog posts, podcasts and videos: paypal.me/blackgirltech.
I’m also available for work, so if you want to chat to me about that, contact me on twitter: @lolaodelola
