This Quote Is My Best Career Advice for Junior Developers & New Grads

Do you know what becoming a successful software engineer has to do with becoming a famous comedian? Steve Martin does.

Whether you ride motocross, crack jokes, or write code, you gotta “git gud.” Photo: Jordan Andrews on Unsplash

I’ve looked at thousands of job applicants for software engineering positions as a hiring manager, and some applicants stick out.

I look for candidates who’ve quantified their impact on organizations, while also having 90–100% overlap between their skills.

Certain developers tend to get hired — a lot — and seem to almost exist in a different job market than everyone else. Their secret?

“Be so good that they can’t ignore you.” — Steve Martin

Comedian Steve Martin (co-star of Only Murders in the Building, with Selena Gomez and Martin Short), was once asked about his comedy career.

“How do you become a famous comedian?”

“Be so good that they can’t ignore you,” he replied.

It’s perfect as career advice in any highly-skilled profession, whether we’re talking about software engineering or being a successful stand-up comic.

In fact, it’s so generally applicable that famed author Cal Newport chose this…