I Got my first IT Job… and Now What?

You are putting together your CV and doing several interviews. You are being asked about your technical knowledge and soft skills. You are a bit concerned about how close to reality an actual project can be in relation to the tasks you’ve performed while studying. Don’t worry, I understand! That’s why I want to share with you my experience as a Junior Software Developer, so that you are aware of the situations you may face when you first start working in the IT industry. I’ll also share with you some tips that I think will help you a lot in this immense tech world. Shall we begin?

Come to Terms with the English Language

This is something that everyone says, and it’s completely true. It is very likely that, in one way or another, you are familiar with the language, since we are constantly consuming English content (songs, movies and series, etc.). But there is an important difference between using it in a recreational environment and using it at work.

Apart from how difficult or easy this language comes to you, it is a tool that you’ll use every day at work, and, in my opinion, you’ll give it 3 main uses:

• Searches for information in English: when you have any doubts or are stuck while coding, I recommend that you type that same question that you’ve written in Google’s search bar, but this time, in English. You’ll find a great variety of publications and many more answers to what you are looking for.
• Consultative forums: in connection to this, I advise you to frequently visit consultative forums in English. There, you’ll find solutions and suggestions to overcome different conflicts and situations that arise as obstacles in everyday tasks. Even though you can find forums in Spanish, most of them (and the largest volume of responses) are in English. Don’t forget; it is more feasible to find the answer in English than in Spanish.
• Technical documents: the last reason why I advise you to learn English is that most of the documents that you’ll need to go through will be in that language (I refer to official documents of major libraries).

Learn How to Use Libraries

There are many libraries that provide us with functionalities and prevent us from performing certain operations that, if performed manually, would be much more cumbersome. Surely, you’ll use several of them to conduct projects at work. Basically, libraries are structured as follows: a “Getting Started” section, which shows how something is installed, the different options for doing so and general functions; a section with use cases; and a FAQ section.

Being familiar with the use of libraries will allow you to reduce development time, to improve its quality and to have on hand common functionalities that’ve been previously solved by other developers to avoid code duplication.

Learn about Operating Systems

Today, there are different operating systems that manage hardware and software resources, thus enhancing all the computer’s capabilities. It’s very likely that you’ve gotten used to always using the same OS, and that’s why I recommend getting familiarized with others, so as to find their differences, advantages and disadvantages, to learn the main features that make each of them stand out from the rest and to discover which one is more suitable for the computer tools you’ll use. This will allow you to have greater versatility when entering a job, to be able to make the first installations if necessary and to solve tasks to set up the equipment.

In my case, for example, I’d always worked with Windows, and I used to believe that if I wanted to use Linux, my computer skills had to be great. Then, when I became familiar with this OS, I realized that it’s very intuitive, and I realized how useful it is for handling commands from the console, since you can use it to access folders, run programs, create files, perform installations, etc. I also found myself before a stable and robust system that intends to keep operational structure as simple as possible, allowing you to run numerous programs and apps at the same time. What new things will you learn?

Take a Look at Codes Written by Other People

Once you enter the IT industry, it is very likely that you’ll have to work on some project that has already been started and coded by colleagues, or even by people who no longer work there. Although coding best practices exist, developers have their own imprint when following a logic trace of the tasks to be solved. That’s why I advise looking at code written by other people, interpreting it, deciphering it, so that, when the time comes to update or perform maintenance on projects that’ve been conducted before your arrival at the company, you’ll find it more enjoyable to manipulate code.

To put this into practice, I advise you to use Github, follow devs, examine their projects, download them and challenge yourself to make some changes: add a new function, update an existing one, modify styles, manipulate components, reorganize files, etc. Give it a try!

APIs

API (Application Programming Interface) is a mechanism that allows two software components to communicate with each other through a set of definitions and protocols. APIs can be executed in four different ways, the most popular one being the REST APIs. They define a set of functions such as GET, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, which clients can use to access server data. Client requests are made through a server URL, or a server, which sends and receives information between systems.

The main advantage of learning how to consult, integrate and operate APIs is that this knowledge is in high demand in the IT industry, since every IT company uses them. APIs orderly send back the information that you’ll have to manipulate and manage so as to present it to users in a friendly way.

Luckily, there are many free APIs that you can have access to in order to learn, practice and integrate them into our projects. All of them possess documents (most of them in English), and if you want to start diving into APIs, I’ll leave you a list of the most popular ones here.

Swagger y Postman

This topic has to do with the previous one, since it also concerns APIs, but, in this case, you’ll learn about two technologies that help you work with them.

Swagger seeks to standardize the vocabulary used by APIs, and encompasses a series of rules, specifications and tools that help you document them. If you use Swagger, you’ll get to see each endpoint that you’ve developed in your API; it also shows you the features of the data you should pass through the URLs to make them work. With Swagger, you can make requests to see what URLs send back to you, and it allows you to test them directly in its interface.

Likewise, there is also Postman, an app that allows you to test APIs, thus giving you the possibility of executing a request through a graphical user interface with which you’ll obtain different types of responses that’ll have to be validated later on. Other actions that you can perform with Postman include testing APIs (both for frontend and backend), working in different environments, managing both documentation and the life cycle of your API.

Learning how to work with these technologies improves your API skills. With them, not only will you make GET type requests, but you’ll also broaden the range of possibilities of what you can do in terms of documentation, working in a collaborative environment, and even in terms of creating a mockup or sandbox server to test your APIs before they are developed.

Learn How to Mock Up Data

A mock is a simulated object that copies the behavior of a real object in a controlled way. Therefore, “mocking up” refers to the creation of objects that simulate real data. To realize how useful it is for you to know this, let’s consider the following situation: working in teams means that several people work on the same project at the same time. Therefore, the tasks that others perform will have an impact on yours and vice versa. With that in mind, a mock would help you test your code and make sure it works so that it does not hinder your colleagues’ tasks and projects. A practical example of this is when you need to integrate a service, but it has not been fully developed yet. So, what you do in such a case is to create a mock that simulates the object that said service would return and integrate it with the code you’re developing. In that way, you’ll be able to test and adjust everything you need to so that when the service is actually working, you’ll get to integrate it in a simple way.

Add a Second Monitor

For us, developers, having two monitors represents a series of advantages that, from personal experience, I’ve noticed only after incorporating one into my life. On the one hand, you get to use a main display and a secondary display in which you’ll be able to organize and prioritize your tasks, which will allow you to gain focus and to concentrate on something while solving it. On the other hand, expanding your work area allows you to be more agile, saves time, helps you avoid confusion, and provides you with more comfort if, for instance, one screen displays a project and the other one displays the code editor you’re working with.

In addition, when you are in a meeting with other people (either through meet or another platform), you’ll be able to share your screen or work in another window without losing eye contact with your colleagues which adds dynamism to virtual meetings.

Understand Agile Methodologies

Agile methodologies are ways of working that use flexible approaches, meaning that they adapt to change. They are accompanied by a communicative and collaborative team, thus offering constant and continuous improvement. This innovative way of working comes from the Agile Manifesto, which has four pillars and twelve principles that have led agile methodologies to be the way of working per excellence within the tech industry. This is why I advise learning how to work with some agile methodology (Kanban or Scrum) while studying in a group (at university, bootcamp, etc.). Or, if you’re learning on your own, you can join Discord study groups and suggest conducting a project following any of these methodologies. To do this, you can use tools such as Trello, Jira, or Azure, which help you organize the necessary tasks to conduct a project.

If you want to read the Agile Manifesto, click here.

Which Are your Soft Skills?

You’ve probably heard about soft skills, and you may already know what they’re all about. Certainly, soft skills are skills that account for your way of working; in other words, how you work as a team member, how you manage your time, how you interact with colleagues, the way in which you solve conflicts, your assertiveness, among other skills.

Now, how can you improve your soft skills? Unlike technical skills, which can be learned, soft skills are improved by dealing and establishing relationships with others, which makes them, in a certain way, more difficult to learn and to evaluate, mainly because the biggest challenge is to reflect upon yourself. Regardless of whether you have work experience or not, throughout life you are in constant contact with your soft skills. You just have to do a thorough review of everything you’ve learnt and cultivate this knowledge so as to keep growing at an internal level and to be able to unfold your potential while pursuing a team goal.

Working on Self-Awareness: the Importance of Knowing Oneself

This item has to do with soft skills, since it is related to a qualitative aspect of your own. Embracing self-awareness means to learn how to recognize yourself as an individual with particular qualities: those that make you who you are. The important part here is to examine your strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats (yes, just like a SWOT) so that you can work on those that represent setbacks when you need to face and overcome challenges.

Being able to become aware of your own abilities and difficulties helps you to get out of your comfort zone and then enter the learning zone, and to make an effort to understand something new, to acquire a new skill or both.

Also, it is very likely that you are asked questions related to this topic in job interviews, since those who recruit will be interested in knowing what your profile is like and what aspects of it account for your adaptability, social skills, interpersonal communication, knowledge, and character traits.

A Little about Myself and a Final Piece of Advice

I had the opportunity to get my first IT job at Flux IT, within the framework of a program called First Job, which consists of incorporating trainee talents and making them follow a training and accompaniment program so that they can get better at what they do. And it is precisely within this space that I was given the opportunity to share with you my experience and the tips that I would’ve liked to have taken into account when inserting myself into the professional world (this is how this article came up!).

I hope these lines have added up to your expectations, curiosity, and desire to continue learning. I encourage you to also share your own experience and any advice you feel was left unmentioned so that, as a community, we can support and encourage each other. I look forward to reading your comments!

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