You don’t know Stack Overflow
If you are reading this, it means that you are a developer, or at least tried to write a piece of code before. And since you tried to write code, this means that eventually you have run into bugs and errors and tried to find a solution on the heavenly platform of Stack Overflow. But, Stack Overflow is far from being a simple website where people post questions and other people try to answer with help. It’s huge, it’s a magnificently gamified platform that matches job-seeking developers with job-providing companies. Yes, you heard it right. Stack Overflow is like an online game where you unlock new levels with achievements. The level you reach describes you as a Developer and gives companies insights into your technical level. That’s why developers from all over the world compete to provide correct answers for as many questions as possible. This will help them get a Reputation, Badges, and Points.
Level 0: The starting point 🏁
When you first sign up at Stack Overflow, you have nothing: ZERO badges, ZERO reputations, and ZERO points. The bad news is that you have a very long way to go, and almost all the weapons in the game are locked. Meaning that you are still not able to chat or upvote and downvote. The good news is it won’t be the case for long. Your first steps are the easiest.
Let’s see how can you track your progress.
Badges
There are 3 types of Badges in SO: bronze 🥉, silver 🥈, and gold 🥇. It’s no secret that the Gold badges are the hardest to obtain, followed by the silver ones, then the bronze ones. To unlock badges, there are missions that you need to achieve. These badges are a key indicator of your credibility and capacity as a developer and how active you are on Stack Overflow. The first few badges are very easy to obtain, and they are quite important to boost you and get you going. Take as an example the “informative” badge that you get upon reading the Stack Overflow guide or the “student” badge that you get when you ask your first question and have +2 upvotes from other users. To see the full list of Badges to earn during your journey, you can check the Stack Overflow badges here. The funniest one for me is called the “Self Learner Badge” that you get when you answer your own question with a score of 3 or more. Trust me, it’s a lot of fun chasing these small coloured dots and the small doses of adrenaline you get after each achievement will be enough to keep you going and try to catch them all!
Reputation
Your reputation on Stack Overflow is determined by how many people were reached by and benefited from your contributions (questions and answers). It is a very important key indicator since it is very easy to post non-sense questions and answers on the Stack. So, reputation is there to show how much sense your contributions did have and how appreciated were they by the community. Reputation is measured by the number of upvotes, downvotes, and accepted answers you write. In other words, how much does the community trust you! 💪
Pieces of advice 🙅
If you are new to Stack Overflow, like’s the case for me, there are few things that you need to pay attention to in order to start well and not ruin your experience.
- Don’t compare yourself to others:
Don’t be overwhelmed by how advanced developers are in terms of badges and achievements. Remember that they all started from zero just like you. In the end, your score on the Stack does not indicate your skills as a Developer as much as it does describe your contributions on Stack Overflow.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask:
The main reason behind having Stack overflow is to allow people to ask questions. So, don’t feel ashamed to do so, no matter how dumb your question may seem. If you think about it, if everybody feels that way before asking, no one will be ready to ask again and the community will seed to exist. Don’t be afraid of the responses you’ll get, no one is judging you on the Stack, as long as your question follows the guidelines. But, it’s always a good idea to do some research and check past questions before posting a new one.
3. Pay attention to your answers
Answering questions is good 👍, answering them without knowing the answer is bad ❌while answering them with a correct answer is better. ✅ So, always aim to answer correctly and accurately to avoid any downvotes. To do so, remember to read carefully the question, try your answer before you post it and include specific links to documentation and examples. Also, bear in mind that you should have a welcoming attitude and NEVER insult or judge people. “We don’t do that here".
How to get jobs on Stack Overflow
As I said, stack overflow can act as a pretty solid addition to your resume. Your reputation and your achievements give insights into how experienced you are as a developer. Companies tend to prefer developers with an online presence on platforms like Medium and Stack Overflow. The latter even includes a whole section where companies post job offers. Then, developers can apply directly with their Stack Overflow profiles. So, always make sure you have a quite insightful description on your profile and always stay active on the Stack and don’t stop reaching achievements.
Conclusion
From the outside, Stack overflow is just a website where developers ask questions to be answered by other developers. But, deep inside, it gives an accurate insight into how experienced you are and it acts as a solid argument for recruiters to choose you among hundreds of non-active developers on the Stack. It will even help you get in touch with other developers and keep learning, not only from asking questions but also while answering existing ones.
