A Software Engineer’s Survival Guide for New Graduates
By: Durward Benham, Associate Software Engineer
Every engineer who has survived college has probably felt this at some point: after years of struggling through seemingly impossible coding projects and late nights spent cramming to prep for exams, you feel like you’re on top of the world! Yet you’ve accomplished all this just to be thrown through a ringer of technical interviews and ultimately start at a company where, suddenly, you find yourself yet again at the base of a daunting mountain of knowledge to climb. It was intimidating for me, as well, but after two years on the job, I’ve discovered a few great ways to make the hike a bit easier.
Imposter syndrome
If you’re anything like me, starting a new job fresh out of college can be rough. Everyone has more industry experience, more time with the codebase, and a lot of really strong feelings about code and patterns. I’ve felt overwhelmed at times and entirely lost at others. It’s important to remember, however, that you aren’t in school anymore, so you aren’t competing with your peers to be on the right side of the grading curve. At a job, everyone is working on the same team, and at Veeva, there is a great culture of communication and lifting each other up.
Even though it can be scary, the best thing I did to overcome my imposter syndrome was to ask my co-workers and managers tons of questions early on. I also asked for guidance through some of my projects and sought advice on how to be a good employee. Managers and co-workers can be great mentors and resources to reach out to when you’re stuck. In general, it’s always a good idea to connect with the people you work with — if you’re spending most of the week with them, you might as well make strong connections!
Too much to learn, too little time
Perhaps the most terrifying part of being a new grad is the idea of getting stuck in a job where you specialize in a certain language or technology, just to have that be irrelevant when you’re looking toward the next phase of your career. With Generation Veeva or GV, new grads are given the opportunity to learn and explore many different aspects of a career in computer science. We are immediately connected with other new grad software developers in the company, so I always get to hear about their projects and processes. Through workshops, I’ve learned about best cybersecurity practices, how our DevOps infrastructure works, and even just about the codebases of entirely different products within Veeva.
At GV Connect, an annual event that brings together new graduate consultants and engineers, we learn a lot about collaboration across divisions. We also gain a lot of insights about personal career growth. In appearances from Veeva executives and longtime employees, I have come to understand the importance of really pushing for my own aspirations and utilizing the tools the company provides to attain those goals. All these events and interactions have introduced me to great contacts, mentors, and friends!
Flexibility is key
Several times throughout life, you will be presented with potentially life-changing opportunities that are exciting, but also filled with uncertainty, risk, and the unknown. For me, one such opportunity came just 6 months ago, when my manager announced he was moving to Boston to start a new team within Veeva. In his announcement to our team, he mentioned that there are times when you have to consider your own situation and that if you are able to make that move, you should take the initiative and make those tough decisions to help further your career.
Having graduated from college in Boston, I was excited by the opportunity of working on a new feature while assisting in building a team from scratch, so I took that leap of faith. Thankfully, Veeva enables its employees to make moves within the company like this! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these past 6 months have not been what I ever would have imagined, but our new team continues to adapt to the circumstances and has kept making positive progress through all of this.
Ultimately, it’s easy to feel underprepared and alone when entering the workforce, but just remember that your peers are there for you and that your own goals and aspirations are important and should be used as motivation to drive you forward.
