How To Learn and Grow As a Self-Taught Developer — Jeff Atwood’s Advice
A while ago I came across Hackernoon’s AMA featuring Jeff Atwood and decided to participate. I mean, he’s just a (or another) developer (and blogger and entrepreneur) and the founder of Stack Overflow and many other things. I mean…
Stack Overflow is one of those resources that I went from not understanding any of of the comments or answers to slowly understanding some. It’s one of those resources that even the most beginning developers benefit a ton from and experienced engineers still go back to time and time again.
I’m not gonna lie, even when I got to hide behind the computer screen I was feeling a little unsure if my questions would be too stupid, too basic, or just not worth anybody’s time. I eventually got it together and submitted my questions for Jeff Atwood’s advice on how to be a better programmer. As someone who’s just started my coding journey after working several years in a completely different industry and function, I am most definitely eager to learn from anyone and everyone. So how can self-taught coders and junior developers learn and grow their careers to be competitive and employable in the industry?
My favorite part of Jeff Atwood’s response has to be this:
Be interested in everything about the industry you’re working in, not just the coding aspects. Follow those interests wherever they go. — Jeff Atwood
As a junior developer I often feel like I am never good enough and that the worst part of my resume is the fact that I do not have a four year Computer Science degree (or formal developer experience). While being technical is important for anyone to have a successful career as a software engineer, Jeff Atwood’s first advice actually focuses on having an interest in everything in the tech industry and immersing yourself in all things tech related. I love this advice because there are so many things you don’t get to learn in school and the only way to learn and stay current after school’s over is to actively seek out tech resources and learn in your own time.
Beyond immersing yourself in everything tech related, Jeff Atwood mentioned “learning on the battlefield” and apprenticeship. Learning on the battlefield refers to actually gaining experience in the industry by building and using technologies, not by taking a class or attending a university because classes don’t teach you what happens during software development. There are several ways to gain real-world experience building software products that allows you to learn by doing. I highly recommend reading the original blog post by Jeff Atwood if you’re undecided between working and going to school.
Another approach recommended by Jeff Atwood is to pursue software apprenticeships. Obviously apprenticeships are not all set up equally but generally speaking, apprenticeships that provide opportunities where you can “listen, watch, do, review” and repeat, are ones that are the most effective in helping someone learn and grow as a developer. I came across Apprenticeships.me, a website where many companies contribute apprenticeship openings on. There are lots of related resources for apprenticeships and I recommend looking into this site if you’re looking for learning experiences.
Career trajectory matters to me and is something I’m optimizing for. From speaking with people, I learn that it requires intention and hard work in order to constantly be leveling up both professionally and personally. I will always want to know how accomplished individuals achieve their goals and what they find to be helpful in making them successful in their career paths. To clarify, when I think about“career trajectory” I don’t think about a linear career path where I get promoted to a higher pay grade. To me, career trajectory means having a wealth of experience and understanding of a subject matter that others look to you for input on strategic decisions. With time and hard work, I aspire to be someone with enough experience under my belt and can inspire others to pay attention to more than just code, like Jeff Atwood does.
In the spirit of working towards a better version of myself, I look to thought leaders for inspirations that motivate me to gain technical skills as a first step. I realize there are many people like me who are just starting out or have just made a transition and would appreciate advice from successful developers on the very topic of how to be “so good they can’t ignore you”. I hope to be an example of Shawn Wang’s “learn in public” and share any insights I come across here with whoever might find it helpful.
I highly recommend Hacker Noon’s recap of the AMA with Jeff Atwood if you missed it.
Work In Progress is a platform where two women discuss transitions in life and career. Founded by twin sisters ✨and 💫. The Tech series contain our recap and learnings from attending tech and community events, as well as our take on building technical passion projects at local coffee shops.
