I got my first developer job. Its a fairly new company and I don’t know exactly what to expect. It is part time and completely remote. I put in the hours whenever I want. All that is like the dream, but they mentioned some of their clients are using frameworks/databases that I have never done. I am nervous I am going to get thrown into the fire and waste a lot of my work hours learning instead of doing. Excited but nervous. I don’t want to let anyone down because I am very junior and I hope they didn’t think otherwise.
All very valid concerns but first, congratulations! You got the job!
Now for the bad news. You will likely have to put in a lot of overtime, and you will likely make mistakes. But, so will everyone else who is currently doing software dev. whether they’re been doing it 1 day or 15 years. (speaking from experience) So, if you can believe that you are no different than anyone else out there who is constantly struggling with new technologies and requirements, then does that help? You are a software dev. now. Enjoy!
right, not paid overtime. But you’ll still need to do it. I worked for IBM for 15 years and they stopped paying for overtime years ago. We all did it anyway and we were full time devs. You do the job until the job is done. That is the life of software dev.
I am nervous I am going to get thrown into the fire and waste a lot of my work hours learning instead of doing.
Yeah, I’m kind of in that boat atm. I took a React Native job and there were several things I had never done in: navigation, images, i18n… Not to mention my RN experience is not exactly great. But I’ve been persevering and learning. Everything is probably taking three times as long as it should, but I am learning a lot.
Just let them know you are a junior dev. If something takes you 5 hours but should have only taken 2, then just bill them for 2 and think of the rest as training. You’d be doing those hours anyway in study if you didn’t have the job, just now you’re getting paid for some of them.
What’s the worst that can happen? You do a bad job. So, that is one employer out of 2 million that will never hire you again. Who cares? And you learned some things along the way and got a little bread.
Just do your best. Ask questions. Be honest but ambitious. And plan on putting in some off the clock hours until you are competent.
All she is saying is that you will have to take the time off the clock to learn the technologies required for whatever your project is. You gotta be willing to put in that extra effort.
They have pretty large unfinished projects. They have been giving me assignments in which I branch the project to work on. The first two things I received I was able to do in about half a day. The thing I received today, I spent 6 hours staring at someone else’s code and still don’t know what it is I am looking at. So far I feel like I don’t have the knowledge to be thrown into code this complex without any hand holding. I’m not really sure what to do. This is supposed to be an internship and the complexity of what I am getting sure doesn’t feel like it.
find the log files. Read them as you run through the code. If that doesn’t help (but please try hard first), contact someone for additional help. Don’t sit there stewing because that time will be counted against you (the result of your time could be understanding or code. Either way, you must get somewhere or take concrete steps to get somewhere)
depending on what you’re looking at, you may have log files that show different points of the execution.
They’re what most prof. developers use when a problem is reported (you start by looking at the logs to see what the user was up to and whether any errors were recorded while the user was working with your product).
A log file is also usually hidden from the user. It is usually stored somewhere only the developer knows to look.
I think you should probably ask for help if you don’t even know if any log files exist… (it is also possible if this is completely client-side stuff that there is no logs, in which case, you could create some by adding statements to log to a file in different areas of the code so you can figure out what is happening).
Oh, these sites don’t generate any log files to my knowledge. It isn’t an application you install or anything. They’re just websites missing a lot of features.
Here is an example of what I did yesterday: On this specific page, make an export to CSV button that exports the table on the page of the logged in user. So I had to figure out how to get the data from the API that was generating in the EJS template and format it, download it.
Today I was given something much more difficult. There is a table of like 120 something pages of rows of data that you can order by clicking on the th of the column, it you own it you can edit the row etc. They want me to implement a tagging feature. Where instead of just searching by name, or various other fields, you can search by tags the row might have been put on it. Similar to how you can hashtag on twitter and search for anything with that tag. This is written in Angular. First time ever looking at Angular and my only real experience with a JS framework is code alongs making simple things or my portfolio with very basic Vue components that don’t even alter state or have a back end.
I understand that you are feeling out of your depth. I do hope that you will remember that you are not alone. So many of us feel that way every day, and somehow we make it through.
It is tough. I was hired by Convention Data Services because I was a front end web developer with html css and javascript knowledge. What little do i know I had to quickly learn asp (dying breed - MS no longer supporting it so find resources to help you is a pain) . I struggled and still get deliverable done on time. That is not the worst part. I also have to learn T-SQL to work on get these registration sites done and have to work on store procedures for database as well. OMG, I worked over time and staying up late when I came home I went right to my computer to work with out getting any more pay than 37.5 hours regular. 4 months into the job, I got as least 3 dozens of registration of all sort done and even created some templates for them. When I thought I got a hang of it, they threw me a curve ball. They gave me couple projects that other devs there told me their coding level ware higher when they started there but they didn’t get them until over a year in the company. Well little do I know, it was a set up for failure. I worked days and nights and got behind on dead line. I cried out for help was before the got little or nothing. Everyone pretty much for themselves there. I drowned and no one care. I still get other projects which I done it before and still completed them while struggling with these beasts. One day, I got a warning that I am behind on my two beast of the projects and a week later they gave me a seperation letter with two weeks pay. Adios amigo…
Seriously, talking about brutal. Anyway, just hang in there… worse come to worse you got some experiences there. Google is your best friend. I used to joke while in FEWD bootcamp that I am paying 15k to learn how to google but with all seriousness, google your heart out and ask for help. Good luck. I hope you make it through. It is a dog eats dog world man.
Sorry man, that sounds like a terrible way to start a development career. That seems like an awful place to work anyways. Hopefully it is one of those “losing my job was the best thing that ever happened to me” instances.
Thanks Justin. I am struggling looking for work now and joining FCC to get more out of it. I heard great thing about it. I was a nurse prior to switching career in 2016 into web developing. I love helping other but I hate nursing with a passion. It is the kind of job that you bring worry home and stress home. A mistake can kill someone and lose your license. Any way, I love coding. I wish that I learn it sooner. I will get there one day.
I just dont have the time, money and the mentality to go back for a 4 years in CS or IT. I know a lots people becoming a great developer without a degree and some of them came from FCC as well. Here I am making the best of it.
FYI, tough it out work there for about 6 months or more and if thing does not improve then find another job. Also do as I do, to to local computer repair shops and get hook up with them. Offer them commission for web design or developing. Believe it or not they have people come in and ask them to help with those things and they do not have the time nor the skills for it so they will work with you to get those gigs for you and in return give them a small commission. You have to decide the price or the commission your self. Anything you can do to get the exp and the dinero. Any bit help. Most importantly the skills you get and the slot on your portfolio or resume :).
Keep your chin up. You got a job and there are other have not… many envy you and tip their hats to you.
Good luck mate…
Ohh, grats if I have not said it before. Keep us posted!