Being a junior has a lot to do with a state of mind. besides technical skills.
I want to tell you how I changed my “junior” state of mind and how I was able to give value much faster, which translates into a better salary, roles, and opportunities
I will share practical tips that you can implement starting today.
Don’t Wait
One mistake I see juniors do is “waiting”. Waiting to be told what to do, waiting to be told how to do it, waiting to be promoted, waiting to move to another project… waiting, waiting, waiting…
Instead, we should take as much initiative as possible!
- Does a new project start? raise your hand!
- A difficult bug lurking? raise your hand!
- Moving to microservices? or to a new cloud service? h-h-hand!
When I heard that the company I was working for was planning to switch their frontend stack to React, I read about the best React architecture and trendy tools and came up with a tech stack that I recommended them to use.
This gave me the opportunity to eventually lead the entire transformation, which took my career and skills a few steps forward.
“But What If I Can’t Do It?”
Well, if the new project is really out of your league, your manager should be responsible enough to tell you that you are still not ready or to at least provide you with the time, resources, and help needed.
So worst case scenario, you volunteered and were not picked! You still showed enthusiasm, motivation, and courage. You showed that you are truly a team player.
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Read More
- Tip #2: Improve Processes
- Tip #3: Self Improvement
- Tip #4 – Asking For Help
- Tip #5 – Receiving Feedback
- Tip #6 – You Will Never Be “Ready”
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Who am I, and how did I end up here?
I am a software developer and Instructor with extensive experience leading both teams and projects, and over a decade teaching students and training staff.
A few years ago, Jonathan (Owner @Solvism) found me a job in a technical position after I moved to the Netherlands. He guided me through the Dutch working culture and got me a great fit. He did this in… wait for it… one day!
Since then we kept in touch, and when I had the opportunity to join the team and contribute with my knowledge and experience, I had to jump in! So here I am!
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