Over the years I had the privilege to work with many developers of different calibers, but this time I’ll focus on the “junior” level ones. I’ve noticed some interesting habits and ways of how they handle their work, which might not really be the best practice going forward. Specially with the really new ones, that just finished school and are starting their first developer jobs I’ve noticed some try the gimmick of a overconfident “mr. know it all”. Trust me, this doesn’t work. Even at higher level you should be humble. But let’s have a look at some things that really grind my gears when it comes to junior developers.
Don’t ask then don’t deliver
A lot of new developers will start their work, never ask a question and just waste some time, to just not deliver anything in the end. Usually when asked how they are doing they will just reply with something like “oh, its going fine, just a little bit and ill get it”. Well, most of time, it doesn’t work out and they end up with nothing to turn in when their supervisor checks on their progress. I can’t repeat myself on this one,.. just ask your team members, that’s why they are there.
No creativity
With newer developers I noticed quite a huge lack of creativity. Not that I want them to come up with ground breaking solutions for everything, but at least try. There is never only one way of solving something. Take the initiative and try to solve the problem and ask other developers that are on your team for their opinion. Don’t wait for others to come along and basically give you step by step instructions. That’s not how it works since at that point that person can take a little bit more time and do it completely.
Copy from sites and don’t understand the code
Of course developers will often browse the web for this and that, since at this point someone else has already faced a similar problem before. But whats really annoying is that for even really straight forward things they will go on the web search some forums or the most popular one, stackoverflow and just mindlessly copy the code from there without even properly understanding what it does. I’ve seen so many lines of basically useless code and when asked I would get just those clueless responses. That’s not a good way to go about it. Take some extra time, try to solve it on your own, and if you do copy the solution from somewhere, just go through the code and understand what it does.
They finished but they didn’t
The next thing is the part where they say they finished, but they actually didn’t. Often when project progress is checked on some given interval they will come up with an answer that they are done, but they have to finish or “fine tune” this and that. Let me break it to you, that means you are not done and your answer should match to that. My advice is, you should always be honest and not try to make yourself look good and in the same moment embarrass yourself. Just be honest and let the project lead know how the progress is and if need get help already before that.
Not owning it and looking for excuses
Another bad habit is when they make a mistake or be it missing a deadline that they don’t own the mistake. That’s a absolute no-go. If you made a mistake or didn’t finish on time, be honest and take the blame. That’s also the easiest way for the mistake to be corrected if you just tell what happened. The worst thing you can do is search something to blame it on and even worse, someone. Don’t be that guy that will blame it on other people why you made a mistake or didn’t deliver. Take my advice and learn to own it.
Talking back after getting questions answered
I saved the most annoying one for the end and it’s talking back after they get an answer to their question. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all open for a constructive discussion, but when I get asked whats wrong with a certain part of code and how to fix it and I tell them where the problem is or even tell the whole solution. I’m not fine with the arrogant response that they didn’t make a mistake or that It worked before and something else messed it up. Not that I simply don’t like it, I don’t understand that defensive stance, since they are there to make mistakes and go through them with guidance. Show some respect and listen to the more experienced developers. You asked them for help, so don’t get offended when they call you out. Take their advice and fix it or ask for more help. Just don’t be that arrogant one, because it won’t do you any good.
Human interaction is very highly valued between developers so they can really get along. Just as a tip, most companies run interviews, and let me assure you if you come in with a attitude, you will already fail even if your coding skills are sufficient. Even though If you ask me people who fit in any of these categories don’t even deserve to be hired, but somehow they pass through the system every now and then.
I hope you can take some of my advice to be a better developer and overall a better person since that is a big quality one can have.
