Things I wish I knew since Junior

Tram Ho

Who am I?

Hello friends!

I’m Nam Anh, Android developer with 5 years of experience. In those 5 years of my career, I have wandered through quite a few technology companies in Hanoi.

This is probably the first time I’ve written a post with a personal perspective. So you may be wondering: “Who is this man to teach life lessons?” .

Hell, I’m not teaching anyone’s life, I’m just sharing what I feel is right for me. Maybe for you, it’s right or wrong. But who knows, Juniors will have an extra perspective to improve their career path .

Lucky things

There are things, when it happens, I don’t think it’s right, only when I look back later, I suddenly realize: “Oh, it turned out I did the right thing back then” . And I feel that’s really the luck that I have.

Read Clean Code right out of school

I must confess that in the past, I was quite fond of reading books and read a lot of different genres. But books about technology, I read less, probably due to limited English ability

But my favorite technology book is Clean Code . As the name suggests, the book teaches you how to write “clean code” , an extremely basic and highly recommended book. I don’t know who is unlucky, but I read this book right after I graduated from school, while reading it, taking notes and summarizing the content of the book. I still keep that note to this day. Learning from the book, plus OCD, I think I have applied it more or less in the projects that I participate in.

Some people recommend that Clean Code should be read once upon graduation , and once after working for a few years , only then will the contents of the book be fully absorbed. So I strongly encourage everyone to read, regardless of whether you are just a junior or an experienced senior.

Working in product companies with strict processes

There have been many articles on the comparison between product companies and outsourcing companies, so I won’t repeat it again. I have worked in both types of companies. In this article, I only mention the aspect of the code review process and the mindset product .

According to my personal feelings, large product companies have more time to review code closely , not being forced to deadline like outsourcing companies. I only share the big product company, because I also worked in small product companies like a newly established start-up, really at that time I just wanted the code to run, clean or dirty later.

The knowledge I learned from the book Clean Code is still just a theory, until I join big product companies and have the code carefully reviewed by seniors, then I will be really more mature. in each line of code.

One more thing I’ve learned is the mindset of a product maker , always thinking about the product, hoping for a better product and more users. When I have an idea about a feature, I am also ready to suggest and give suggestions to the leader or Product Manager. The feeling that every time you complete a feature and see many users leave comments on the App Store or Play Store praising the feature, it’s very good

Boldly get out of your comfort zone

In the past 5 years, I have changed jobs many times like many other brothers. I don’t know about you, but I’m afraid of the feeling of working forever at a company, then just getting used to a job, until I want to change jobs, I can’t keep up with the market’s demand for knowledge and experience.

So switching jobs through many companies helps me to be able to adapt to many types of projects, helps me know what the market needs, and of course helps me have a better income.

Things I wish I knew sooner

Should stick with a company long enough

Contrary to the above sharing, in this part, I want to advise young people to stick with a company long enough. In my opinion, at least 1-2 years. It gives you enough time to understand the project and get the recognition it deserves .

Usually when you start working on a project, it takes you a few months to understand the project. Even with complex projects, time can be measured in years. Understanding here is not only understanding the technologies used in the source code, but also understanding the business domain , how your app makes money, or even your competitive advantage compared to other apps. There are seniors, even though they jump companies, they only specialize in banking or fintech companies, for example. So in addition to technical skills, they are also appreciated more than other candidates in terms of business domain knowledge.

Companies often award Best employee at Year End Party, in order to be recognized by the bosses, it is clear that you also have to stay with the company long enough, to be able to make a big enough impact. It’s very rare for a company to award a dev who has just finished 2 months of probation, unless you’re a superman. Achieving achievements like these will prove your ability and make your profile more sparkling.

There are times when I only work for the company for a few months and then take a break, which makes me feel like a bit of a waste of time.

Learn English seriously earlier

Needless to say, everyone knows how important English is to dev’s work. When you have the ability to communicate fluently in English, you have more options, working for foreign companies in Vietnam, sitting at home working as a remote, or even going abroad to work. And the income level of a dev with good English communication ability is definitely much more than a dev who can only read and understand.

I graduated from school with a TOEIC 460 in my belt, just enough for basic reading comprehension. In the last few years, I have only studied English seriously, now I can communicate well with foreign colleagues. This has brought me a lot of new opportunities.

I swear this post is not to promote the Elsa app, but it’s really good so I recommend it to everyone. Showing off a little of his 88-day continuous learning achievement (the last time he forgot to study one day, the streak broke 🥲).

My English is not very good, so I am still learning every day. I also learned through some apps, from Duolingo, Memrise, Cake… and now I’m still learning Elsa with other apps in parallel. But I think Elsa is the one that helps me improve the most.

The difference comes after 8pm

There are 2 developers A and B working at the same company from 8 am to 6 pm. So what will make the difference between the two of you?

It arrived after 8pm. Friend A spends that time to learn new technology , do pet project , contribute open source project . And friend B spends time playing games and drinking. Maybe the first few years, the difference is not clear, but 3 years, 5 years later, the gap in knowledge and qualifications of the two of you will become very large.

Working at the company is sometimes quite easy, so you can only learn more difficult knowledge or learn new technologies in your free time. For example, the job at the company is simply cutting the UI, it will not require you to understand deeply about the system, about memory. If you don’t take the time to educate yourself, how can you differentiate yourself from others?

During the first years of school, I also spent a lot of time drinking. There is no denying the importance of building relationships through drinking parties. But if I had to choose again, I would probably want to spend more time sitting at home studying.

Epilogue

In fact, in the way I’ve been through, there are times when I make the right decision , but there are also times when I make the wrong choice . But the important thing is that I don’t feel regret or sit there gnawing on regret, but still continue to learn from experience and learn to move forward . I think that’s enough.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article of mine!

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Source : Viblo