How To Get a Jump Start In Your Programming Career

Written By John Sonmez

Getting started in the field of software development is difficult.

No doubt, if you are just starting out as a programmer, you have already experienced how difficult it can be to get a job without having much or any experience.

If you’ve been a software developer for any amount of time, you’ve probably experienced how difficult it can be to rise up the ranks in this highly competitive industry.

I’ve talked to many developers just starting out who are frustrated because they don’t know where they should be devoting their energies to best advance their careers and secure their futures.

There are so many options.  So many technologies you could learn.  So many paths you could take.  Which is the right one?

Thinking the right way from the start

I’ll give some concrete advice in a little bit, but before any of that advice is useful, it is important to make sure you are thinking about your career in the right way.

Young man thinking with glowing brain illustration

It is really important to think about your career as a business.  A business you own which employs you.  Thinking this way will help you make the right objective decisions about what you should be doing with your time and how and when you should invest money in your career.

Too many software developers think about their career in terms of their current job or the job they seek to obtain—that kind of thinking is short sighted.

Have you ever noticed how it is easier to advise someone else on a decision than to make that same decision for yourself?  The reason is because when you advise someone else, you are able to be objective and not let fear and other emotions influence your advice.

By thinking of yourself as a business, you’ll be able to create that same kind of separation and objectiveness which will lead you to better decisions.

Actually start a business

In fact, why not go the extra step and start a business right from the start?

It is difficult to get experience without having experience.  Most software development jobs require you to already have experience.

So, how do new software developers or developers with limited experience actually get experience?

Often, you get a lucky break and perhaps you come into an organization in a QA position or other role and eventually work your way up to developer.

That is the long way.

Here is the short way.

Just start your own business from the get go and employ yourself.  It isn’t hard to start a business.  You don’t even have to file any paperwork to start out.  You can just do business as yourself in most places.

But what about work?  I need to actually make some money.

Ah, but the point of this starting out business is not to actually make money, but to gain you experience.  You can keep your current job and you can run this business on the side.  You just need some projects to work on so that you can put some real experience on your resume.

It is pretty unlikely that a prospective employer is going to ask how much money your business made last year, (even if they do, you don’t have to tell them.)  So, don’t worry about making money.  If you are able to get some paid jobs, great, but there is no reason you can’t do jobs for clients for free in order to gain experience.

Create a website for a friend or family member’s business.  Talk to local businesses and ask them if they’d like you to develop an application for them for free or very low cost.  It doesn’t matter where you get the business from, the point is to get something on your resume that is real work you did—then it isn’t lying.  You don’t want to lie on your resume.

Develop some mobile applications

Here is another great thing that your business can do that will not only get you some experience to put on your resume, but will also possibly generate you some extra income and give you something to show at a job interview.

I often recommend that developers just starting out build mobile applications, because mobile applications can be built by a single person and are a great way not only to learn how to build an application from end to end, but to create solid proof of your ability to write code.

One of the biggest fears that companies have when hiring developers is whether or not that developer can actually produce anything.  You can completely alleviate that fear if you can show the source code for an application you created yourself, and if you have it in a mobile app store and people are actually using it, even better.

mobile app

If you are looking to find out where to get started with mobile application development, I have two Pluralsight courses on the subject: Introduction to Android and Beginning iOS 7 Development.  You can check those out or find a good book on the subject.

Here are a couple I’d recommend:

Besides gaining experience to put on a resume, building your own mobile application will help give you confidence in your ability to create real working code and it will help you to develop well rounded skills in software development.

Sure, it may be a bit difficult to get started and there is a decent amount to learn about mobile development, but it is a good investment regardless, because mobile devices aren’t going away anytime soon and the demand for developers that can develop for mobile platforms is only likely to increase over time.

Plan your career

I talk about the idea of marketing yourself as a software developer quite often, because it is something I truly believe can help software developers to get better jobs and earn higher incomes.

Much of this advice comes down to actually planning out your career rather than just looking for the next job.

You want to set yourself up early on in a position where you are building a brand and reputation for yourself that will benefit you later in your career.

A great way to do this is to create your own blog.  Don’t wait to do this until later on.  I wish I would have started this blog 5 years or more earlier in my career.  Every developer with a successful blog that I have talked to has said the same thing.

Don’t just create the blog, use it.  Strive to write an article each week.  Even if you don’t have anything interesting to say, do it.  After a few years, you’ll be a better writer, have a nice history of your thoughts and be all the better off for it.

I’m not going to go into all the details of marketing yourself in this post, but if you are interested, I do have a course that covers everything you need to know about marketing yourself as a software developer.

The key point here is to plan your career and think for the long term.  Create a blog, establish a brand, do other things that will benefit you years down the road, but start doing them now.

Find the right friends (mentors)

Having the right friends to ask advice from or to council you can save you a large amount of time and help put you on the right path.

I’d advise you to make friends with experienced software developers and utilize the wisdom they can impart on you.

It can be difficult to make friends if you come off as needy.  It is unlikely that if you ask someone to be your mentor, they will accept.  Being someone’s mentor doesn’t really offer much to the person doing the mentoring.

The key is to have something to offer in return so that you are providing value as well.

Here are a few ideas to make some friends in the industry:

  • Offer to buy lunch.  This is a good opportunity to have a conversation with someone who you otherwise might not be able to.  Who doesn’t like a free lunch?
  • Start commenting on software developer’s blogs that you admire.  You’ll eventually gain their attention if you provide useful, insightful comments.
  • Find something to trade.  Do you have some knowledge in some other area that someone might be interested in?  Can you trade your knowledge of fitness or diet in exchange for information about software development?  The best relationships offer value to both parties.
  • Go to user groups.  There are many user groups all over the world that you can become a part of.  If you are a regular, you will meet other regulars and build good friendships.

Read the right books

One of the best ways to really get ahead of the curve is to read the right books.  Reading the right software development books can help you to understand concepts that take years to discover on your own and give you the benefits of the collective experience of many successful software developers.

Here is my personal list of books that I’d recommend all software developers start out with.

Code Complete – A classic book about the structure of code.  This will make you a much better programmer and help you write clear code.

Clean Code – A great book by Bob Martin that really distills down some key concepts about writing good code.  A must read book.

Design Patterns – Read through this book several times and learn these patterns.  It may take some time to grasp them all, but they will show up again and again in your career.

Programming Pearls – Work through the problems in this book.  They are hard, but the effort is worth it.

Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices – Another Bob Martin book, but also a must read.

Good luck.  I hope you found this advice useful.  Starting out is hard, but if you are smart about it and deliberate, you can boost yourself several years ahead of others in your same position.

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