25 Tips for New Developers: Advice from a (Mostly) Self-Taught Software Engineer

The Career Advice I Wish I Had

There are so many things I wish I knew before I became a professional developer. Or a professional at all. I know I'm in a position of privilege as a white, college educated woman who is mid-career and doesn't have much outside-of-work obligations, but I hope most of this advice reaches wider than just me. I wasn't a computer science major, I was a 19 year-old Government major when I got my first programming job. And I've made a lot of career mistakes: I've trusted the wrong people, taken the wrong jobs, worked in toxic environments, and been way underpaid and undertitled for most of my career. But I've also done some stuff right, which is probably why you're reading this right now. In addition, I've done a lot of hiring and worked with a lot of bootcamp students, so I've been a witness to a lot of other people's careers too.
You do not need to do everything on this list. Nor do you need to do any of it. I wish I at least knew that some of these things existed and were things people do earlier in my career, even if I wasn't doing them. So I wrote them down for you in hopes that it may give you a leg up.

Advice for the Job Search

Find the right niche for you

There are a bunch of subfields within programming, from video games to websites to desktop apps to sending people into space, not to mention management and teaching. Find what fires you up and makes the most sense to you. There isn't a single path to success -- whatever success even means. If you're interested in hearing about more, here's a podcast episode discussing a bunch of different career paths.