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Taking the Romance Out of Software Development

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16 Jul 2014CPOL5 min read 13.1K   3   11
This post aims to voice some observations that I've had in my ten years in the software development industry.

This is an article I've been wanting to write for a while, and it's mainly to voice some observations that I've had in my ten years in the software development industry. In my time so far in this industry, I have been truly lucky enough to have worked on some really fun and exciting projects, and also worked as an adjunct professor for a local university.

Part of my job is assisting in the intern program, as well as helping many junior developers who have just gotten their foot in the door, and are learning to stand on their own. Now, in all of that, I've gotten lots of questions, and honestly a lot of times it's the same two questions. The first question is the one most people think of, "How do I get a job in software development?", and that's the question most of my students ask, given that many of them are reaching the end of their tenure at college. The other question is usually the one I get from Junior Developers after they've gotten the all important first job. "How do I succeed in this field?" I've seen many developers come and go, and I've worked with a lot of people I've come to admire in this industry, and the ironic part is that the answer to both questions is the same, and it's rarely what you would expect.

Most of my students or junior developers, all have a specific answer in mind when this question is being asked. They are expecting to hear, "If you learn C#, you'll succeed." or "If you master Angular.js, you'll be making 6 figures in no time." But the sad part is that the answer to this in my experience isn't that easily quantifiable. In my experience, the course of your career starts with your definition of success. An old saying is that if you want to start something, you should always have an end in mind.

This advice is absolutely timeless, in the sense that anything you do... you should have a goal in mind, something you are hoping to accomplish. So the first thing you need to do is define success for you.

For me, it falls into three categories...Am I employed? Do I enjoy my job? Am I being paid what I think I'm worth?

If the answers to those questions are all yes, than I can consider myself successful. The important part here is that you set your own measures of success and make them measurable. Now I know those seem like pretty generic questions, and most people are probably looking at this with a "Come on, your kidding", look about now.

Unfortunately, movies and even colleges define success as working for Google or being the next Zuckerberg. But honestly, that's a very romantic view of the industry, and it sets many up for failure. It's the same thing where everyone who picks up a guitar isn't going to be the next Jimmy Hendricks.

So instead, let's focus on what's attainable. For some of you, it might be getting a job at Google. Becoming a manager at your current job, or being self employed. I prefer to think in these almost abstract concepts to help me stay focused on what's important to me.

Now, I know what you are thinking, "How does this answer those questions?" The truth is that passion is worth its weight in gold for this industry. There are lots of people out there who can write code, and punch a clock. And in the eyes of many employers, they have training programs where they can teach people with any degree of knowledge how to program the way they want them to. But someone with passion is a rare find. People with passion take it upon themselves to learn this stuff on their off hours, and make staying current a priority, and who bring those insights into their own work. This provides more value, these are also the people who take the most pride in their work, and will do whatever it takes to do the best job they can.

These people are the race horses of our industry, and honestly they are the most sought after. They make the highest salaries, they get the most respect, they get attention from companies like Microsoft and Google, and love their jobs.

So you say, well that's great, but how do I become that person, I'm just a fresh out of school, junior developer. The answer is learn as much as you can whenever you can. If you make it a priority to read up on this stuff on your own time, work on your own personal projects, challenge yourself to do things better or find better solutions to problems, and before you know it you'll find yourself evolving into a passionate developer. And honestly in my experience, the rest will fall into place for you.

Now that being said, I don't want to mislead you, this is not easy, it's long hours, hard work, and can be frustrating. When you are sitting up at night, while others are going to the bar, banging your head against why a grid won't load. You'll be ready to scream, but honestly the pay off is huge. And in my experience, that satisfaction you get when you figure it out is amazing.

Now, I'm not saying being a shut-in nerd, but what I am saying is take pride in what you do, and work to better yourself at any turn.

Now saying those are your goals is only part of the process. The next step is to make those goals work for you. Cause what's the point in having the goals if you aren't going to ever do anything to get there.

The first thing you really need to do is make those goals a part of your daily life. You need to focus on using these goals to shape your decisions.

So with every question or opportunity, you need to ask yourself, in my case, "Am I enjoying this?", "Will this help me be paid what I'm worth, by being worth more?" or "Is this challenging, or how can I make it challenging?" If you use this method to keep your eye on the price, you will find yourself evolving into a passionate developer.

 

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
United States United States
My name is Kevin Mack, I'm a software developer in the Harrisburg Area. I have been a software developer since 2005, and in that time have worked on a large variety of projects. Everything from small applications, to mobile and Enterprise solutions. I love technology and enjoy my work and am always looking to learn something new. In my spare time I love spending time with my family, and learning new ways to leverage technology to make people's lives better. If you ask me what I do, I'll probably tell you I can paid to solve problems all-day-every-day.

Check out my blog at https://kmack.azurewebsites.net/ and https://totalalm.azurewebsites.net/

Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionGetting into the industry Pin
vincenzo panella18-Jul-14 7:56
vincenzo panella18-Jul-14 7:56 
AnswerRe: Getting into the industry Pin
Kevin Mack18-Jul-14 8:02
Kevin Mack18-Jul-14 8:02 
QuestionCounter-example Pin
Member 1011643218-Jul-14 6:48
Member 1011643218-Jul-14 6:48 
AnswerRe: Counter-example Pin
Kevin Mack18-Jul-14 8:17
Kevin Mack18-Jul-14 8:17 
GeneralRe: Counter-example Pin
cspitzer18-Jul-14 10:26
cspitzer18-Jul-14 10:26 
GeneralRe: Counter-example Pin
Kevin Mack18-Jul-14 14:45
Kevin Mack18-Jul-14 14:45 
GeneralRe: Counter-example Pin
Member 1011643219-Jul-14 1:51
Member 1011643219-Jul-14 1:51 
GeneralRe: Counter-example Pin
Kevin Mack19-Jul-14 15:00
Kevin Mack19-Jul-14 15:00 
Member 10116432, let me clarify some of my statements above. I don't think anyone was accusing you of doing your job on "auto-pilot" cause it certainly doesn't sound like you are. People who are on "auto-pilot" aren't in the habit of looking for something more. What it sounds to me like is that the problem may be the current state of the projects your working on. As you described above, it sounds like your working on an established application, something that is in a maintenance cycle, and your frustrated cause those projects that you are working on, are not growing to use the new technologies you would like to work on.

Again this is something I totally understand, and agree with you that the point of the article is finding passion in your work, not elsewhere. But the point of the article was also defining success for yourself. In the case of the "Work to live not live to work comment" for him the definition of success involve his job supporting his passions outside of work. A fact that is PERFECTLY acceptable.

As for your question, it wasn't that I backed away from your question about should you quit your job? I don't presume to know your situation, and where you are in your life, where your responsibilities are, so I can't say for sure. "Oh if you quit your job....you'll be better off."

But it sounds to me that part of the reason you are having trouble is that for you one of those questions is "am I being challenged at work?" or "Am I learning and growing with new technologies" and the answer is no in your current position. So the problem is that you are not in a place at your current job that you get to do new development.

So the way I would see it your options are two fold:

#1.) Find a new job elsewhere where you can do new development. This has significant risk associated, leaving a job is always a big change, and you are taking a risk, that the next job might not be it.

#2.) You can expand to starting your own consulting company outside of your current job. I know we all have commitments outside of work, and things that can make this difficult. But nothing is impossible, and it becomes a question of how important is this to you? If you really want to go this direction it will require a degree of commitment from you, like I talk about in the article this is something that I fight with and everyone I know does too. Think of ideas, and thanks to BizSpark, you can get Azure credits and start building sites online. Believe when I say it means many a late night while my family sleeps working on side projects.

Regardless of which decision you make, either way it requires a degree of investment to affect a change, and the question is what kind of investment you are willing to make. And that is only something you can determine, and no one can tell you. Cause as much as we all share similar stories, the devil is in the details and those are unique to you.
QuestionIt Takes a Village Pin
bkebamc18-Jul-14 6:43
bkebamc18-Jul-14 6:43 
AnswerRe: It Takes a Village Pin
Kevin Mack18-Jul-14 8:04
Kevin Mack18-Jul-14 8:04 
GeneralExcellent! Pin
rht34117-Jul-14 3:43
rht34117-Jul-14 3:43 

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