29 Behaviors That Will Make You an Unstoppable Programmer: Pick out 3 behaviors that resonate with you in the list and describe why they resonate with you in a reflection
- Using Google Aggressively: I think of all the ways my life would be different if I didn’t know how to write a search query. From finding directions to my hostel in the developing world, or when I’m, looking for a song that I just caught the lyrics to in a coffee shop, or the moments when I felt hopelessly out-of-my depth at work and turned to the internet for answers. Years of experience have taught me how to word my queries in different ways and which words will usually return the results I’m after. This ties into the idea of having grit, and knowing how to move forward toward an answer in any given situation.
- Recognize that the hard part of freelancing isn’t writing the code. It’s everything else: I’ve worked as a freelancer, and I can confirm that the work you do ends up being a smaller headache than the effort of running your own business. Submitting time sheets, following up with invoices, playing email tag over revisions, and all the other things that come with running your operation is an enormous undertaking. The gift is freelancing is agency and autonomy: the ability to control how and when you work, and who you work with.
- Let Other People Know That You’re Working Late Without Being a Jerk: In my professional life, I’ve found that it’s important to communicate your dedication and resolve to meet deadlines and ensuring the success of your team. I believe that life is too short to have a skewed work-life balance, so the moments when your willing to burn the midnight oil to finish a project should be rare and known. The occasional late night should underscore your professional engagement with colleagues and commitment to the project.
After reading, consider the idea of checklists. Write a reflection (4-6 sentences) on the benefits of a checklist and how an organizational system such as a checklist might help you first as a student and later as a full-time developer.
Life is complicated, and people are forgetful, or at least I am. In general, I’ve found that the process of writing something down makes it ‘real.,’ and this ties into the idea of having a checklist. Having a checklist, written agenda, schedule, or what-have-you serves as a means to stay on top of projects and ensure that important things don’t fall through the cracks. Having a checklist can help you prioritize what is ‘important’ versus what is just ‘urgent’ and offers accountability on projects where the work is dreaded or merely uninspiring.
What is your impression of strengths-based development? What questions do you have about this kind of development?
What do you feel are your top strengths? How do you know?
How do you hope to develop your strengths for your new career in software development?
I believe in strengths-based development; unfortunately, I have seen few companies implement it effectively. I am genuinely curious how many tech companies utilize this strategy well. My top strengths are Empathy, Achievement, and Belief. I know because (and this feels a bit like cheating) I’ve taken the Strength’s Finder assessment previously. I hope that my top strengths enable me to pick out projects that I have a passionate belief in, develop them to the best of my ability, and conduct my development in a manner that will serve the needs of my end users. I would also like to imagine that I will be able to innovate usability strategies for the projects that I undertake.