Pairin Strengths & Professional Development
What is your greatest strength and how do you know? I have always thought that one of my greatest strengths is critical thinking. I am often analyzing things, trying to figure out why things are the way that they are. This includes anything from why something is designed a certain way to greater picture concepts like social or political issues. I feel like I started recognizing this skill years ago when I began getting into writing my own music. I have spent hours on songs, rearranging them in different ways, trying to figure out which way works the best and have 'justification' for why it is organized and executed in a certain way.
How do you work best? I can work well on my own or with people. In fact, I often find a balance of both is often necessary for me. It can be helpful to work with a group to bounce ideas off of one another and brainstorm. Working alone is helpful to me because I can take some extra time to flesh out ideas from group work, and consider different possibilities and outcomes. A good analogy is the video sessions and the homework sessions in mod 0. In the class sessions, it gives me a chance to go over a number of topics at a faster pace with other people and learn with them through discussion. For homework, I can take my time and think about what we discussed so I can better internalize them.
What is your greatest area of improvement? My greatest area for improvement is to be as punctual as possible. It has been helpful to have the slack channel and I have been making lots of lists of objectives in my notebook to ensure I know everything I have to accomplish and check them off one by one. This ties in with time management and staying focused. I have been consciously eliminating environmental distractions like phones, TV, or people when needed and it has been very helpful.
How do you hope to maximize your strengths for your new career in software development? Working with others and using my strengths as a resource for them, and vice versa, will encourage my strengths to reach their greatest potential. It will be an efficient way to work with people as well, combining strengths to get better results in the end.
How might knowing about your strengths and working preferences benefit you as a software developer? I can use those strengths to have a good working relationship with my co-workers and hopefully be a part of a team with complimentary strengths.
Being aware of my own strengths and working preferences helps me to have a clearer vision of what needs to be done to accomplish something. It will help allow me to delegate my time and energy. For example, I can contribute to my highest potential on something by using my strengths. However, say if I get stuck on something, I can turn to a peer who may have a different way of looking at things and they may be able to help me or vice versa.
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