Five mistakes I made before landing a role as a Software Developer at Konga.

Navigating your path towards a destination is sometimes a very daunting yet rewarding task especially when you have no clear path to follow. Looking back on how I started my journey to becoming a software developer, I have observed some limitations which at every junction, slowed my progress, yet in the end, I overcame them. The experience I gained from this has given me an insight into how building a successful career in Software Development might be better achieved. During my journey, I was not always sure of the outcome concerning the decisions I made in the process, but I have learned quite a lot along the way. It is to this end that I have highlighted some notable mistakes which hopefully, would be a good guide to help other developers who wish to get into a software development role as fast as possible.

I have noted these below:

1. Not having a clear career path: When I started, I picked up a programming language saying for example python without fully understanding why and what it is needed for in software engineering and to add to that, I was still unsure of the path of software engineering I wanted to focus on so I picked up a few others as well without truly mastering them. I remember for the first 4–5 months of learning, I was constantly moving from one language to another based on what different developers said.
   You must understand that people’s perception and view of a programming language are based on personal preference, job type, and exposure working with such languages amongst others. Having this in mind will give you a sense of what you why developers used different programming languages and why they recommend it, and in turn influence your choice amongst several choices of programming language
2. Not Mastering the fundamentals: So there I was, eager to build something to showcase my skills and because I had the drive, so I began watching different project videos without mastering the fundamental concepts behind every software. This half-baked approach failed when I was faced with the challenge of working on a web app. I needed to watch a video as a guide to put me through as opposed to running a self-initiated software development brainstorming session. I would note here as a self-taught developer, that we are faced with the challenge of showcasing a product so as to have that feeling of achievement or progress. I later realized that every complex software has a foundation reliant on the fundamental software development lifecycle, and it is important to master them. Fundamentals such as understanding how to solve the problems (Algorithms), design patterns, programming languages, data structures variables, and its types, functions, good code writing practices. Understanding the aforementioned will help you pick up a task and progressively work out a solution in a more structured manner applying what you learned.
3. Not setting a clear timeline: As a beginner, setting a clear timeline will help you keep track of your progress, and work towards a precise goal. When I started, I was doing many things, moving from a tutorial to another which wasted my time. For instance, setting unrealistic timelines like “within my first 4–6 months of learning I want to land my first job role- this implies that 1st month — master fundamentals, 2 nd month — learning a programming language, 3rd — should start working on projects with concepts learned, 4th month — work towards having two major projects I built myself applying all learned push to git, 5th month- Should working on my resume and start applying” What I basically mean is have a precise goal and structured plan to get to your destination.
4. Not doing one thing at a time and inconsistency: The popular quote “Jack of all trades, master of none”- strongly applies to this particular point and I will explain why. When I started learning, I did so many things at the same time, I was trying to learn two different languages at the same time or watching three courses at the period, this might work for someone with a level of experience but for a beginner, I feel it will eventually cause confusion, it is important to pick one thing at a time and build your mind to grasp it very fast, My mentor once said that “it is better to learn one thing for two weeks and master it well than several things at same times for a month”.Then he went further to say “studying daily for the first 3 months of your learning for at least 1 hour daily, this will help you get familiar with the environment”.Living by these principles really helped me to improve my skills as a software developer.
5. Not getting involved in the community and Networking: When I started coding, I would sit by my system for hours and weeks without interacting with a growing community or people activity functioning in the field. The challenge to this is that it makes one have a myopic view of things really are in the work environment and also you need to understand your next job opportunity might be in that meetup, Dev community, LinkedIn connection, or slack group.

Vice-Chairman of Morgan Stanley, Carla Harris was interviewed and she said

I realized that being smart and working hard was not enough. It still wasn’t getting me at the top of the class.

..and later went on to say:

I realized that there was somebody who had to be behind closed doors arguing passionately on my behalf. But at the end of the day, while performance currency gets your name on the list that’s being discussed behind closed doors when your name is called if no one else in that room can speak on your behalf, they just go to the next name and it has nothing to do with your ability to do the job.

It is important to attend meetups either online or physically to get to meet people, learning how to build and keep relationships is an important skill we must learn to build, and this only comes by getting active in a meetup group, Dev community, LinkedIn connection, or slack group.

The journey towards having a fulfilling career as a software developer is a process that is full of new discoveries every day. It is interesting to see and know anyone can learn this. With the right exposure coupled with the right opportunities births a dream. It is possible!!!

Every new day presents us with an opportunity to make History in the individual Pursuit of our Dreams — Ayodeji Ayankola

Like this article? Follow Ayodeji on Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayodeji-ayankola/