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7 Habits to Cultivate for Becoming a Better Software Engineer

Ivan Novak on August 26, 2023

That "senior engineer" title. Someday, right? But how do you get there? Technical skills are important, obviously, but senior engineers different...
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kunle1984 profile image
Olaoye kunle

Thanks @inovak . I enjoyed reading through each points. Being a senior engineer require a lot of sacrifice to keep up with the game. Also, is a position where one have selflessly give back through knowledge sharing and helping others to grow.

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Ivan Novak

Yep! Part of the role is helping the team be greater than the sum of its parts.

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johnsimons87 profile image
John • Edited

For how many years did you work as a software developer?

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kunle1984 profile image
Olaoye kunle

Over 7 years now.

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johnsimons87 profile image
John

Would you be interested to give my github project a quick overview. For compensation

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kunle1984 profile image
Olaoye kunle

Ok.

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johnsimons87 profile image
John
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lluis_x_casals profile image
Lluís Xavier Casals

Great article @inovak ! For me the most important is what you are stating as #3, to collaborate. The essence is in what you are writing as 'share their knowledge generously', this is the key
But please, let me comment on what is #1, to invest craft outside work. Agree is crucial in such a competitive situation, to have a competitive resume and catch up on our skills, but is this more something to become more than a better software engineer? I say this because I see this point, as you are describing, as something that could stop a Software engineer from outstanding their skills, and focusing what could be hobbies, family, etc... to full software engineer matters.

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inovak profile image
Ivan Novak

Thank you Lluís!

As someone with a wife, four kids, and grandparents that live nearby I can whole heartedly say that family always comes first. No negotiation on that.

Let's also push competition to the side. Comparison is a quick way to disappointment. The only person we're working on is ourselves. If we are learning, growing, and moving towards our goals... I call that success.

With that out of the way, let's get real. We are all navigating our careers -- meaning YOU are steering.

Sometimes the incentives are structured in a way where you absolutely must get income as fast as possible. (I've been there.)

Other times the incentives are structured where you can take your time choosing how and when you select work and making sure that it aligns very closely with your interests and/or career growth goals. (Oh, so nice!)

And, sometimes the incentives are structured in a way where you may not care at all about your profession, don't consider it a career, and just want a way to earn some cash so you can do the things you love outside of work. (This is how it was for me in college.)

All of these are OKAY! Life ebbs and flows. As long as you know YOU are steering, there's no problems.

Unfortunately, sometimes folks assume that growth in a profession is the responsibility of the company that hired them. This is simply not true. You're hired (and hopefully paid well) to bring your accumulated experiences to bear for a company to benefit the company.

If you leave your professional growth in the hands of a company, you're delegating to chance what you experience. This further delegates to chance your learning opportunities and potential value to other organizations.

I don't like that idea, personally. I want to steer. I want to own my luck. Accountability is another non-negotiable for me, like family.

Investing time outside of work is one way to take ownership of the direction of your career -- and it can be fun! Potentially the seed of a new hobby!

Frequently, our curiosity is limited by our professional environment. At home though, we have access nearly endless options.

We're free to pursue useless projects. We can explore standing up whole projects end-to-end with a bunch of new and interesting integrations. We can pick up and try new frameworks, languages, or technologies. You name it!

This keeps our professional craft interesting and allows us to create joy for ourselves from what we do professionally.

For me, it increases the joy I get not just at home on hobby projects, but also at work. This joy is born from a mixture of competence and exploration and invention... and it certainly does not come at the cost of other hobbies, family, etc.

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lluis_x_casals profile image
Lluís Xavier Casals

Thanks! This is a really interesting answer to my comment, I appreciate-it.
Never thought about this concept, the employer's responsibility, and where accountability starts (quite obvious, how come I've did not thought about-it!), this is significant and crucial for our growth.

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Eljay-Adobe

Except for #5, these are all good for becoming better at anything. #5 is rather coding specific, and good too.

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inovak profile image
Ivan Novak

Surprising how that works, eh?

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elidvenega profile image
Elid

What a great read this was.

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avanichols profile image
Ava Nichols

Thank you very much!

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qayyax profile image
Tife Olatunji

Thank you so much. This was really a good read

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ademagic profile image
Miko • Edited

thanks @inovak , great breakdown. They are challenging habits to continually cultivate but definitely the right ones to focus on.