Every year is there is an influx of newly trained developers from our local colleges. They have paid good money to become book smart and if they are lucky maybe some practical from their co-ops. They enter the work force with nothing more than a smile and a piece of paper; often not knowing where to turn. They look around, but there are no “Help Wanted” signs. Once they are in, they are thrown projects with very little guidance.
I was asked a question recently and I gave my opinion on how it should be done. After, I had instructed the person to go their senior developers for some guidance of how they would like to see it. I was told they do not care as long as it works. I thought this is crazy, how could they not care? We are the Senior Developers with the experience. We know how it should be done and how it should look. Sometimes the “how” is more of a company culture, but it makes the code easier for everyone to read after the fact. If we do not teach them how to do things, style and logically; we will essentially create ourselves more working fixing things that could have been done correct the first time. We are the guides for the young people. If we know of a job in the city, we should promote it. If we know how to do something or how it should look, we should teach it.
There is far more to being a Senior Developer than years of service. I believe deep down inside they are afraid the younger developers will steal their positions. It is a possibility, but not likely. If we stand up and take the younger developers by the hand and guide them. Teach them to do their jobs to our standards; we will essentially create a little job security for ourselves. The employer will see that we care about the projects and we care about the mentor-ship of others.
We are a team and together we will make things happen within our employment. The Senior Developer is the leader of the team. Stand up, take your job seriously and help those who are starting out. In-turn, you will gain the reward of lesser work, a developer you can trust and the respect of your employer.
Probably more to come on this topic… but not today.