The Lies Developers Tell…What Did We Learn?

Last week .NeXt Generation and the Tabs and Spaces Podcast, joined together to co-host a live podcast session discussing, “The Lies Developers Tell”. We discussed the lies developers tell each other, tell their bosses, and even tell themselves. More importantly, we discuss why developers tell those lies, and came to the conclusion that sometimes it’s okay to embellish things but outright lying will always come back to bite you in the end.

Here are some of the lies we threw out there, are any familiar to you?

• Saying you’re a Senior Full Stack Developer when in fact are a Junior or mid-level
• Saying you built a system which was actually built by a team, and your contribution wasn’t as important as you made out
• Saying you follow certain working practices, because everyone else does (eg TDD / SOLID) when actually this often wasn’t the case
• Saying you know all the frontend frameworks
• Saying you’re very experienced with a whole bunch of technologies, some of which you’ve not used for years

All of the above are common lies developers sometimes use on their CVs to embellish their skills. To be honest, this isn’t limited to techies, as people embellish their CVs in every industry. So, why do we do it? Obvious answer, because you’re more likely to get an interview by including these lies.

Once you get the interview however, these lies become very obvious very quickly. You may even be surprised to know that a lot of people can’t even remember what they’ve claimed on their CV until they’re sitting across from an interviewer. So, yes embellishing can sometimes get your CV to the top of the pile, however it’s difficult to maintain these lies in interviews and then you’re remembered as “that person who lied on their CV”. If you want to re-apply for that company in the future, you’ve already made it far more difficult to do so. Lying has an expiry-date. If you’ve got old skills on your CV, either take them off or make it really clear that they’re not updated (or “developing” if it’s a new tech you’re learning).

We then spoke about lies developers tell themselves:

• Imposter syndrome: saying “I can’t” when, actually, you probably can learn that new piece of tech
• Estimations: we all like to think we can do things quickly, but how accurate are you generally?
• This code won’t need any tests…..

Imposter syndrome is the complete opposite of what I’ve just been talking about. Lies on CVs are often a symptom of over-confidence, whereas imposter syndrome is the reverse. Developers are, by and large, pretty damn smart so it’s very likely you can learn new tech fairly quickly when you apply yourself. Despite this, a lot of devs can be put off by JDs that request long lists of unicorn-worthy tech because they don’t think they’re strong enough. Sometimes companies really are looking for unicorns, however most of the time companies are willing to be flexible if they can find someone with a good attitude and a passion for learning. So don’t rule yourself out, give the recruiter or manager a call and find out what the non-negotiables are. JDs are only ever half the story, so don’t hold yourself back. To be clear, I’m not advising you to lie about what you can’t do (yet), but you may have to embellish your learning potential to prove that you can pick up these skills in the role.

When it comes to estimations, it’s tempting to just comply with pressure at work and give your boss an “off-the-cuff” time-frame, but in reality it’s only going to dump you with more stress. If you can, try and find new ways to agree timeframes with your employer, be it working in weekly cycles or measuring your success differently. Easier said than done, but there are some interesting alternatives out there, so it’s worth taking the time to research them to avoid those painful conversations in the future.

And when it comes to your code not needing any tests ever….really?...come on now….

So, it’s important to work with integrity. Everyone embellishes at some point or another, and that’s okay to a point so long as you can back it up! Have a read through your CV, could you answer a probing question on every skill / technology on there? If not, take it off! It’s important that people can trust you.

Don’t hold yourself back! Just because you can’t do something now, doesn’t mean you won’t ever be able to learn it. If you’re ever unsure if you’re a good fit for a role, contact the recruiter or employer and ask them what you need to do to prove your worth. More often than not, they will help you understand what they’re really looking for in their new hire.

Look after your (warning, buzzword ahead), Mental Health! Hot topic these days, and for good reason! Don’t lie about things that will inevitably stress you out. No job is worth you feeling bad about yourself when you’re unable to complete something in an unreasonable amount of time.

What do you think? Are there any more lies you can think of? Or maybe you disagree with something I’ve said? Respond in the comments below!

If you missed the podcast, then don’t despair! It will be released in August. You can also check out some of Tabs and Spaces’ other discussions on their website https://tabsandspaces.io/ or Spotify channel https://open.spotify.com/show/05xweMLT3cConDizrKFIgR.

To join more meetups like this one, sign up to .NeXt Generation here: https://www.meetup.com/NeXt-Gen/. You can also follow me on Twitter at @CSharpRecruiter.