Straight Talk: Lessons from My Coding Career (1)

I began "real" coding during a six-month internship at Sterling Bank in 2008, where I worked with .NET 2.0, and SQL Server 2005. After graduation, I completed my National Youth Service, faced unemployment for a period, volunteered, and took on roles in marketing and operations, in the bank, before returning to IT, between 2015 and 2017 (can't remember the exact year).

Along the way, I’ve learned valuable lessons that have shaped my career. Here are some of the most important ones.

Master the Basics

Airlines require pilots to log at least 1,500 flight hours—roughly 3 to 5 years of dedication—before they can fly commercially. Doctors spend years in rigorous training. Software engineering is no different. While many great engineers are self-taught, skipping the fundamentals can make the journey significantly harder.

Build a compiler, an interpreter, or a simple game. Implement a network protocol. Build websites with HTML, CSS and Javascript, build a web framework. Understand how LLMs, OOP, Git, and package managers work, do "things". Keep questioning, keep exploring—you’ll thank yourself later.

No One Owes You Anything

Your dream company doesn’t owe you a job—you owe it to yourself to be valuable. Be excellent at what you do. Code daily, read, write, and practice consistently. Stay sharp and remain relevant in your field.

Look into the camera, smile, and refine your interviewing skills. Practice programming puzzles, anticipate rejection, and learn from it. They went ahead with someone stronger in their assessment, wish them success, continue growing, and keep pushing forward.

Ask yourself: Would you hire you? If not, take action. Present yourself professionally, develop executive presence, engage with peers and superiors. Never stop learning.

Always Be Learning

Be a sponge. Absorb everything around you. Learn the process, understand the system, figure out who calls the shots. Learn from everyone—the senior developer, the architect, C-suite executives, intern, even the new hire. Observe poorly written code to understand what to avoid, analyze well-designed architecture to see what works, study design patterns to improve your craft.

Understand the different programming paradigms and how they apply to various problems. The tech world moves fast—stay curious, stay adaptable, and never stop growing. Don’t get left behind.

Communicate Effectively

This should be at the top. What do you notice about leaders? they communicate, and they do it well.

Always provide clear, actionable updates. Do not sugarcoat problems—address them directly and honestly. Speak up when you’re stuck or need help, but ensure you’ve done your research and made an effort first. Document and share your findings, in a way that’s easy to understand. Maintain professionalism in every interaction.

Stay engaged in meetings (keep the camera on), ask questions. Whatever you do, do not let yourself become invisible.

Learn how to time-box tasks effectively. Provide updates as soon as possible, to keep everyone informed and aligned.

Stay Challenged

If your job feels too "chill", that’s a red flag. Growth happens when you’re challenged. If you’re not being pushed, it’s time to draw up a plan and get buy-in from your leader—or start looking for a new role, either within or outside the organization.

Keep Your Skills Sharp

Be highly proficient in one or two tools, but know enough about others to have a meaningful conversation. For instance, you might be an Angular expert, but you should still understand React. Stay updated on the philosophy behind the tools you use—why were they invented? What problems do they solve? What are they abstracting away? Knowing the “why” behind the tools makes you a more versatile developer.

Be a Team Player

Align well with your lead, colleagues, managers, and even your skip-level manager if possible. You were brought into your role for a reason. Engage with the culture, be professional, maintain boundaries, and ensure you’re not forgettable. Collaboration and adaptability are key to thriving in any team environment.

To be continued in Part Two…

My posts and comments are personal do not communicate the views of past or current employer