Hiring is hard. It’s a stressful process where you’re trying to find a good fit, both personally and technically, all in a few short hours. Over the last 7 years, I’ve hired many developers and while they haven’t all worked out, I’ve been very fortunate to have been able to work with some excellent people. In every case, as I’m sitting across from them in the interview, I focus on trying to see if the candidate exhibits the following five traits....
In early 2013 I transitioned from a developer to a manager of a team of 3 when my manager left suddenly. It took me over two years (and doubling the team size) until I felt like I really understood what it meant to be a manager and thought I was adding value. Here are a few things I’ve learnt and tips others gave to me. Less Coding By far the hardest thing for me to realize was that I needed to cut back the amount of coding that I did....
“Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn’t work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach” — Roger Von Oech Every developer has written a bug at least once in their careers. It’s almost a rite of passage to debug faulty code and turn it into something that works. Most of the time these bugs are caught before they ever reach the eyes of your customers but every so often a bug gets through to production....
Having a good manager can make the difference between an amazing work experience and a horrible one. At work, you can tell the developers that have a good manager from the ones that don’t based purely on how well they work and how happy they are. As a manager, making your developers happy and comfortable can increase their productivity and make a better work experience for everyone. Here are 10 tips to becoming a great manager:...
Most developers have, at one point in their career, worked in a group; it’s inevitable if you’re working on a large project. If you’ve worked in a large group you most likely have met one developer that has been less motivated than the others and this post is for you. Motivating the unmotivated can be a difficult task for a manager. You have to know how to motivate them and not make them feel unwanted....
One of the most important practices in software development is taking breaks. I know how weird that sounds but it’s true. Programmers often focus on getting the task done and forget about their own mental and physical health. Taking breaks can help you be more productive , they help rest your body , and they help by letting your brain digest any code you’ve written. Relieve Stress Programmers are constantly wearing themselves out....