DO YOU WANT TO PROGRESS AS A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER?
If the answer to the above question is YES, then Progressive Coder is the right place for you.
At Progressive Coder, I help you get ahead in Software Development.
I help you explore the world of programming.
Most of all, I tell you how you can become a professional software developer who is constantly in market demand.
And yes, this is applicable to both new-comers who are in college or university as well as veterans who have been working in the software industry for many years.
Let’s look at both the tracks one by one.
The Veterans
When I say veterans, I mean Software Developers who have been in the industry for a few years. If you want a specific number, I would put it anywhere from 3 years all the way to 15 years.
In my experience, the biggest problem I have seen with veteran developers is their tendency to get stagnated in their careers. And depending on your career goals, this is could be a serious problem. Hardly anyone wants to get into such a situation.
But first, let’s answer the important question.
Have you stagnated?
Often I have seen that during the course of their careers, developers run into a situation where they feel stuck.
The job is good. They are being paid well also. However, despite all this, they feel like they are stagnating. Their technology skills have become one-dimensional.
They might be sought after in their current organization because of their system knowledge. However, as soon as they step out of their current role looking for a new job for whatever reason they find it exceedingly difficult to get one.
It is a terrible position to be in. And not to mention, extremely vulnerable for a senior developer.
Are you also in that situation?
If you are NOT sure, answer the below questions to yourself.
Has it been more than 6 months you have learnt a new skill in your current technical work?
Or, has it been more than 2 years since you learnt a new programming language?
Has your current work morphed into pushing stuff from one developer to another for the past 6 months?
Or, has your work reduced to mostly (around 50% of time) filling status sheets and creating presentations for the last year?
If the answer to any of the above question is YES, you have stagnated or are in the process of stagnating in your current role.
However, if you realize this fundamental situation, you are already way ahead of many other developers out there who don’t even know they are in this situation.
The next question is even more important.
Why do developers stagnate?
If you can answer this question on your own, you might be lucky. However, mostly I have seen people being confused about this.
Let’s understand some reasons directly from the developers.
Developer A
I’m too lazy to learn new stuff!!
Probably not correct as reason because then you wouldn’t have come over here on Progressive Coder.
Developer B
I don't even want to be a developer!
Again less likely as a reason because then you wouldn’t even read this far. It’s the truth. Some people are simply not cut out to become software developers
Developer C
The current work takes up most of time! I don’t get opportunity to do anything else
After all, we all have only so much time in a workday. Well, this is a pretty valid reason and a large percent of the people will probably fall under this category.
Developer D
My organization doesn’t want me to do anything else
Well, they hired you for a specific skill set and they WANT you to use that skill set and DO the work they WANT you to. After all, they are paying you for it. And this is one of the most common reasons I have seen. And also the most dangerous.
If you identify yourself in Developer C and D, you should start doing something about the situation. This is because the situation you are in can quickly turn problematic in a few years if not immediately.
Why is it problematic?
There is only one explanation to this.
And I say this with experience.
I have worked at huge organizations. Organizations that strive to add a lot of value to their customer’s life. Obviously, they are very good at that.
However, they aren’t that great while taking care of their employees career. Software Developers are basically resources for them that are hired to perform a certain job and get paid in return.
Of course, there are many good managers around who mentor their team members and generally try to uplift people in their careers. However, the number of such people is less. And even those managers can only go to a certain extent within the framework of the organization. After all, they are also employees in the organization just like the others.
I have seen many good software developers, great team players and exceptional human beings loose their job just because of an overnight decision of the organization. Mainly because that particular developer only knows a certain skill set. And the organization doesn’t need that skill set any more.
The unlucky developer doesn’t have knowledge about the new technology or programming language because he never got opportunity to work on it.
All of a sudden, that developer turns from an asset to a liability for the organization.
Frankly speaking, this is a really terrible situation to be in.
However, if you are in that situation, it’s your own mistake.
How can you avoid this situation?
You can avoid such a situation situation by being pro-active.
Be loyal to your job. But also, be loyal to your own self as well.
To keep progressing as a Software Developer, you NEED to keep learning.
You NEED to keep exploring new things in the world of programming.
You NEED to get out of your comfort zone.
At Progressive Coder, my aim is to help you with that.
What should you start learning?
Asking this question itself puts you several steps ahead of the crowd.
At Progressive Coder, my aim is to guide you on what to learn, how to learn, and finally, make you learn.
In my view, right now the best thing to learn is Full Stack Development. Whether you are a newcomer or a veteran, Full Stack Development is the key to your continued success in the industry.
Below illustration from Google Trends shows that interest in Full Stack Development has increased substantially over the last 5 years. In fact, it is starting to beat the interest for only Front End Development work and is expected to grow further on.
As a Full Stack Developer, you also have a chance to earn much more. As per a survey by Indeed.com, a Full Stack Developer in San Francisco can get up $130,000 per year as compared to $97,000 for a standard web developer.
Even in India, Full Stack Developers are in high demand. 2018 witnessed a 20% increase in demand for Full Stack Developers in India. And this demand is set to increase in the coming years.
But, how do you become a Pro Full Stack Developer?
Click on the below button to find out.
Subscribe Now
Every post on Progressive Coder is written with careful thought. With each post, I strive to provide as much detail on the topic as possible.
I DON’T want you to miss a single post.
So SUBSCRIBE NOW to my newsletter. It’s totally free. In fact, subscribing will make you eligible for all the free goodies I offer on Progressive Coder from time to time.