18 Tips for Your Young Self as a Software Engineer (Part 1)

Infrastructure is one of the core principles of the software development process, and it is directly responsible for the stable operation of software applications. This infrastructure can range from servers, load balancers, firewalls and databases to complex clusters for different container types. If you could travel back 10 years ago, what advice would you give your younger self?

If I were to travel back in time to when I started my career, I would give my younger self one piece of advice: "Set a variety of goals for what you want to achieve. With the right plan and vision, which all fits the reality."

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Over the past 25 years, I have experienced both success and failure. The journey has been memorable because it has taught me the importance of failure and success. Each victory has been close to my heart and continues to give me a better understanding of teamwork and accomplishment. Still, each disappointment has provided me with a new and innovative way to find extraordinary solutions.

Another quality that has helped me get to where I am today is the willingness to take risks. I was never afraid of obstacles and looked for challenging tasks instead of taking on the first project I came across. Consciously stepping out of my comfort zone has allowed me to learn advanced skills faster than my peers.

If I could go back in time, these are the 18 pieces of advice I would have taught my younger self as a software engineer (Part 1 shows I-IV).

I. Be willing to ask questions

As a professional, asking questions allows you to be clear about your role and mission and demonstrate the ideal leadership qualities. Even if it's a silly question, a serious concern or a simple idea, always raise your voice and put your ideas out there. What needs to be understood is that it is critical to bring your voice to the workplace. Curiosity is necessary for all top developers, and understanding the "why" and "how" of interest makes developers a great asset to the team. Most breakthrough discoveries and inventions in history have been the result of curiosity.

In the eyes of superiors, asking questions means:

• Be willing to learn: Asking questions facilitates the transformation of the office hierarchy into an educational system from which extraordinary things can be learned.
• Actively go for participation: Asking questions and listening carefully to the answers shows that you value the insights of your peers and want to get a perspective on things before finalizing any outcomes.
• Continuous knowledge-seeking: Understanding how others think and work, opening the door to creative ideas and solutions.
• Most of the time, asking relevant questions will spark innovation and help us identify risks and challenges early.

Newcomers to the IT industry who are not proactive are likely to fail to detect problems encountered by customers or teams. It's easy to stand on your own feet and rely on the usual patterns to deal with challenges, but when tackling challenges with your supervisor and team members, a more multifaceted approach can be found to solve the problem.

II. Stay curious

The Daily Work Schedule plugin enabled you to calculate workload statistics for each day of a given month for everyone in the project based on the start time, end time and estimated work hours of the tasks in ZenTao. Implementing infrastructure automation will require many changes and refactoring, which can be a demanding process for organizations. If you want to avoid most of the limitations and make the transition as smooth as possible, please follow these excellent practices below.

Curiosity is a key behavior for all top developers, and the ability to understand the "why" and "how" of curiosity makes developers a great asset to their teams. Most breakthrough discoveries and inventions in history have been the result of curiosity.

Curiosity is essential in software engineering work because it helps leaders and employees adapt to uncertain market conditions and external pressures. We must never forget that an understanding of business requirements is also essential.

Curiosity drives us to think more deeply and rationally about decisions and come up with more creative solutions.

III. Application of minimalist methods

IaC has many merits, but the model has some challenges that can be understood and properly addressed before the implementation. It is almost impossible to teach minimalism in software engineering. But here is my simple list of minimalism：

• The fastest code is the code that doesn't run at all.
• It is always better to run fewer SQL queries.
• The complexity decreases when there are fewer features, tools, and frameworks.
• Too much complexity can waste time and money.
• Don't waste time doing useless things.
• Always focus on avoiding complexity and code.
• Build effective teams, not rely on tools.
• Articulate project requirements and work with other teams regularly.
• Engineers must find alternative approaches to avoid technical debt.
• Attention to intricate details, such as analyzing and maintaining old code or developing strategic approaches.
• Software engineers are expected to manage multiple projects at the same time.

IV. Create your own brand

Generally, software engineers do not actively market themselves or focus on building their brand. This is because most of them regard branding as an unnecessary task. However, it is important to realize that it is challenging for software engineers to gain accurate recognition without a personal brand.

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Building a personal brand is essential advice for your younger self, as it can help practitioners at any stage: from freelance developers to entrepreneurs to engineers looking for work. Everyone, including software engineers, must stand out from the competition, especially in the new normal of scarce job opportunities. Ways for software engineers to build their brand：

• New LinkedIn Profile: Your LinkedIn profile should contain all the information in your resume. The information should be displayed to tell the recruiter you are worthy of consideration.

• Consistency in posting: Stay active by posting consistently on your social platforms. When you publish content regularly, your followers will look forward to your content, which will lead to high engagement.

• Demonstrate enthusiasm for the job: Showing enthusiasm is not the best predictor of a perfect candidate, but hiring managers will mention this trait in their interview feedback.