#Junioring 101 - Extended Talk For junior.guru Club

How to be successful in your first technical position? How to boost your learning? How to get all the support you need from your colleagues without taking up their whole time? These are just some of the questions every junior is grappling with. Whether you've graduated from a technical university, changed careers or are self-taught, your first job will have a critical impact on your future. It will help you create your work and learning habits, propel you into a particular development path, and last but not least - it will help you build a network of peers which will be critical to your future in the field. Make the most of it.

In this session you will learn:
- tips & tricks for boosting your learning
- some of the most important skills nobody talks about in school
- the importance of managing your mentors and reviewers
- what it means to take responsibility for task delivery
- how to make it easier for your senior colleagues to help you
- the critical skill of managing your own well-being

This talk is aimed at people starting their career in the field of Software Engineering and Web Development - regardless of whether they are DevOps, SREs, developers, operators, or testers. The techniques are applicable for people at every level of seniority, though. Based on my experience technical seniority doesn't always correspond to non-technical seniority (and skills like team work, time management, continuous learning, and communication).

Transcript

1. #Junioring101 How Not To Go Bonkers At The Start Daria Grudzien Site Reliability Engineer & Co-Founder @CyberMagnolia
2. Outline 1. Making it easy to help you
3. Outline 1. Making it easy to help you 2. Managing up
4. Outline 1. Making it easy to help you 2. Managing up 3. Ownership
5. Outline 1. Making it easy to help you 2. Managing up 3. Ownership 4. Sustainable learning
6. Outline 1. Making it easy to help you 2. Managing up 3. Ownership 4. Sustainable learning 5. Self-care
7. You’re Awesome What you’re doing is hard.
8. Making It East To Help You • Ask your mentor how they like to communicate
9. Making It East To Help You • Ask your mentor how they like to communicate • Do the legwork — write down the commands, search for answers on the internet, collect useful results
10. Making It East To Help You • Ask your mentor how they like to communicate • Do the legwork — write down the commands, search for answers on the internet, collect useful results • When asking: present your problem, your hypothesis and the results of your research
11. Managing Up • If possible, pick your own mentor for each task
12. Managing Up • If possible, pick your own mentor for each task • Look for the person who is considered an expert on that topic
13. Managing Up • If possible, pick your own mentor for each task • Look for the person who is considered an expert on that topic • Avoid having two equally important code reviewers
14. Ownership • You’re the project manager for every task assigned to you
15. Ownership • You’re the project manager for every task assigned to you • You’re responsible for proactively communicating its status & for delivery
16. Sustainable Learning • Figure out your learning style and schedule
17. Sustainable Learning • Figure out your learning style and schedule • Make sure you that every day you learn something new
18. Learn to: • Break stuff
19. Learn to: • Break stuff • Read documentation
20. Learn to: • Break stuff • Read documentation • Read code
21. Self-Care • You’re in charge of preventing your own burnout
22. Self-Care • You’re in charge of preventing your own burnout • On bad days, remind yourself of things you’re good at
23. Self-Care • You’re in charge of preventing your own burnout • On bad days, remind yourself of things you’re good at • Talk to yourself like to the best friend
24. Self-Care • You’re in charge of preventing your own burnout • On bad days, remind yourself of things you’re good at • Talk to yourself like to the best friend • Know what helps you recharge and do it regularly
25. Thank You & Good Luck! Resources: • Managing Yourself As A Junior — dariagrudzien.com • Junior Engineers Are Features, Not Bugs — Kate Taggart, HashiCorp at SRECon 2018 • How To Ask Questions The Smart Way — Eric Steven Raymond • Hays Salary Guide 2021 & Reed Global Salary Guide 2021 • CyberMagnolia — Women's Tech Collective CZ