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If you are the one in the team with lesser experience , trust me, as a senior engineer I can tell you, no one is expecting shit from you. If you just keep good behaviour, say good morning every day in the stand up, and smile all the time, no body cares if you are doing anything or not. I can tell you as a 15 years Java developer, we all understand that you are in the learning phase, and don’t expect you to deliver much. So chill.

I'm 14 months into my first job as a developer (worked 15 years prior in other fields) and I still expect to be fired every morning. Still can't believe they pay me.

I definitely feel this now as I'm 1.5 months into my job. I am a complete junior with no degree, but graduated from hack reactor and making way more money than ever (went from 25k/yr to over 100k). I did feel like an imposter the first 2 weeks, but after that I got used to the codebase and various teams like QA and devops and then just hit the ground running and my manager says I'm exceeding expectations so far. Maybe it has to do with my love for react, but either way, as long as you do your best on the job and show you're reliable and can learn quickly, people will respect you. Good luck to all the job seekers and coders!

I felt like this is like 85% of what I wanted to know about what the step into the field is going to be like. I am even sharing your content with my cohort to help set proper expectations and experiences. Keep pushing out the good content man. You are making a difference in peoples lives, at least mine I can say for certain.

I love your transparency with your struggles in the beginning of your career. ❤ I have imposter syndrome and I put others who have more experience than me on a pedestal and it has messed with me mentally but I’m working on being more patient with myself and not comparing myself to others in the field.

I am still struggling with mentality "I would rather eat glass than ask for help". Working on it but it's difficult to change old mentality.

Hi im about to finish my bsc honours in computer science happend to stumble onto your video, the information and topics you discussed are incredibly reassuring ive been very stressed lately about how the first day and atmosphere may be as ive dabbled with various code langs / other fields but concerned with sitting down on that first day and looking like a fool regardless of the journey taken. Thank you for your incredibly honest video, you gaind another sub.

Just landed my first Web Dev job so excited and nervous at the same time! Thank you for all the tips and advice.

you have been so helpful during my job search man, thank you

Thank you soooo much for making this video Don! Hits the heart of every junior and would be junior developer. 😅

Very helpful. Thanks Don!

Good talk Don all the points you method are very perfect and got all of the motivation from your talk Thanks Again!!

Great video! I'm a backend developer but remember my first job 3 years ago doing react. You're absolutely right. Ask questions, spend time making connections (set up a Team's meeting with different departments and learn), and take courses/read books. Imposter syndrome is real but it doesn't have to be debilitating.

Wise lessons, Thank you!

Thanks for this, I’m a month in on my first role as a frontend engineer and can relate to everything you’re talking about.

LOVE THAT THUMBNAIL!

Your content is really helpful, Don.

I'm not a software engineer, I'm a network engineer and I feel that. I worked for the same company for 5 years going through the tech tree from level one tech to level 3 which is a senior role or glorified help desk, but an opening for network engineer opened and I applied, and to my surprise I got the position. I can configure routing and switching but in the role of a level 3 you do soft touches to the network, now they wanted me to design and redesign networks for multiple sites. I was super scared but it was worth it because I had a great team of support.

I had imposter syndrome for the first 6 months when I started working for a software company. Don's points about sticking with it and doing your best are spot on - you will learn as you work.

Thank you for this video this is exactly how I feel right now, I even talk to my wife how insecure I am and I feel like I'm the dumbest in the group, I'm even getting ready to learn more skill just in case the company will fire me it's ridiculous how self-talk can sometimes sabotage you.

Dude something tells me youre going to be my lifesaver. I am about to be at that position now, FINISHED bootcamp at feels like I KNOW NOTHING.

Thank you, I am looking to change career, and most of the things highlighted were my concerns.

great talk loved it

I'm trying to get my first developer job and I found your experience useful.

I wish I could like this video a thousand times. Literally my first day as a dev today. Just set up but I already felt the imposter syndrome setting in

12:26 Be that as it may, you can say the same for most other job positions. The key difference is that most other positions don't get paid the same amount of money, so there's a bigger risk/loss if they make a bad hire here. Because most people work something else, they won't see the risks associated from the employer's part--some people have been in my shoes where they make a company hundreds of MILLIONS per year and still get laid off. It happens. (Can happen in tech, too, but it looked like it only happened at the massive companies. I haven't seen a decline in the slightest in market demand otherwise).

great video!!!

I got hired a month ago and my mentor is to busy to train me. So I've been doing nothing for a month

This would have been great advice for me 2 years ago... well after a year of being out of the industry I have been keeping good habits for 5 going on 6 months and I am getting back out there.

so RELATABLE, as if i hear myself lol, like my inner voice, glad i'm not alone.

Wish I had this video before I got let go from me first software job. But good video,

I would love to speak to every person personally , as i week 1 in to my first developer role and I a career changer from finance to Tech.

How bad is a 2 year job gap if I have a year of experience?

This is VERY GOOD as usual! Don finally authentic real experience on the internet - most of the other channel ALL what they talk about on the first day is dinner and caffee. I mean fine but I know how to cook haha

I still have anxiety every day (after 18 months) . I think its because im with SDE 3’s and a Sr. and they are freakin PHENOMENAL 😭

I’m just tryna get the first job

I'm first tryna get that first developer job lmfaoo

1:25 i feel You bro.. but 35min bro!?

I'm not a developer or aspiring developer. I find the creating of code itself to be kind of trivial but I find everything associated with it to be a maze of confusion. Like I aced my C programming course in college and several times got the top score on exams but I don't know how every other person in the class somehow knew what a compiler was. I still don't know how a compile works or where it resides or how it is conjured up. There is just a ton of soft information not directly relating to the logic of coding that even the weaker students in the class seemed to grasp and somehow know which escapes me. Coming from that perspective, I see a lot of developers wash out who I think are like me. They have passed some courses and seem to be intelligent but there is something they just don't get about how it all fits together. It's like, like me, they don't have that geek gene. There is something more than logic or academic talent needed (and I don't even think you need those things vey much). I know a guy who I beat on the SATs by over 300 points who has now written a book on cloud computing architecture. He's obviously not dumb. There is something to developing that isn't measured in conventional aptitude testing. He's a geek. He played D&D. He knows where all the hearts are in Zelda. I think most people washing out of their fist job are in the wrong profession, or one might say just not in the ideal profession. People want to be geeks in order to conform to the demands of the economy. I think that's a recipe for unhappiness. I think developing is for people who fetishize computers on some level, who think about it when they aren't studying or working. It's unlikely you will sustain a high salary doing something for which you have a low level of sincere interest because you will be measured against those in the space who do have a sincere passion and you will look sorry by comparison (because you are). If you just see that there are jobs that pay a lot which don't require a graduate degree and that's your motivation then get ready for a lot of unhappiness and failure.

How old are you?

I thought i would be fired by now, im a sap developer but i hated sap LOL, now im a c# developer.

😊

👍

I'm a fraud.

comment, for the algorithm gods

Thank you so much, made a big imact on my life and career so valuable

Hey Don, I know confidence is a big part of the developers life cycle. And being very into powerlifting I was listening to this video between Dave Tate and JM Blakley and thought it would help assist in the mindset of some. "The ONLY Way to Build Confidence by JM Blakely: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pdulqZWk0ra3iGQ.html&ab_channel=elitefts. At the core of it, it's building stuff on our own and as soon as we build one thing we find the next thing that is incrementally more challenging.

I am about to start my first dev job in a few days and this video was very helpful! I am feeling imposter syndrome even before starting haha