Starting a new job as a junior developer can feel daunting. You may face unrealistic expectations, lack of mentorship, and complex assignments that stretch your skills. But with the right strategies, you can take control of your career development and thrive during this crucial phase. This article provides actionable tips to help junior developers advocate for themselves, tackle tough situations, and grow their skills.
The Struggles of Being a Junior Developer
Junior developers often face a trial by fire when first joining a company. After graduating from coding bootcamps or computer science programs, they are eager to apply their skills in the real world. However, the transition from the academic environment to a production engineering team can be jarring.
Many junior developers quickly realize they lack key technical and business domain knowledge. They do not have the years of experience needed to intuitively understand large, complex codebases. And they may never have worked on projects at scale before.
At the same time, junior developers frequently do not receive enough guidance. Some companies believe in a "sink or swim" approach, throwing junior team members directly into complex tasks. This lack of mentoring sets junior developers up to fail.
Other common issues include:
- Performance Pressure - Being expected to immediately perform at the level of senior developers.
- Vague Instructions - Receiving vague requirements and unclear directions on projects.
- Independent Problem-Solving - Having to figure things out independently without much support.
- Unwanted Tasks - Getting stuck with the code or tasks no one else wants to handle.
- Lack of Support - Having questions go unanswered or being told to just "figure it out."
- Onboarding Struggles - Setting up and configuring the development environment and tools is a challange even Uber and Stripe have.
On top of the technical challenges, junior developers also need to navigate company politics and processes. They must learn to collaborate with other teams and understand the wider business context.
Without the right support structure in the early stages of their career, many talented junior developers become quickly discouraged. But by advocating for themselves, they can overcome these obstacles.
Ask for Ramp-Up Time to Learn the Systems
When first joining a new company, resist the urge to jump directly into complex programming tasks. Instead, ask for ramp-up time to familiarize yourself with internal tools and processes.
Having context about how the engineering team operates will help you be productive faster. Use your initial weeks or months to:
- Review documentation about the product and architecture. Ask colleagues to explain anything that is unclear.
- Shadow other developers and observe their workflows. Take notes on the tools they use and how they approach tasks.
- Attend meetings related to projects you’ll be involved in. Get insight into requirements and design processes.
- Go through your new company’s codebase, even if it’s large and confusing at first. Run the code and use debugging tools to understand the execution flow.
- Ask questions constantly. People are often willing to explain concepts if you are eager to learn.
- Build toy applications to become familiar with your new stack and internal frameworks.
Ramping up may feel slow, but it builds foundational knowledge. You’ll gain confidence navigating systems and understanding how all the pieces fit together. This makes you much better equipped to handle real projects.
Explain that you want to take the time upfront to fully learn the codebase, tools, and product. Frame it as an investment that will allow you to become productive faster long-term.
Most managers will understand the need to onboard junior developers. If they push back, explain that jumping into complex tasks without ramp-up time will lead to mistakes and rework later.
Start Simple Before Taking on Bigger Projects
Once you have gone through ramp-up, resist the temptation to rush into meaty coding assignments. Instead, start simple. Offer to tackle small bugs and builds first to gain experience with real issues facing the product and customers.
For example, suggest:
- Fixing UI issues reported by users that involve simple component changes.
- Adding minor features like new sorting options or filters.
- Building setup automation and dev tooling.
- Improving code quality through refactoring, adding tests, and improving documentation.
These tasks allow you to get familiar with the development workflow. You can learn to use internal tools like issue trackers, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) systems, source control, etc. And you’ll start to understand nuances about how the product is designed.
As you demonstrate your ability to handle smaller issues with high quality, your manager will gain confidence to assign you larger features. Go slowly, be patient with yourself, and focus on doing excellent work.
Actively Seek Out Mentors and Guidance
One of the biggest pitfalls for junior developers is lack of mentorship. Do not “hope” that your manager and colleagues will provide guidance. You need to proactively seek it out.
Schedule regular one-on-one meetings with your manager to get their insights and feedback. Come prepared with specific questions about projects, priorities, and your performance.
Also identify a technical mentor, ideally a senior engineer who is engaged and willing to help you level up. Set up weekly sync-ups to:
- Review parts of the codebase you have questions about.
- Explain concepts, patterns, or architectures you want to better understand.
- Ask for input on how to structure a new feature you’re building.
- Discuss any struggles you are having and ask for tips.
When tackling tasks, avoid going radio silent and trying to figure everything out yourself. This wastes time. Instead, reach out for help early when encountering issues.
Slack your mentor a message or ping them over video chat. Explain the problem you’re facing, what you’ve tried so far, and where you are stuck. They can provide guidance to unblock you.
Proactively seeking mentorship is key for junior developers. People are usually happy to help those who show initiative and desire to grow.
Speak Up About Skill Gaps
Many junior developers hesitate to reveal when they lack experience in key technologies required for their role. Some worry it will make them appear incompetent. However, being transparent about skill gaps is far better than staying silent.
Projects often move faster than the time needed to skill up. Be honest with your manager about areas you still need to develop through training. For example, you may say:
“I'm excited to start working on the mobile app migration, but I have no prior experience with React Native. I’d like to take a couple of online courses this month to quickly get up to speed. Does this align with the project timeline?”
Companies should expect juniors to have skills gaps. Assuming otherwise is unreasonable. By proactively surfacing what you need to learn, you appear resourceful.
Offer to fill your gaps through online courses, books, tutorials, conferences, and other self-learning opportunities. Some companies will fund this external training. If budget is tight, you can often still make a case that an investment in your skills will pay off manifold.
Also, ask to be temporarily paired with a senior developer on projects utilizing technologies you are new to. Working closely with an expert is one of the fastest ways to build know-how.
Always, be transparent about the time needed to become proficient. Be realistic — true mastery of a language or a framework takes months of experience. Avoid overcommitting to unrealistic deadlines due to inexperience.
Don’t Let Imposter Syndrome Hold You Back
Finally, battling imposter syndrome is an uphill climb for most junior developers early in their careers. You likely feel self-doubt and worry about being “found out” as not competent. This excessive anxiety about your abilities can become a self-fulfilling prophecy if you let it.
When these fears creep in:
- Recall all the times you pushed yourself outside your comfort zone and succeeded. You belong here.
- Talk to colleagues about moments when they felt like imposters. You are not alone in this experience.
- Focus on the tangible skills you have developed, not intangible traits like “being good enough.”
- Set small goals and celebrate incremental wins. Progress fuels confidence.
Battling imposter syndrome gets easier with time and experience. In the meantime, don’t allow self-limiting beliefs to hold you back from pursuing challenges and advocating for what you need to grow.
You've Got This!
Starting a new job as a junior developer comes with unique struggles. But with the right strategies, you can take ownership over your growth. Ramping up slowly, seeking mentorship, speaking up about skill gaps, breaking down big projects, and battling imposter syndrome will give you the tools to take control over your career development during the crucial junior developer phase.
The key is to be patient, stay positive, and proactively take steps to fill knowledge gaps while demonstrating your motivation to grow.
