This post is less of a tutorial and more of an experience I’ve had; I’d like to say once but more times than that. I’m a fairly experienced developer but this should resonate with many developers I hope. Here’s the scenario, you get a new job offer, very exciting, and the requirements are a good overlap of your skills! There is however one thing on the list you need to catch-up on and they are aware. Every single company has a seemingly endless configuration of specific skills. Whether you haven’t used Redux recently or CSS-in-JS, tailwinds, or Serverless framework. It would be anything, maybe you’ve used the tech a bit but it’s not your everyday yet!

I’ve had a few of there where I’m upfront with my experience and where I need some time to skill up. My last post I handed in my code test and happened to use tailwind.css. It was a framework I wanted to get into, and luckily they happened to use it too! This being my first foray into it though I was a bit slow in doing it the tailwinds way. This could be any framework for a developer, it’s rare we perfectly match the exact tech stack.

Here is where I think companies could shine. They could pair you with a resident expert of said tech and really go through a couple tickets or problems. They have already decided you are clever enough hence why you are here. Now is their time to shine in supporting the developer.

My experience has been it’s easier for a developer to just state this new person isn't getting it and they are not useful to the team. Surely this isn’t the case if they’ve tested and talked to you. It’s just the inherent laziness of developers to come to an easy solution. Laziness is generally a good quality with developers as it leads to simple solutions and automation. Perhaps in this scenario EQ or emotional quotient would prevail.

I guess my take away here would be as the hired developer over communicate, if you are feeling lost or slow let your new workplace know! Not all of them will appreciate it but a workplace that does is one to invest time in. For the workplaces, invest time in upskilling new hires, chase them after the first week or so and find out where they would like the help. There will always be something a new hire needs more confidence in.