What employers expect from new developers?

Question

In somewhat a response to Perks, what do employers/managers expect from new developers?

Answer 1

That they fit in the corporate environment, be productive and contribute experience.

Answer 2

I would expect from a new developer that she/he enlarges the overall knowledge base of the team! No one can be an expert in all things. But a team where each member has different abilities will be able to face all problems!

Answer 3

The ability to learn on the job and find the answers to their problems themselves as far as possible. As little hand-holding as possible.

Answer 4

I would say two of the big things I see are chemistry with the rest of the team, and a good working knowledge of source control.

Obviously general intelligence and problem solving abilities are a basis as well.

The rest can really be taught and improved upon over time.

Answer 5

• reliable
  you give him a task, he does it well
• stable
  he's doing job well today, he will do it tomorrow
• self-contained
  he knows how to do task without interrupting other people
• predictable
  he said he will do it tomorrow, he will do it for sure (or warn in advance)
• team player
  he can work alone, he can work in team

Answer 6

This depends on how the company sees itself.. Factory wants more horsepower and throughput to plug into the process. Laboratory wants continuous personal and professional growth. Agency wants leads-makers.

Answer 7

I dont know if I can give you expectations, but I can give you some ideas to thrive in most cultures.

First, understand that you were hired for a specific job/task. Find out what that is/was immediately. Figure out what tasks and goals you have in front of you. Communicated or not you are on probation for 60-180 days depending on the environment.

Take the time to learn the culture - is the company meeting or e-mail centric or 1:1 conversation in the communication of ideas/tasks. Manage your time spend on web/email - these are huge sinks of time. e.g 10 mins every 2 hours is probably good.

Be a self starter - solicit feedback whenever you can - waiting for your boss or boss's boss to come and do an appraisal can be a recipe for disaaster. You should "know" the outcome of your review in advance. Present your plans for action, ask how to improve the plan or work.

If a mentor wasnt provided, find out who are the resources for technical problems ask or figure out of whom are the best people to ask questions. When asking a question be prepared and specific, note what you have already tried to solve the problem. don't waste their time by being lazy.

Answer 8

The problem is that most of the managers do not have a clear idea of what they really need. They will use generic answers to this question, just like "productiviy" or "adaptativity", as we had in this page.

If you ask a consummer what he wants, most of the time you'll get it wrong. It's best to ask what a potential car buyer will buy to the car seller than directly to the customer.

In the job case, we can't really ask the sellers (head hunters), since there are not really easy to reach (they job is indeed to find people, not the contrary). So the best you can do is to make an analysis of your company as part of your first daily job. It takes time, imply to put your social skill on the line and will lead you to mistakes, but it's still the best way to fit.

And of course, experience matter.

Answer 9

Being a relatively new CTO of a start-up and have hired a couple of new developers and grooming one as we speak, I can offer this.

I love the guy/girl that can be humble enough to take criticism and confident enough to share his/her opinion.

I love the guy/girl that understands they don't have to understand everything the first day, it will come in time.

I love AND NEED the guy/girl that will blend in with the team. Yes, the other guys/girls may cuss and the new developer may hate that, but she doesn't roll his/her eyes, she accepts and moves on.

If they can fulfill those expectations then the technical knowledge will come soon enough.

Answer 10

What does "new" mean here? New to the team, or new to the field?

I find that new hires with experience are generally expected to get adjusted quickly and be productive within a short period of time. In my experiences, seasoned developers are expected to need little or no "hand holding" and be able to figure out the ebbs and flows of their new environments by themselves. In some situations, new hires are expected to "shake things up" or solve issues in the environment/software... which is a recipe for disaster.

My experience with manager's expectations of the new-to-the-field developer has been they expect an eager "go getter" attitude and not much else. The common theme from managers I've worked with is "as long as they are eager, we can mold them". I'd rather it be "as long as they can problem solve...", but that's another rant about interviews altogether. :-)