Half short and twice strong
June 30, 2010 9:25 AM   Subscribe

I'm going to start a position soon as a part-time software developer, one that I might want to keep for a long time. How can I best demonstrate that I'm worth keeping around in this capacity?

I'm looking for advice both on how to actually be efficient and on how to appear efficient. I think of myself as an efficient developer, and in all of my previous full-time roles, I've been considered valuable. However, there was always a period at the beginning of each job in which I stayed late very often to establish that I was committed. This period varied in length from a few months to my entire tenure at some jobs. So, I can't say I've truly proven that I'm efficient unequivocally before, and extended hours are not an option in this next job.

If it helps to know, this company is a startup with around a dozen or so people. I have less experience than the "executives" but more than the other developers.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (7 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Maybe start by earnestly and honestly working hard and producing quality work. That's the only thing that will matter after first impressions (read: eventually).
posted by wrok at 9:36 AM on June 30, 2010


Find ways to make the people around you be successful.
posted by cross_impact at 9:38 AM on June 30, 2010 [1 favorite]


Efficiency comes from time management and skill of your craft. Always be working to improve both. It's worth noting that efficiency is not a static discipline, and I feel it is something that is never quite achievable. Just like code, there are always way to optimize to achieve higher efficiency.
posted by blueplasticfish at 10:39 AM on June 30, 2010


If you want to cheat (which is what working super-late really is - cheating - but I say that with love) find a way to bring the work home with you.

It's hard to give specific advice without knowing what you're developing and how, but maybe you can convince them to let you take home a copy of the dev environment to tinker with in your off hours. Or SSH into their network. You may find that just spending time with a paper and pen, charting out a game plan for what you need to write at work, will give you a leg up once you get there.

However, I assume that full-time employment is your ultimate goal. Be wary of falling into their trap. If most people can produce 1x in N hours, and 10x in 10N hours, but you're already magically producing 10x in N hours, what's their motivation for bringing you on full-time?

You want to be able to say "I could totally finish X for you by your deadline, but not if I'm only working part time."
posted by ErikaB at 11:01 AM on June 30, 2010


I am a technical project/programmer type who has been doing this for 17+ years now. A valuable developer to me would meet the following criteria:

Don't be a dick.
Don't embarrass your coworkers in public.
Don't embarrass people who aren't as smarter as you in public.
Be patient.
Be willing to understand that you are not a typical user.
Be willing to understand that your geek friends are not typical users. The fact that you can understand/use/interact with something doesn't mean that your Uncle Bob could, and arguing "Well I get it!" is not helpful to the development process.
Be honest and transparent. If you don't know, say you don't know but that you'll go find out. If you underestimated the effort estimate, tell the project manager as soon as possible and give her a new estimate. Don't tell him the day before it was due.
Don't be a hero - not all the time. Sometimes it's good to be a hero. But don't be the dev who holes up in her office until the day before the due date and pulls an all-nighter to get it done, when you could have gotten it done at a comfortable pace along the rest of the schedule.
Care about who your end users are, and don't write them off as stupid or idiots or morons.
Find an ally in marketing who wants to be more technical and learn how to understand what marketing wants/needs.
Be willing to help.
Have a sense of humor.

All of these are more valuable to me than a developer who will work 72 hours a day. It's not 1995, and butt-in-chair does not automatically equal valuable. Are you a good guy or gal? Do you try to get along with your entire team? Do you make your point but are then willing to back off and execute the feature as written, or do you insist on being bullheaded? Can I count on you to be honest and give me thoughtful effort estimates? All of these things matter more than the drone who sits in a chair all night but doesn't stop to point out the holes in the feature spec ("Well, I built what you wanted...").
posted by micawber at 12:00 PM on June 30, 2010 [2 favorites]


Make sure you control expectations, know exactly what others are expecting of you, and throw in a bit of under-promise and over-deliver (but not blatantly - just always be on time with quality results.)
posted by TravellingDen at 5:31 PM on June 30, 2010


Take the initiative in getting shit done. There are some people who join my company that have a knack for knowing what needs to get done and just doing it, efficiently. A lot of people kind of coast by, doing what's asked of them (often not much) and no more. The people who figure out what to do themselves really stand out.
posted by callmejay at 6:12 PM on June 30, 2010


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