What It Means to Be a Junior Developer at Netguru - A True Story

My 3-month journey started from workshops in August of this year. If you consider whether working for Netguru is your destiny or not, take a deep breath and find out what exactly being a junior means to me. Did I mention that I've moved 200 miles away from my hometown to work here?!

Your first day

It's your first day and you don't really know what to expect. I know how you're feeling. Are they cool? Will I get a funny nickname? Am I good enough? Take it easy, it's Netguru! First of all, you'll get a mentor with a great knowledge base. Feel free to ask him or her if this Backbone view looks OK, or debate if "Homeland" is better than "Breaking Bad". Additionally, you'll get a huge 'hello' from every single member on team chat. OK Junior, set up your shiny Mac and dive into a project.

Your project

Get used to a comfy office, nice people, fruit, sandwiches and coffee. As is usually the case, you are involved in a project. You know your client and regularly have a call to discuss what's up. It’s a great moment to show how well rounded you are! Tell them what has been done and what you're working on now. Be communicative, clients love that. And don't be shy. They are our partners, you know?

Trust from the 1st commit

You know your team and we trust each other. No branches, no pull requests. Your code goes on staging just after you push it. So congratulations, your changes are now online. We all take responsibility for the code quality so remember to review someone's code sometime and suggest better solutions. It's also a good habit to ask if you don't understand something. Ask the person sitting next to you if you Googled and still have no clue what to do with this superb crazy gem usage. We don't bite and we like to share our knowledge, remember that.

Feedback day

Time really flies here! It's over a month and we need to talk. But don't worry it's going to be a monthly review. You'll get honest feedback from your co-workers. That means: what we like in you, and what could be done better. It's a great chance to find out more about your skills. On the other hand, rate the company! What should Netguru improve upon and what do you really love about the company. Don't forget to mention the last TV show you discovered, we all watch that stuff. You'll switch to another project in the near future, so stay prepared for another challenge.

Your chance

As a junior, you get a chance to improve your qualifications and make some new friends. To be honest, you can be a hero or a loser in this game. Try to be yourself, learn a lot and have fun with all you're doing at Netguru. Just do your best! I'm in the middle of this path and so excited about another project in the next few days. And you can do it too. Simply apply and let me and the others welcome you to a team. When your 3-month internship is over, you’ll officially become an experienced developer. Congratulations!

TL;DR: work, learn, have fun and get promoted.

Updated in May 2018