What you should keep in mind in your first job as a developer
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Landing your first job as a programmer is a mix of excitement and nerves. Every developer remembers that beginning: hearing strange terms, feeling like they know nothing, and wondering if they’ll ever be good enough.
The truth is, that feeling is universal. The important thing is to know that there’s a learning curve and a rhythm to adapting.
That’s why we’ve put together a list of tips to help you handle your first job as a junior developer:
1) Impostor syndrome is your first bug (and it patches itself over time)
Many juniors think “I don’t know anything” when they start. That thought is common, even among seniors. Growth is progressive: nobody expects perfection from day one. Every mistake is part of the learning process.
2) Technical jargon is learned step by step
Staging, production, pipelines, servers… in the beginning they sound like a foreign language. Over time, they’ll become part of your daily vocabulary. A good practice is to create your own personal glossary with simple terms and examples. Resources like DigitalOcean, freeCodeCamp, or TechWorld with Nana on YouTube are great to reinforce what you hear at work.
Tip: Don’t try to learn everything at once. Focus on one term per day and use it in a conversation or take a practical note.
3) Asking questions is your superpower, not a weakness
A junior programmer with no experience has something very valuable: curiosity. Asking clear, specific questions shows interest and speeds up your learning curve. Every team has someone willing to guide you, the key is leaning on that person and not keeping doubts to yourself.
Tip: Before asking, try to frame your question with context: “I noticed we use both staging and production, could you explain the difference in our workflow?” You can also look for a “dev buddy” in the office, someone with whom you can be 100% honest about your doubts.
4) Soft skills > trendy frameworks
Technologies change, but attitude remains. Clear communication, willingness to collaborate, and eagerness to learn stand out far more than memorizing every technical detail. Companies don’t hire juniors solely for their code, but for their ability to adapt, learn, and grow within a team.
Beyond the lines of code, what truly matters in a junior profile are strong fundamentals, a positive attitude, and the potential to keep developing as a professional.
Tip: Practice giving a daily update of your work in 1–2 sentences. Clear communication of your progress builds trust in the team. Remember: tech stacks evolve, but soft skills stay with you forever.
5) The Pull Request: a rite of passage
Your first PR (Pull Request) can be nerve-wracking. It’s normal to think the whole team will see your mistakes. But the goal isn’t criticism, it’s community learning. Every comment in a code review is an opportunity to improve and a step toward professional mastery.
Tip: When you open a PR, add a short explanation: what you changed, why, and how to test it. This makes reviews easier and shows professionalism.
6) You’re not alone: there’s time to adapt
Teams know it takes a junior 4–8 weeks to adjust. Nobody expects you to master environments and processes in your first week. What matters most is showing steady progress, asking questions, and documenting what you learn.
Tip: Schedule a personal review every week: write down what you learned, what doubts remain, and who you can ask. This habit speeds up adaptation.
7) Your first-month checklist
- Set up the project on your local machine
- Open your first PR, even if it’s just a small change
- Understand the difference between staging and production
- Ask and document all questions and answers
- Share weekly progress with your team
Each box you check off is a step toward professional confidence.
Tip: Don’t try to check everything off in a single day. Prioritize two goals per week and measure your progress with consistency, not speed.
Final Build: what’s a bug today becomes a feature tomorrow
Your first job as a developer is an experience everyone has gone through with a mix of confusion and excitement. What feels overwhelming today will become routine tomorrow.
From one dev to another: the key is to move forward with curiosity, take advantage of every piece of feedback, and remember that every great developer started exactly where you are now