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Ten Hard Truths About Software Engineering Jobs


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Uncertainty drives you to be a better software engineer. It demands improvements and learning to stay in the game.

Credit: Getty Images

Some students who just got their degree and are pursuing their first software engineer job have a pretty wrong perception of the job.

They only see good pay, remote work, team building, and pizza parties. These are all good perks, but no one is talking to them about the real things that we do in this job.

Here are some hard-to-swallow truths that come with the job and that you have to accept:

  1. College will not prepare you for the job;
  2. You will rarely get greenfield projects;
  3. Nobody gives a #&@! about your clean code;
  4. You will sometimes work with incompetent people;
  5. Get used to being in meetings for hours;
  6. You will be asked for estimates a lot of times;
  7. Bugs will be your arch-enemy for life;
  8. Uncertainty will be your toxic friend;
  9. It will be almost impossible to disconnect from your job;
  10. You will profit more from good soft skills than from good technical skills.

From Mensur Durakovic
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