The Software Engineers Development Plan – Part 1

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I manage a large number of developers at work. In fact to explain things a little, here is my current BIO:

“Dominic is the Tech Group Lead in Xero. He’s been .Net developer for a few years now, and spends most of his time these days herding cats. In other words : he is responsible for the management, delivery and quality for a group of 25 devs, QAs and other techies.

He lives in the Paris of the South (Canberra) but doesn’t speak french. He’s passionate about Boardgames, Cheese and Wine”

One of the main tools I have been using managing developers is the use of a Professional Development Plan.

This series of posts will focus on what a PDP Looks like, how to create one and how to use them.

If you are totally unaware of what a PDP is have a look at a few articles:

Next, Part 2 the structure of a PDP

Free SQL Server 2016 Developer

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I know I blogged about this a few months ago but I did not do it justice. Microsoft has now released the developers version of SQL Server for free. This is really great news for any developer who needs to have a development stack on their home laptop/desktop. If you are working in a MS dev environment or applying for a .NET job this is very useful:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/application-development

Great Article on Interviews for Software Engineers

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Really excellent article for anyone thinking about a new job and in particular interviews.

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/article/rock-your-technical-interview/

I want to highlight some very important points raised by the author:

1.PREPARE AND USE THE INTERVIEW AS AN EXPERIENCE

“Study Technical Questions – Basic Questions, Rehearse Difficult Questions, White Board, Write Down Missed Questions
  • Every time while going for any interview be prepared with basic questions, research some difficult questions with the answers prior to it.
  • After coming back from an interview, write down the missed questions.”

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare. This is an important event. Treat it like a really hard exam.

Also, learn from the experience. Keep a record of questions in a doc.

2.GETTING THERE ON TIME

  • “Dress appropriately. Be on time. Arriving 30 minutes early is good
  • Take two forms of maps: Because sometimes you will get traffic on any road; you have to know another road. Also, sometimes if you have taken a photograph into mobile and unfortunately the battery of your mobile gets discharged, in these cases, you have to carry a print out of the maps with the detailed address.”

OK, that might seem very straightforward but rushing or being late to an interview.