18 Apr
Social Media Post: From a Bootcamp Graduate to a Rockstar Developer:
How a small startup has transformed its employees into Rockstar Developers
A little over a year ago, I made the decision to leave my job as an attorney and pursue a career as a software developer. While I was hoping to leverage my strong analytical background in pursuit of this new career, I had no practical or academic experience in computer science. Enrolling in a web development bootcamp was a no brainer, and it provided me with a good foundational knowledge of software development. After graduating from bootcamp, I started searching for companies that put an emphasis on mentorship and continued learning, and that were willing to invest in my long-term growth as a developer.
That’s when I stumbled upon my current employer, Insiten, and I began my journey from Bootcamp graduate to Rockstar Developer!
What attracted me to Insiten was the way in which they prioritize the growth and development of their employees. Through mentorship, support and continued learning, I feel myself becoming a better developer everyday. An innovative example of how Insiten cultivates this environment is through weekly workshops called “Toby Talks.” These workshops help employees improve the way we use our current technologies with an emphasis on refactoring code and expose employees to new technologies and the potential for integrating them into our toolbox.
“Toby Talks” is led by Toby Ho, a professional trainer, software development guru, and leader in Atlanta’s JavaScript community. A recent topic in the “Toby Talks” series was the importance of test driven development. This is a technique where you first write a test that fails before writing new functional code. Taking a test driven development approach forces us as developers to focus on smaller chunks of functionality at a time, rather than the entire app as a whole. This in turn reduces bugs, produces tidier code, and sets the stage for future refactoring. My co-workers and I immediately incorporated this technique into our development model, and as a result, have improved our ability to write clean, maintainable and scalable code.
Other ways Insiten ensures that developers receive the feedback and experience they need to grow is through regular architectural design sessions, mob/pair coding, and through detailed and impactful code reviews. This approach is deliberately designed to target each developer on the team to facilitate professional and personal growth. It has helped the team rapidly upskill to Typescript, Angular 5, and Redux.
When I started at Insiten I was a Bootcamp graduate with grand ambitions and limited skills. Now, six months into my career at Insiten, I am much more confident in my ability to design and implement world-class solutions. I feel myself constantly growing and am thankful that I chose a company with a great culture and a focus on support and mentorship.
