When I was a college student (not a long time back), getting ready for my first job was scary. My mind was full of doubts.

Am I good enough to jump right into it?

Are the things I learned in college sufficient enough?

What if I don’t make a good impression and others are far ahead of me?

Or in short, “Was I sufficient?”

And the only way I could know was to get into it. So, here I am sharing what I would have wished my younger self to know before a year when I was preparing for my first job!

1. Yes you are sufficient!

This is a no-brainer. If you already knew something, great! Else you could just pick it up on the way.
There are tons of varied arenas each company works in, and there is a little chance that you would know what you would be working upon in prior.

So, hear this out!

You can’t know everything and if I wasn’t clear enough - “Companies don’t hire you for what you already know, they hire you for your ability to learn.”

Disclaimer​: This doesn’t mean that you can show up without learning anything, because how would they trust your ability to learn. So gear up with your interests.

2. Be strong with basics

Yes, basics are expected! Don’t expect your new team is going to spoon-feed you about “Git 101”. Well, Git has become such an important necessity that they implicitly believe you are good with it.

And dare not jump to conclusions, Git can really give you nightmares if not taken carefully (I lost days of codes sometimes). Be good with the basics of the role, if you are to be an SDE(Software development engineer). Git is a good start and sure there are other basics for your area of work.

3. Don’t be afraid

Well, this one seems to be pretty vague, but here it is - Don’t be afraid to ask questions. There are no such thing as good and bad questions, there are only QUESTIONS.

If you are afraid that your teammates might judge you for questioning, probably that’s not the team you would choose to grow. And by-the-way, as we are there let me tell you something - Your first job isn’t your last job. If you are having the potential, you will get opportunities! (A report says that a talent isn’t free in the market for more than 14 days - do the math)

Also, you are just starting out in your career. There is beginners luck, make sure to hold onto it until it lasts, because after that it's your work that gets you an extension on that.

4. Brace yourselves to do your best work

As you start your first job, remember this one quote,

“If you are a scavenger, be the best scavenger” - ​(Not sure who said this)

What should drive you every day is to get better by every passing day. Hang in there.

And Lastly, “Be your boss”.

Regards,

Harsha Vardhan
SDE at a company.