Hello, my LinkedIn friends.

I'm back as promised with my first blog post on Friday evening, reflecting on my first week in my new role.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew it would be challenging. In today's competitive market for junior developers, I was offered a position as a developer working mainly with PHP, specifically CakePHP, along with SQL and databases, constituting about 85% of backend development. My prior experience? None in PHP. I'm more confident in front-end development using NextJS and TailwindCSS, with about four months of experience in JavaScript, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS gained during the School of Code bootcamp.

Before starting, I had planned to work hard every evening during my family visit to Cracow but ended up celebrating and visiting family almost daily.

The first two days went smoothly, mostly spent installing all the required development software and environments. It wasn't easy, but I had a well-structured plan to follow, and being in the office meant I could get quick answers to any questions.

From my onboarding process, I recommend getting a brief idea about Docker, WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), and Linux commands. I had only watched a few Docker videos in the past, so I had to familiarize myself with it.

When I was assigned my first task on Wednesday, I felt stressed. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I opened StormPHP, an IDE I hadn't used before. Exploring the project structure was overwhelming, like all the repos I'd seen before combined in a structure I didn't know.

This is where the School of Code mindset and motto "BE COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE" kicked in. I knew I was starting from scratch and that there would be a lot to learn, both during and outside of working hours. But I wasn't alone in knowing that. Experienced developers and management who decided to hire me saw something in me. If they believed in me, why should I doubt myself now? Driven by passion and chasing my dream, there's no turning back. It needs to be done.

So, what did I do? I tried to break every complex task or problem into simple instructions. I followed the plan when I knew what my next step should be. If I couldn't find a solution within 30-45 minutes, I asked for help. Trying to stay focused on the current task was crucial.

What helped me during my first week was never pretending to know more than I did. Over the last few months, I've learned it's always better to openly acknowledge your weaknesses.

This Friday, I made my first commercial pull request. It's a CLI command that helps with moving files to cloud services. Maybe this feature could be implemented by experienced developers in a couple of hours, but I'm super satisfied. It feels exceptional to add a feature that will be used by other developers on the project.

And it's not just that. I've learned a lot! Comparing my knowledge about the project on Monday to now is like night and day, and it's only been a week!

This week, listening to discussions among experienced developers about implementing features I can't even understand right now, I had one thought in my mind: GOD, I want to be there ASAP! It's something else!

If there are a few takeaways after this week, they would be:

Reading and watching YouTube videos about programming principles and main concepts isn't enough. It's hard to grasp without seeing their implementation. I thought I knew SOLID and why it's important. Dependency Injection— I want to have this on my next birthday cake! After one week with a team of professional developers and a mature project of this size, I now understand exactly why it's so important to follow all programming principles.

Naming, comments, and readability of your code—this is huge! Imagine, your code is here to stay for the next 10 years, possibly modified by multiple developers. A few comment lines won't make a big difference for you, but it will make someone's job easier for years to come!

Your team matters most! I've been lucky to find a job near my home, and my team welcomed me with open arms. My experience and my previous job didn't matter. From day one, I felt included. When I asked questions or asked for help, everyone took the time to ensure I fully understood and gave me time for additional questions at the end. It's the main reason I'm not afraid of the future. With their support, I'll get there soon!

Office-based vs. remote-based roles. I'm aware that there are roles where you have to travel a lot, and it just doesn't make sense to work from the office. But as a junior, I can't imagine this week working from home. And I definitely wouldn't have received as much attention and support. I'm a big fan of hybrid and remote working, but not for new starters. If you ever get a chance to start your career in the town you live in, go for it!

Overall, I wanted to share this post while everything is still fresh in my mind. I bet my feelings after week 2 could be different. I hope to see you soon! Have a great weekend!