Interview
I won't talk about the psychological component of the interview, just a few tips:
Prepare a resume
Yeah, you've already sent in your résumés. Still, bring another copy with you. After the interview you can leave your resume, if there is a business card, then with it.
Tell us about your goals
Feel free to tell us what you want to achieve. Say what you want to achieve without any hints or hints.
Tell us about your achievements
All this is already described in your resume, but the shine in the eyes when talking about their own achievements will not leave indifferent sobeseduschego.
Interview of company
You didn't come to the interview just to show yourself. You need to make sure that you want to work for this company if you are offered a position. Ask questions about the company, the company's goals, plans. You will learn a lot of interesting things, plus these questions will distinguish you from a dozen other candidates who came in a week.
#2 Making a career
Growth vectors
The developer's job involves more than just coding day in and day out. Everyone involved in software development has at least 10 areas for development:
1. Software requirements
2. Software design
3. Software construction
4. Software testing
5. Software maintenance
6. Software configuration management
7. Software engineering management
8. Software engineering process
9. Software engineering tools and methods
10. Software quality
Self-development
If you want to stay in demand as a specialist, you need to be aware of the IT world and constantly improve. This may sound trivial, but you need to devote a lot of time to self-development. I have highlighted a few points that help me:
Reading books
I prefer paper books that I order from online stores. I read about 1-2 books a month. It happens more, but it's the norm.
Reading articles
My list of blogs and LiveJournal in Google Reader is constantly updated and supplemented. Reading articles helps you stay abreast of IT world events and trends.
Writing articles
Writing articles helps to organize thoughts in your own head. If you don't want to be public, you should still write articles in a closed blog or just in a text editor.
Participation in conferences
I like to communicate a lot and make interesting acquaintances. Conferences are a great source of both for me.
Ask your colleagues what else you need to grow up in
This is the most effective and psychologically difficult way to "pull yourself up by the hair". Ask my colleagues what I lack, how to become better. Be sure to ask - you will learn a lot of interesting things.
First the developer, then the manager?
When building their careers, developers often think: first I will work as a developer, then I will become a project manager. Have you ever met anyone like that? I worked as a developer myself, and then became a project manager. That is, this scheme works, but there are pitfalls that are not obvious to beginners:
Manager != Developer
A good developer won't turn into a good manager.
Different books, different approaches
When I decided that I would manage IT projects, I completely changed the library and RSS feeds. The transition from a developer lasted about two years and even now I can't say that I feel like a 100% manager because I just don't have the knowledge and experience. The most interesting things for me now are psychology, project management, methodologies, risk management, human resources management, requirements management, etc.
Different limits of responsibility
If to speak about hierarchy in the organisation, the project manager and the developer stand on one level. The difference is only within the limits of responsibility.
What do you want to become?
Once again, I suggest that you clearly define your goals. What do you see yourself as in 1-2 years? Depending on this, you need to select books, conferences and RSS feeds.
Technologies or approaches and principles?
There is a tendency: novice developers pay a lot of attention to technologies (programming languages, platforms). In a few years of work on commercial projects they pay much more attention to approaches and principles of development. It becomes clear that there was no "silver bullet" and there will be no "silver bullet", that the choice of programming language depends on the applied task as well as the platform.
I think that most of the developers who read this chapter have also noticed such a change of priorities. For technologies change very quickly and correct approaches only accumulate with time. It is practical to invest most of your time in studying approaches and best practices.
I have a collection of books that I advise developers who have taken the path of studying the principles of "What beginners need to learn".
In the chapter on career, I want to finish with the words of my grandfather, who loved to say: "You work for your career till you are 30 years old, after 30 years your career works for you".
Conclusion
I'd be glad if you could get something useful for yourself. Success in professional and career development!