A Day in the Life of a Software Developer: What to Expect Your First Week on the Job

The number of software development jobs is growing at an impressive rate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the job market in this sector will grow by 24 percent by 2026. This is 17 percent higher than average.

The median salary for a software developer is more than $100,000. This is a job that has great pay as well as great prospects.

If you have the skills for the role, then the idea of working as a software engineer may appeal to you. But you're probably wondering exactly what the job is like.

Read on to learn what to expect in your first week as we take a look at a day in the life of a software developer.

A Lot of Setup

A large part of your first couple of days on the job will be getting everything set up.

You'll need to set up the same development environment as all of your coworkers, install the same versions of software, get access to the various sites you'll be using, and set up things like your work email and Slack account.

Setting up your development environment can easily carry over into the second or even third day.

A Lot of Meetings

You're going to need to get up to speed pretty fast.

So expect to be involved in a lot of meetings during your first week. Some of these meetings will be as part of your orientation, but others will be general project meetings that may seem quite hard to follow at first.

The more information you can pick up from these meetings, the quicker you'll be able to get to grips with the task at hand.

Learning the Process

In order for your team to work effectively, you need to be singing from the same hymn sheet.

So a lot of your first few days in your new job will be learning the coding standards, naming conventions, project management practices, and other processes that your new company uses. Don't be afraid to ask questions as it's important to learn these as quickly as possible.

Mentoring

You can also expect a lot of mentoring and paired work in your first few days.

They're unlikely to let you loose on their precious code unsupervised until they're sure you on the same page in terms of the project and the systems they use. So you will likely be given a mentor or paired with a colleague for your first week or two.

Make use of them. Learn as much as you can and ask anything and everything because before long you'll be left to sink or swim on your own.

Not Put Off by a Day in the Life of a Software Developer?

Does a day in the life of a software developer sound like something you'd love?

Here at CodeIntelx, we're looking for young, ambitious talent so that we can help launch and advance your career. We offer personalized mentoring and training to prepare you for a rewarding career in software development.

If you would like to know more, don't hesitate to get in touch.