Hey everyone! I've been out of work for almost a year, but during that time, I built a full-stack project from scratch. I'm about to start a new job as the only IT person in a small company with no other developers. I'm excited but also a bit nervous. I know I'll have a lot of responsibility, and while I have some guidance from a senior friend, I want to be as self-reliant as possible. I've read that even senior developers need code reviews to ensure the quality of their work, and given that I'll be solely responsible for all tech decisions, I'm worried about making mistakes that could backfire. What should I focus on as I step into this role, and what pitfalls should I watch out for? Any tips to avoid potential issues would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
Congrats on the new position! Starting a project as the only dev can be thrilling. Just remember that as fun as it is, it comes with its own set of challenges. Take your time figuring out best practices and stick with them. Mistakes will happen, and you'll learn a lot from them, but early focus on things like backups, testing (both unit and end-to-end), and database migrations will pay off down the road. And keep your git commits tidy—make frequent small commits and keep your branches organized!
As the only IT person, be prepared for people to expect you to handle everything tech-related—often without fully grasping what’s involved. Your job won’t just be coding; you'll likely deal with a lot of non-development tasks too. It’s crucial to set boundaries and manage expectations. I’ve been in similar situations, and they can lead to unreasonable demands. Keep your primary focus on what you were hired to do and don’t hesitate to remind others of that when necessary!
Planning is crucial. Before diving into the code, map out your ideas and get buy-in from your team. Regular updates are important too; don't disappear for months only to unveil a project that doesn’t meet expectations. Also, it’s tempting to lean on AI tools, but try to limit that. The more you do independently, the better you’ll understand the code. Oh, and set up a solid backup system for your database as your first task—you'll thank yourself later!
Thanks for the heads-up! I’m definitely planning to set clear boundaries from day one.