How programmers can improve their own value

I wonder if you have ever thought about what qualities can make a programmer great? What qualities are most valuable to a company where a PHP programmer works?

Although there are many, many things that can be listed, I believe this one is definitely the most important to employers, and having this trait can enhance your value as a software developer.

So, what exactly is this feature?

If you also work for others, then there is one thing you must keep in mind. The main purpose of your job is to create value for your employer.

Although it sounds simple, it is the blind spot of most developers. Think about it, do you often release new frameworks because it’s a new, sexy JavaScript MVC framework? When you choose a task, do you choose it because of its importance, or because you know it will be fun to complete?

To be precise, many people’s answers to the above questions are yes, all because of the latter. Choosing a favorite task may be the thing I do most often before. This is also one of the most common situations that happens to other developers.

But many people forget, especially in large companies, that the efforts we make often go unnoticed. So, don't go in the wrong direction. The concept of providing value to your employer is often undervalued.

Why is this concept so important? The reason is, the more value you can provide, the more valuable you are in the market. No one is willing to hire a developer who can't solve problems or can only solve problems that interest him, no matter how senior or senior you are. On the contrary, a less experienced developer who has a clear purpose and is very motivated - can help employers increase their income, will become a hot commodity.

So, your job is not to design or code, but to provide value to your employer. You should always keep this in mind. This mentality change to improve self-worth is crucial for a software developer. In this regard, I would like to propose some best practices in my opinion.

1. Understand your problem area

Whenever you plan to complete a task, take a step back and think about what value this particular task can bring? Are there any other ways to achieve the same goal? Or maybe this particular task simply shouldn't be done? In order to answer these questions, you must have a deep understanding of the problem domain. Not only should you invest your time in increasing your technical expertise, but you should also dig as deeply as possible into the field you are studying.

Unless you have a solid domain knowledge of the problem, you will only be reduced to following what others say. Every great developer I've ever worked with has this quality: They always go out of their way to become an expert in their field of work.

2. Prefer tasks that provide the greatest value to customers

This is often difficult to imitate. This is because most developers become developers because they tend to enjoy programming. Moreover, it is a very normal desire and need to like more interesting and fun functions, but do not confuse self-enjoyment with customer needs.

Interesting and fun tasks are not always the ones that provide the greatest value to the employer. Therefore, spending time on tasks such as reading Hacker News - often pleasurable but does not enhance your value as a software developer.

I often see developers trying to convince the product owner to adopt a particular feature just because it is easy, fun, or exciting to implement. Keep your feet on the ground - put yourself in your employer's shoes.

3. Avoid stable jobs

That kind of stable job is what you should try to avoid. Of course this is controversial and some people are reluctant to change jobs.

If the tasks you perform can bring the greatest value to the employer, then gradually you will find that you are more and more important. It's also the best thing you can achieve at work, if you don't quit. This means that the problem you are dealing with has been successfully solved or its complexity has been reduced to a level that any random person can solve.

The above situation can greatly increase your value. Moreover, they give you feedback that you can use in future projects to show more value and greatly improve your market competitiveness.

Conversely, a secure job often means a lack of progress. If you've been working on the same project for years and it's not actually delivering any value to the customer, chances are your team isn't doing a good job. You should stay away from such a situation because it can lead to stagnation or even regression. The job itself may seem like a good job because you don't have to put in a lot of work to get a good salary. But after a few years, you will eventually reap the consequences and have to find a job again, and it is very likely that the company you applied for will underestimate the value of your skills because of your experience.

Following the same employer at all costs just to get a stable job will not be beneficial to your career development in the long run.

4. Improve the value of your own capabilities by helping others (translator’s words)

In the software development industry like us, there are no absolute masters. Don’t think that you are superior if you master some cores. On the contrary, if you can use your own If you are good at helping others, you may unknowingly improve your abilities in the process of discussing problems with others. You said that you have mastered all the core of JVM, but you may not be able to perfectly answer some basic Java questions. (Java programmers can join the Java technology development exchange community http://bbs.codeceo.com/forum-36-1.html to help others and improve their own ability value by asking questions and answering questions)

Summary

Increase customers Revenue is a win-win strategy: the more value you can provide, the more valuable you are.

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