7 Tips to make onboarding easier

A new job or a project usually means changes such as integrating into a new team, adapting to new tools, ways of working, etc. It can be quite a challenge and I personally find it even more challenging when you work remotely.

As someone who has recently joined another team as a Junior Software Developer, I want to take the opportunity to reflect on 7 things I learned from my experience. I hope you will find this useful.

1. Don't Expect Perfection

The first days on a new project are always both exciting and scary. As most other people I experiences high hopes about my next work. It's natural to expect only good will come out of it, right? The reality is there is no perfect place or project.

Soon after my first day, I started to hear people complaining about the project, and as a result I started experiencing frustration. I started to feel like this is not the right project for me or I am not the right person for it!

And you know what? Soon I realized I was wrong.

Why?

I realized there will always be problems no matter where you work. In fact, problems are the best opportunities to become a better software engineer. So instead of wasting the opportunity. It’s better to start enjoing the journey. Focus on things you can learn and improve!

2. Get to know your team

Why are you here?

• Know the expectation they have for you.
• Try to understand the business for which they are solving the problem. Study the application as a user.
• Pay attention and observe. Get to know culture and politics at your company through observation.

Building effective relationships is key, if not even more vital to your success on a team. Achiving this can be more trucky when you work remotely, but don't underestimate it.

• Understand your coworkers roles. I need to learn who you want to go with some specific question?
• Videocalls and 1-on-1s are your best friends when you work remotly.
• Make it a point to meet as many people as possible in your first week. I kind of missed that bit but I noticed it worked really well for one of my newest co-worker.

Such small things can make a huge difference in terms of feeling comfortable asking questions and being in a friendlier communication bases with people from your team.

3. Be curious

You are the newest member of the team! Congrats!

That means you've got the Golden ticket to have no idea what is going on.

Don’t be afraid to ask “dummy” questions. Questions show nothing more but your desire to learn.

Ask early what you are confused about and try to not make assumptions about how or why things work. Just ask!

On my very first day in a new company one wise man said to me "Don’t be shy and don’t make an assumption that people are too busy for your questions. Ask them anyway and let others decide if they can or want to help you. Give them that opportunity." So far it works for me.

Also, when someone needs to explain you something, it helps them reason with it. If they can't explain you why something is the way it is, maybe they should change it or make it simpler.

As a bonus fact: People usually like to talk about what they know.

4. Contribute

Found a problem or outdated documentation? Fix it. Update it. Your new team will absolutely love it and thank you for that.

Switch from "you" to "us" as soon as possible.

Learned something new? Share it!

Noticed some positive things in the team? Celebrate it together.

Found a missing peace in Onboarding Process? Share your thoughts. Because of my one question and suggestion on my first week in a new company. I became a proud member of a Culture Club and I can tell you that seeing the impact of our work is just so motivating. That’s definitely something that can help you not only with onboarding but makes you happier overall.

5. Hands down and pair

Don’t try to learn everything about the project and code before starting to actually code.

Absorbing new information on a new project is like drinking from a fire hose. Take lots of notes because it's going to be nearly impossible to remember everything they throw at you!

Learn just enough to pick your first ticket. Try to focus on something you already understand and can do. You'll learn much more by coding.

And if you think there is not enough small and clear tasks to pick up in the beginning. Again, don’t be shy and just say it to your team.

I used to be absolutely horrified of the idea of pairing with someone. Mostly, because of lack of experience and my unsecurity.

Now, I realized that it's actually the best way to learn the poject and ship a better code faster. As a bonus, it saves time on pull request reviews.

Also, working from home, we don't have the luxury of just going to another person's cubicle and having a casual chat. I find Pairing with teammates help you to feel less isolated especially in these ridiculous lockdowns.

6. Don’t Put yourself down

You don’t need to get everything correct right away, so don’t expect it from yourself.

Do your best, but don't expect to be productive for the first few weeks or even months. Take the pressure off yourself.

There is a lot of tools you have to pick up, there is a lot of terminologies you need to understand. It can be quite overwhelming. And it might be scary especially if there are many things you don’t know how to do yet everyone else seems to know how to do it. Right?

Usually, at this point you welcome a good old friend - the Impostor syndrome.

It might be helpful to remind yourself a few simple things.

• You don't have go through that alone. You have a team and they got your back!
• No-one is interested in your failure and everyone is here to help you achieve your maximum potential.
• Failing itself is not a bad thing! Yet not learning from your fails is. So when you make a mistake - say I’m sorry and learn from it

And remember:

If you are here that means you are good enough!

Honestly, that was probably the hardest part for me. It’s been awhile since I worked in a team and I was the only Junior in a team. I still have to remind myself from time to time that I deserve to be here too. But with more experience it’s getting easier.

7. Be honest. Be kind

Share your thoughts, experience and feelings. For example, if a few meetings at random time during a day make you unproductive (which is common), share your pain and likely your team will help you and reschedule these meetings into one block or even cancel some of them. That worked in my team.

Be honest about the skills and knowledge you do or don’t have. Be comfortable admitting to your gaps, and be eager to learn and grow.

Now, try to learn the best from the people around you but don’t copy them. Don’t compare yourself with anyone. We all have different background and skills we can use and share with others.

I truly believe we achieve our maximum potential not by being like everyone else, but by embracing the difference.

Be kind not only to the people around you but to yourself. Take a break if you feel like you need one. And you’ll do just great.