Episode 28: How Long Should I Stay At My Job and How Do I Help Junior Developers Improve

In episode 28, Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

How long should I stay before I quit my job?

• Two to three years seems fairly normal.
• Dave sees people with less than 12 months regularly.
• Staying at a job means you experience things you wouldn’t if you hopped around a lot.
• It is much easier to see the hype cycle play out if you stick around.
• You get to see the outcome of your own decisions.
• Quitting usually == raise.
• Chronic job hopping might result in a reputation of not sticking with things.
• Dave thinks you should quit your first job after 18 months because of the Monty Hall problem

How do you encourage junior developers to improve?

• We assume that these junior developers really want to improve.
• Make it clear that people get stuck and struggle, and that is normal.
• Make it clear that you don’t want them to get too stuck.
• Make it OK to ask questions.
• People generally live up or down to your expectations, so help them feel trusted and that you expect they will be great.
• Make the outcome of their work clear.