An interesting question has crossed my mind some time ago. How does a developer perceive their profession? Not being one, I knew I could not answer this question myself. So, I decided to perform research in order to find out the answer.
The first thing I did was to come up with some general questions and pass them out to my lovely coworkers. Luckily, they were more than willing to provide me with detailed and helpful answers.
I must admit, I did not expect such honest and well-thought-out answers. And thanks to this article, you have an exclusive chance to find out more than interesting answers to the following questions:
- What is the first thing that crosses your mind when you hear the word ‘developer’?
- How would you describe a typical developer in three words?
- How would you describe a developer’s job? State one positive and one negative fact.
- How would you grade your job on a scale of 1-10? Why?
- If you weren’t a developer, what would you be?
- If there is anything that you would change in your job, what would it be?
So, sit back and enjoy the answers. In case you are a developer as well, compare them to your own. And if you are not, maybe some of the answers would make you think about the possibility of becoming one.
The First Association
When someone says developer there are some obvious associations that an average person has got right away (at least my non-developer friends think so). Some of them have negative connotations, such as computer geek, loner, anti-social person, introvert, self-centered, etc., while others have more than positive associations – problem solver, technical genius, PC specialist, resourceful, creative, talented, and many more. Now, let’s see what the developers have to say about their own occupation.
The top answer with a bit over 60% is somewhat expected – coding! The second place goes to the word laptop and the third place to myself. Other answers include the words table, night light, bug, and even some positive adjectives such as exotic, motivating, challenging, and the like. Among the one-word answers, there was just one phrase which, in my opinion, best portrays the word developer – “a person who implements the solution”.
A Typical Developer
Well, our solution provider is a person with many traits, or so it seems based on the given answers to the second question. The top answer, based on 55% of the answers, is smart. Other answers include open-minded, creative, persistent, knowledgable about technology, problem-solving oriented, team player, a person who enjoys life, a hard-working person, explorer, thrill-seeker, and many others.
What struck me the most while reading these answers was the fact that I kept on wondering if the person in question was describing oneself, a favorite coworker, or a developer in general. Then, among the mountain of words, I found one that gave me the answer – self-oriented. Not being a person who believes in coincidences, I took it as the answer to my aforementioned question.
A Developer’s Job
When asked to describe their job, the first thing that crosses most people’s minds is something that bothers them about it. So, most of them put good things in the background. In order to get the whole picture, I wanted to see both sides, the good and the bad. As it turned out, the positive answers turned out to be extremely positive, and the negative answers were not too negative. Among the positive ones, the top term is excellently paid, and the answer that follows up closely is creative. The top negative answers are mostly related to health – lots of sitting, bad for the spine, bad for the eyes, and the like. All in all, most developers like their job very much, and for good reasons.
On a Scale of 1-10…
Based on the previous answers, I must admit that I was expecting the average grade to be very close to 10. However, it turned out to be lower… Namely, many developers find their job stressful and neverending, since there is always a deadline for a project and new stuff to learn is constantly emerging from around the corner. Some of them gave a lower grade because they are unsatisfied with their current projects. A couple of them find their job boring most of the time. All of these things considered, the average grade for a developer’s job is 6!
If You Weren’t a Developer…
Definitely one of my favorite questions that can reveal a lot about a person’s hopes and dreams. I enjoyed reading the answers and imagining my coworkers doing something completely different.
Here are some of the most creative and unexpected answers.
“If I weren’t a developer, I would be an archeologist.” – Srđan Nikolić
“Whatever I want!” – Anonymous
“In this life, I would be a truck driver or a farmer, in another life addicted to extreme sports (racing driver).” – Vladimir Đurović
“I would be an artist.” – Anonymous
“I can hardly imagine myself doing a different job. But, if I have to choose another occupation, I would be the lead guitarist in a rock band.” – Anonymous
I Would Gladly Change…
Yet another question with lots of distinctive answers. Also, another one that makes people think about their working environment with all of its pros and cons. An interesting thing is that most of the answers begin with the word more. If I were a developer, I assume that I would probably start with less.
Here are the top 5 mores:
- Team buildings
- Social events inside the team and company
- Internal education
- Paid days off for all national holidays
- Interesting projects
Wrap Up
To sum up, here are the top answers to all of the questions:
First Association: Coding;
Typical Developer: Smart;
Developer’s Job: Excellently paid;
Average Job Grade: 6;
Alternative Job: Extreme sports and arts;
Top turnoff: Not enough social events.
To all of you non-developers out there, I hope that you can now begin to understand what a developer’s job really looks like. Hopefully, some of them may have encouraged you to consider web development as a possible career. As for the developers, I hope that this article has made you think about your job, its benefits, and its imperfections.
Remember, every job can bring you bright and stormy days. The way you handle them speaks volumes about who you truly are.