Career Archives — Coding Supply

Updated: April 1, 2021 Leave a Comment

How to Start a Programming Blog in 2021

If you’re looking to make the most out of your programming career, making a name for yourself is the best way to open up countless opportunities.

The best way to do this is by starting your very own programming blog. Certainly not every programmerneeds to do this in order to have a great career, but the benefits are huge for a relatively small time commitment.

The kind of blog that will most benefit your career is one that builds your name up in your industry. For example, Scott Hanselman has made a name for himself as an expert in Windows programming languages largely through his blog.

The following guide will take you through every step of how to start a programming blog.

[Read more…]

Updated: October 18, 2018 1 Comment

How to Prepare for a Programming Interview: A Complete Checklist

Whether it’s your first software engineer job or your tenth, the process of going through an interview can be daunting and stressful. Unlike many other professions, programmers are often put on the spot and expected to perform during their interviews which often makes or breaks the job offer.

I’ve come up with a Programming Interview Checklist that I think will be helpful for people all along the spectrum of career experience to help you feel more confident interviewing and have better odds to actually land the job. Some of the items on the list are more in the category of “soft skills” or general interviewing tips, whereas others will focus more on things that we as software engineers need to take into consideration.

For the time-crunched, here’s a quick overview of my list with more details of each step to follow. This list assumes you have already scheduled an interview and are in the process of preparing for it.

Learn about the company
Search for interview tips/questions
Review your git repository
Practice programming challenges
Prepare questions and main talking points

[Read more…]

Updated: September 20, 2018 Leave a Comment

How Often Can a Software Engineer Switch Jobs?

One common question I see software engineers (especially newer ones) ask, is “How often can I switch jobs? How much is too much?”

I’ve seen many rules of thumb floated around the internet especially for programmers just out of college getting their first job. One of them is “stay at your first job for at least 2 years”. Let’s start there.

Does a programmer need to stay at their first job for 2 years?

No, you certainly don’t need to stay at your first job (or any job) for at least 2 years, but ideally you would. There are two main reasons for this “2 year” timeframe.

[Read more…]