Do Developers Need to Brown-Nose To Advance Career?: Page 2

Everyone has worked with or been in school with the person who always has their hand up. It’s the “Hermione Granger” syndrome. For those who aren’t Harry Potter fans, Hermione is always the first to answer any questions that come up in classes such as “Defense Against The Dark Arts,” which leads to annoyance and snickering by her fellow classmates.

You don’t need to be “in your face” 24 hours a day with answers and suggestions like Ms. Granger. Give others a chance to shine. Even take the time to encourage others to get involved outside of their development work.

Be Real

Instead of publicly trying to show how smart you are, find time for one-on-one interactions with different people in management. Besides emailing suggestions, try finagling a casual lunch with your manager or discuss your ideas at a company function or happy hour.

The bottom line is that if you put forward ideas that help the organization, and you’re sincere in your efforts to see them through, management will be appreciative. More important, it will reflect well on you when annual review rolls around.

Oh sure, maybe the end result is self-serving. Having been a manager for many years now, I know that if a developer is proactive with suggestions, I’m not only listening, but I’m noting their ambition because they are going the extra mile to help the organization.

And there it is. The word “ambition” just sticks out and juxtaposes nicely with “brown-nose.”

I’ll say it again – who cares!

Unless of course you just want to be in the good graces of your coworkers who have no ambition and would prefer to see that you have none, either. In that case, just write your code and go home when the whistle blows.

I personally feel that this approach is a waste of brain power. Developers are smart and those smarts are wasted when they just bury their head in the monitor, trying to block out the world around them.

I guess there’s nothing inherently wrong with that because the work assigned is getting done. But it will likely result in a maximum of “Performs To Expectations” on their annual review.

If you want to hit the “Exceeds Expectations” mark on your annual review, don’t be afraid to speak up and voice your suggestions. And most of all, don’t be worried about taunts from your coworkers – who may just end up reporting to you.

ALSO SEE: Why Developers Get Fired

AND: Too Old To Write Software? Or Just the 'Wrong Era'?

AND: Developer Salary Levels, 2004-2009