Tag: software development

software engineering career and how to go the extra mile

As a Software Engineer, how do you go the extra mile at a job?

Posted on | by TeresaPenafiel | 3 Comments on As a Software Engineer, how do you go the extra mile at a job?

Are you seeking to boost your career as a software engineer? Do you want to know the skills tech recruiters are looking for? We’ve got you covered.

There is some exciting news. Demand for software developers is growing fast, and programming skills are required for business in all industries. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment in software development is going to increase by 25% between 2021 and 2031. When compared to all other IT occupations, this one is most likely to experience the fastest growth rate.

So, you are right now anticipating consistent job opportunities to advance your tech career. New doors are opening as you gain experience and develop your technical talents. You are able to choose and keep writing code or use your knowledge of the software development lifecycle to manage teams. It’s completely up to you the path you take, but here are some tips to really go that extra mile at a job:

5 keys to go the extra mile in your software development career

1. Continuous learning

To become a great software engineer, first, become a consistent learner. This industry specifically is the one where you have to invest in your education the most; and we are not talking about money here. The more knowledge and firsthand experience you have, the more valuable you’re going to be. Therefore, your career path is flexible and easily scalable. 

  • Enroll in new classes: Be curious and keep signing up in classes that catch your attention, even if you consider yourself an expert. Relearning the fundamentals or learning something new forces you to step outside of your comfort zone and question some preconceived notions you have had about software development.
  • Learn new programming languages: While it’s possible to be successful as a specialist in just one programming language, the majority of very successful software developers are fluent in several. Not only does it make you a more versatile developer, it also helps you think and solve problems in more creative ways. There are several well-liked programming languages available, so there is always something fresh and intriguing to learn.
  • Stay updated: The standards for many programming languages are frequently changing. To stay current on the most recent best practices, make sure you continue to subscribe to the most recent industry news and communicate with your colleagues. In this industry, knowledge quickly becomes outdated.

2. Strengthen your soft skills

No software engineer is an island. Technical proficiency alone is no longer a strict requirement for success in the sector. Employers are increasingly looking for that blend of technical and soft abilities. 

Take every chance you get to sharpen those talents. Invest in effective stress management, public speaking, teamwork, work ethics, a positive attitude, time management, self-confidence, and a host of other skills you need to have a hold on. Furthermore, strong social and interpersonal skills are essential as you are going to be interacting with people on a daily basis. To become a better software engineer, master these crucial soft skills:

  • Critical thinking: You are able to evaluate a topic from all angles and come up with multiple solutions if you have strong critical thinking abilities.
  • Problem solving: Whether it’s faulty code or a faulty communication channel, a software engineer’s existence is fraught with challenges. The more adept you grow at identifying such issues and coming up with practical solutions, the more in demand you’ll be.
  • Communication: Software developers frequently communicate with others. Strong communication abilities are therefore crucial. 
  • Flexibility: Open-minded and adaptable engineers are eager to accept new notions and ideas. This way you realize that even if a new strategy doesn’t work, you still learn from the experience. Additionally, it improves your ability to collaborate with others, making you a better colleague, and open up more job prospects for you.

3. Collaboration and networking

It takes more than just developing your technical expertise or gaining additional experience to advance your career. You also need to be aware of the social dynamic:

  • Find a mentor: Think about asking a mentor for assistance. A more seasoned, professional programmer is able to assist you, offer you career guidance, and perhaps even put you in touch with influential individuals in the business.
  • Attend social meetings: Join groups and frequent meetups to become active in your community. Simply by going, you enhance your own brand, and you’ll probably pick up something new in the process.
  • Join forces with others to work on side projects: Consider reaching out to nearby software engineers and working together on a few side projects. In addition to enhancing your own creativity, it’s a great opportunity to see how other people work.

4. Set goals

Maybe one of the most important keys for succeeding. Setting goals for yourself and developing a future work vision are vital first steps. How does one “improve their career”? What particularly are you looking for?

You need to visualize the route  and map it out. Establish short-term objectives, dates, and a clear path of reachable benchmarks. Moreover, making a chart outlining your current situation and three future stages of your life is extremely useful.

It’s easier to keep the process grounded if you remain realistic within the limits of your capabilities. Setting realistic, doable goals that are supported by a timetable that holds you accountable gives you something to fight for. Furthermore, you still have a ton of room in your strategy once you’ve established your bigger objectives. Break down those bigger concepts into smaller objectives that are achievable by carrying out particular tasks. Consequently, the addition of these new checkpoints to your plan encourages action and builds momentum.

5. Develop your brand

It’s hard to make any career progress unless you’re actively marketing yourself, the same way you market a product or a business.

The most effective methods to get you there include:

  • Invest in your professional portfolio: Put your mind to it. The majority of hiring managers for software developers are interested in your actual skills; a degree or certification alone does not mean that you are qualified for the position. Therefore, display the software you’ve developed in the past, and keep your portfolio updated with your most recent projects.
  • Develop your differentiators: There are countless numbers of software developers worldwide. So what makes you the better candidate for a job at a company? Find your distinctive qualities. Do you wish to focus on developing AI, for instance? Do you possess a unique ability to solve challenges that others lack? Do you have expertise that few others can match?
  • Create your own personal brand: Create and sell your personal brand, which is the brief, packaged image of you that you wish to use to stand out in the job market. On social media and a personal website, you need to showcase your abilities, knowledge, expertise, and even personality. This way, you get more visibility and status the more you network and participate in software development groups.

The career path of a software engineer can take many different turns and typically takes time to complete. You have plenty of time to develop your abilities, widen your contact base, and finally land the job you want. It’s simply a matter of time if you work hard.

To achieve the success you want, you must put effort into it, make plans for it, and try to become a better version of yourself in every way. Your perseverance will pay off, and you’ll find that both your profession and your personal development are advancing.

Are you currently seeking to amp your tech career? We’ve got the opportunity for you! Check out our open positions.

About ITJ

ITJ is devoted to serving fast-growing and high-value market sectors, particularly the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), working with innovative medical device companies looking to improve people’s lives. With a unique BOT (build, operate, and transfer) model that sources only the best digital talent available, ITJ enables companies in the US to create technology centers of excellence in Mexico. For more information, visit www.itj.com.

What to avoid when nearshoring software development ITJ

What to avoid when nearshoring software development

Posted on | by TeresaPenafiel | 4 Comments on What to avoid when nearshoring software development

Nearshoring software development is a cost-effective way to manage your business. Companies all across the world have been nearshoring their IT and software jobs to other locations for years in order to be sustainable. However, businesses frequently commit a number of errors throughout this procedure, which ultimately reduces their production and has an adverse effect on their finances.

6 Things to Avoid when Nearshoring Software Development

Given the challenges of not having a software development team under one roof, this calls for a proactive approach. Check out these insightful tips on managing remote engineers to increase the effectiveness of your managerial efforts.

1. Choosing the wrong outsourcing model

What do the majority of businesses reporting subpar outcomes from their outsourcing experiences have in common? A misalignment between their company goals and the approach they chose for outsourcing software development.

There are several approaches a business can take in this matter:

Onshoring: Businesses searching for a near-perfect cultural fit with minimal language obstacles and wanting to keep their entire company inside the same regulatory framework might consider onshoring. A small skill pool and a relatively minor reduction in costs.

Offshoring: Offshoring is the practice of hiring an overseas outsourcing service provider to handle a company’s business activities. The developer rates in established outsourcing nations like China or India are difficult to match. However, they frequently come with significant time differences, cultural barriers, and travel costs.

Nearshoring: Refers to outsourcing business operations to a neighboring country. Some claim that this model offers the best of both worlds — proximity in terms of both geography and culture, as well as a wide range of highly qualified (and fairly priced) developers. This makes this approach perfect for outsourcing on both a long-term and short-term basis. Additionally, this form of software development outsourcing is ideally suited for staff augmentation and other initiatives that call for tight cooperation and open lines of communication between local and distant software development teams.

2. Choosing the Wrong Partner

It’s critical to intimately know the people involved when integrating a new team via nearshoring. Failure to do so frequently results in misunderstandings and a lack of teamwork in the future.

It’s best to check their previous work and projects, find out more about the model they apply and all the whys, investigate references or get in touch with a possible nearshore provider’s previous clientele.

You can check the company’s history to discover if they have pleased previous customers and if they have ever been sued. Long-term benefits come from thoroughly examining all nearshoring proposals before choosing one.

Prior to starting the project, be sure to spend some time getting to know your future partners. Know each person’s name, position, and duties. Before the teams begin the actual work, you can arrange a few virtual ice-breaking sessions. 

3. Lack of an Effective Communication Channel

The typical forms of contact when working with nearshored teams are virtual: emails, video conferencing, and calls. Problems arise when there is no face-to-face engagement, particularly if the communication methods used are inconsistent. In order to be effective, it is crucial to create a strong two-way communication channel.

Set up regular stand-up meetings, avoid sending too many emails, and, if necessary, have a specialized communication framework in place.

4. Ineffective Onboarding Program

Assuming your nearshoring crew can start working right away without any onboarding is one of the major blunders you might make.

This nearshoring error is a dead giveaway that your business does not view service providers as an extension of your staff. The quality of the job that is then produced may need to be compromised.

5. Failure to address knowledge gaps early

If you take the effort to identify the knowledge gaps in your internal and extended teams as soon as feasible, you will benefit most from nearshoring. Then, provide them the opportunity to share information, technological solutions, tools, and resources while also learning from one another. Additionally, setting up training sessions for your larger team or asking your nearshore provider to do so is a fantastic idea.

6. Not aiming for long-term cooperation

Your nearshoring workforce will become more familiar with your product, business, and team culture the longer you work with them. Since they are a priceless resource, you should take full advantage of their knowledge and perhaps even go above and beyond the initial, short-term project parameters. For instance, you could want to think about enlisting the assistance of your extended developers to teach and onboard young engineers or to generate new ideas and creative solutions.

Always take into consideration these tips when nearshoring software development as they constitute the base of a long-term actionable success. Only if you nearshore properly will you be able to benefit from it.

Contact us to go about the current project requirements for your business.

About ITJ

ITJ is devoted to serving fast-growing and high-value market sectors, particularly the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), working with innovative medical device companies looking to improve people’s lives. With a unique BOT (build, operate, and transfer) model that sources only the best digital talent available, ITJ enables companies in the US to create technology centers of excellence in Mexico. For more information, visit www.itj.com.

ITJ

Top 8 Questions To Ask Software Outsourcing Providers When Assessing

Posted on | by TeresaPenafiel | 4 Comments on Top 8 Questions To Ask Software Outsourcing Providers When Assessing

Do you intend to grow your engineering staff? Does locating a trustworthy IT outsourcing partner sound like a good idea? You are not the only one – the global market size of the IT outsourcing industry reached 92.5 billion USD in 2019.

Choosing a top-notch service provider might get more difficult as the outsourcing sector grows in size, especially between Mexico and the US. As a result, it’s crucial to thoroughly vet any potential suppliers by asking the correct questions.

In order to determine whether software outsourcing businesses are a good fit for your needs, we’ve compiled some of the most crucial questions you should ask them. These inquiries will look at both operational and cultural factors that might influence how well your collaboration works.

Here are the key 8 questions to ask outsourcing providers:

1. Do they provide time-and-materials contracts or fixed-price contracts?

Although this is not a given, project outsourcing often has a fixed cost because you outsource the whole project per provider’s proposal. The time and materials approach makes sense for teams working together and continuously addressing changing demands.

Contrarily, single-sum contracts, known as fixed-price agreements, require a service provider to complete the project within the budget specified in the bond.

Some use the BOT Model (Build, Operate, Transfer). A BOT is a business model that entails a contractual arrangement in which a company employs a service provider to launch, develop, and manage a company. If healthcare companies want to outsource software processes connected to the production of a medical device to a much wider talent pool, a BOT model may be quite helpful.

2. Does the outsourcing model they employ work for me?

When analyzing the geography of outsourcing, there are three basic models to take into account: 

Nearshoring: Nearshore outsourcing is a method for developing software products in which some or all of the work is given to remote teams located in close proximity and in the same time zone. This strategy combines lower costs, quicker travel times, and the extra advantages of proximity in terms of culture and location.

Offshoring: Nearshoring and offshore outsourcing are quite similar, with the distinction that an offshore staff is often based overseas. India, Ukraine, and other Latin American nations, including Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Brazil are common places for outsourcing.

Onshoring: Onshoring refers to “domestic” outsourcing. It entails moving your company’s software development to a non-metropolitan location.

Look for the top suppliers in the nations or regions where you have already decided to outsource your development.

3. Can they modify their offerings to suit my needs?

Particularly in today’s fiercely competitive and inventive industry, software project development frequently requires constant adjustment.

A good outsourcing partner will be adaptable, helpful, and willing to come up with a solution that will satisfy you, the customer. It is usually a positive indicator when potential partners demonstrate a desire to provide you with what you require, so long as your request is within their ability. Isn’t it the reason you’re out there looking for partners?

If the service provider’s internal procedures look overly inflexible and there isn’t much flexibility for rapidly implementing change, you should take that as a warning sign.

4. Have they already been involved in initiatives like this?

It is a good indicator if the service providers have created software or worked on projects comparable to yours. The downtime spent learning about the requirements of various sectors or technology can be avoided. Therefore, you should constantly inquire about their track record of successful partnerships with businesses much like yours.

You might ask the providers to offer you case studies or success stories, client recommendations, or references during the discovery sessions.

5. Are their software developers proficient in the technology stack you’re employing, and do they have the knowledge you need?

Search for particular areas where you require assistance, such as updating outdated software or creating mobile apps. Then, focus your search on businesses with the necessary industry experience.

6. What is the outsourcing company’s strategy for hiring engineers and ensuring their ongoing education?

How they’re adding new team members is a pertinent inquiry. What steps do they take, and is the procedure rigorous enough? Do applicants are in constant examination or enter bootcamps to demonstrate their coding prowess?

When compared to other industries, the IT industry has the fastest rate of innovation. Therefore, a team that keeps up with new technology and updated software will be able to create contemporary, sustainable products that have a long shelf life. They have a culture of continuous learning if they have training resources and learning opportunities available.

In order to address a talent gap in their team that has proven difficult to fill internally, the majority of businesses turn to outsourcing. Not only should your outsourcing partner be able to meet these demands, but they should also be able to meet any future needs you may have.

7. What are the safeguards for the collaboration’s success?

One aspect of the difficulty is creating excellent software. The other is to guarantee that you have system checks and backup strategies in place so that you can continue developing excellent software without being hindered.

Enabling information sharing between the two businesses is a smart place to start when it comes to assuring success. What channels of communication for commercial and technical inquiries are available?

More importantly, how are problems addressed and managed in the unlikely event that something goes wrong? Problem-solving procedures should be obvious.

8. What are the security and privacy policies of the service provider?

The security posture of a potential outsourcing provider is among the most crucial criteria. Does the service supplier hold ISO27001 security certifications, for example? Exist the required data protection policies?

You don’t want to end up breaking the law and having to deal with the repercussions as a result of your outsourcing partner making a mistake.

Since people naturally believe that security measures will be covered when we pay for a service, the majority of businesses don’t look into security measures in great detail. Nevertheless, if you didn’t require certain security precautions in advance, you can now find yourself at a crossroads.

Our area of expertise is offering customized technology solutions and IT staffing services in nearshoring from the US to Mexico. We would be pleased to assist if you need help creating the ideal nearshoring solution for your business or putting together a larger development or scrum team. 

About ITJ

ITJ is devoted to serving fast-growing and high-value market sectors, particularly the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), working with innovative medical device companies looking to improve people’s lives. With a unique BOT (build, operate, and transfer) model that sources only the best digital talent available, ITJ enables companies in the US to create technology centers of excellence in Mexico. For more information, visit www.itj.com.