

Is it okay to refuse getting involved in a project with no senior developer? - aknalid

Just curious. I am a newbie programmer (especially web dev).<p>The owners expect a lot of me, and after realizing that I couldn&#x27;t deliver features etc. on their schedule, I told them that they need a senior programmer to come into the team and if anything show ME around.<p>Basically, the old developer bailed on them and they are hesitant about developers now.<p>Is this the correct approach in this scenario?<p>Any experience? Tips?
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bbcbasic
This is a good opportunity to learn by 'baptism' of fire, and if you can learn
fast you can accelerate your path to senior developer. In a bigger org you may
be forced to spend years getting to senior developer, but it sounds like you
can get there quicker with the responsibility you have here.

There is the stress of dealing with complex code and frameworks as a newbie,
with the owner breathing down your neck. So try to negotiate more time for
each task, and time for learning general web development. E.g. if they use
AngularJS say you need a couple of days to learn it from tutorials etc.

If they are complete assholes about it and pressure you with 'just get it
done' 'we need it done by end of day' 'why is this taking so long' then maybe
it is time to look elsewhere for a job.

In any case look at this job in terms of if it is good for your career (and
more importantly, your mental health!) and if you thrive on high pressure fast
learning or prefer to work for a bigger company that has the resources to give
you more time.

Out of curiosity how many devs are working there? Is it one man and his dog,
and you?

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bbcbasic
Following on from this, a good lesson I have learned is to try to work for
profitable companies. You want the $ profit per employee to be as high as
possible. I have worked for companies that struggled to make a profit, and
guess what they underhire and underpay. I have worked for companies that make
good profits and they hire just right and pay nice salary or bonuses.

The follow-on from this is to try to work for companies with good recurring
revenue models that are efficiently run. Warning signs are companies that rely
too much on one off big sales instead of a broad base of customers. Also
another problem is consultancies who are hiring out your time and need you to
be 100% billable.

The other warning sign is very small companies that are bootstrapping with
tight owners who want to have lots of potential upside in the future by
exploiting employees to make them do the work of many people in the early days
while giving no little or no equity. Read up on HN and blogs about peoples
experience with this, there is a lot written about it.

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davismwfl
Yep, overall. Be up front, communicate it is not something you are as
experienced with so it takes you more time and you are having to learn some
new skills. Show them you can do it, but be honest with your estimates and be
up front that you will likely make mistakes. Also, tell them when you are
running behind before they are expecting something to be complete.

My most important piece of advice though is don't feel like you have to say
yes to every request when they bring it to you. That doesn't mean you are
telling the owners "no". It means saying something more like, I'll write that
down but I am so busy doing X that I won't get to it for at least Y
days/weeks. And remind them that if they were to bring in a senior dev it
would speed up the process and help you as well.

As long as they are not abusing you, I'd say go for it and use the opportunity
to learn. But as bbcbasic pointed out, some companies will try to take
advantage of you (abuse you), so keep your eyes out for that as I would be
looking for an exit if that starts.

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Raphmedia
By not hiring a senior developer and only paying you, they are spending less
money. It should be expected that you will deliver the features slower. That
is why you are not getting paid the same thing. Now, it's their job to figure
if it's better for them to have only you or to hire someone else.

If you are working your hardest, don't lose sleep over the fact that you
cannot meet deadlines.

It is alright to challenge schedules. They may be used to have a certain pace,
however that pace need to change if they are not willing to replace the senior
dev. that bailed.

That being said, be the senior. Fake it.

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mrcold
Yes, it's the correct approach. Always tell them when you can't deliver and
why. Communication is key when working in a team. If they understand and
address the issues, count your blessings and consider yourself lucky. If they
get mad and unreasonable, leave and find a new job. It's better for you, both
now and in the future.

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brianwawok
I mean.. if you were a restaurant and your head chef quit.. and you only had 4
dishwashers left in the kitchen, what would you do? Send the dishwasher to
cook?

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bbcbasic
Sounds like they never had a head chef. An analogy would be you run a small
cafe on your own, then you hire one person to be chef, barista, floor sweeper,
dishwasher, security guard, book keeper, customer service manager, ...

Of course then you need to read the emyth book.

