Remaining Valuable to Employers

Billy: Developers these days, I think, one of the most value things they can do is get a feel for the parts of their job that are not really what they necessarily like to do but what adds more value and gives them more visibility within their organizations. They need to talk to users more. They need to have more empathy with their users and with the business leaders and try to see things from their point of view. I think that’s something that developers aren’t very good at, and if they improve those skills, then they make themselves valuable in ways that, for example, can’t be outsourced. You can’t outsource empathy to
India. That simply doesn’t work. I’ve been reading a lot of books about design and such, and it’s kind of affected my thinking in terms of developers needing to engage the right-side of their brain more because there’s value to be added there. So unless somebody is just a superstar coder on the pure “let’s produce technology” side, then I think that they’re probably going to make themselves more valuable and more important in their organization to work on some of those more right-brain skills that are not in the skillset of the typical developer.
Bruce: To make yourself attractive to employers right now, I think probably the biggest thing is to be practical about it. You need to be working on things that are adding value to the employer. Ultimately the things that are new, while they’re cool and while developers love them, they have the potential to add risk to what an employer does and risk is not what employers are looking for right now. So you need to be working on pragmatic skills, skills that can be easily applied to revenue-producing things, to productivity-producing things for a particular employer.
Scott: The first thing for developers to think about is really to understand that in technology there is a value chain in the same way that there is in manufacturing.
If you’re at the end of that value chain, if you’re the last piece in the wheel, you’re the easiest one to let go when demand is falling. So the first thing is to recognize that there is a value chain and to find ways to work up that value chain, whether that’s increasing your design skills, helping out in the sales cycle, learning some new tools or technologies, analyzing the market, whatever it is. But if you’re the last spoke in the value chain, you’re going to be the easiest one to replace. Two other things I’d mention: the first one is to specialize. The world of the generalist developer, I think, is coming to an end. So it’s really important to figure out in the whole technology domain where your specialty is and to be passionate about it - that’s the last point I’ll make. Don’t just pick a specialism because you think there’s a market there. Pick a specialism because you actually like it. When you’re talking to your employer about it, be passionate. Let your passion flow through.
Adam: If I was a developer, I would try to make sure that the first thing I get right is communication. You can be a great coder, but you are not rounded until you are a great communicator. A great communicator goes and talks to users.
Doesn’t just talk to users, takes notes so they can action it. Confirms it in an email in case they still got it wrong. And then goes and actions it. And it’s no good just being a great communicator and just talking and doing more talking and no action - you’ve got to have some action. And then you’ve got to be visible. So my main points would be: talk to users, find out their pain. Talk to the boss, find out his pain. Simple questions like “What’s important to you?” Try to find out what it is, repeat it back, see if you’ve got it right, go away and see what you can do.
And become visible in other ways as well. A blog is very important. Get people’s thoughts. Speak to mentors - get a mentor! And then go ahead and action some things and get a clear understanding so you can add more value.
Jonathan: I would say that the number one key to making yourself attractive to potential employers is being able to demonstrate that you have a client focus rather than a technology focus. All too often developers are focused on the newest / greatest technology, being bleeding edge in terms of the things they are trying to implement. But if you’re able to demonstrate to an employer that what you understand are the client’s needs coming first and that delivering value for those clients is going to be your number one priority, you’re going to be the most attractive prospect for any employer.