The Bench Period Conundrum

 If you have ever worked in a multinational service-based company, you might be familiar with the phrase, "Benched". For those who aren't familiar with it, it's a phase where you are not allocated to any projects whatsoever and have to actively look for projects inside the company. I won't explain the whole "finding a project" and why this happens. But we will briefly talk about what happens psychologically and how you overcome it.

You face this when you are not allocated to any project and are unbilled during this time. You are potentially a liability to the firm, and thus you are encouraged to look for projects inside the firm under different departments that have a demand for your skillset. It's like finding a new job altogether, but you are being paid for it :P. But after a point of time,  it gets frustrating for people who are new in the company and are facing this issue. Imagine preparing hard to get a job and after you get it, doing the same in order to get allocated to a project. This is where it takes a toll on you psychologically. But as with every other problem in the world, this too can be tackled. 

Whenever a person is benched, they should never treat it as a paid vacation as most of us do. Instead, we should start upskilling in stuff that we were always interested in or stuff that has a demand in company projects. In this way, while looking for projects you can show how broad your perspective is and how flexible you are with different tech stacks. Sometimes being a "Jack of all, master of none" helps. It not only makes you knowledgeable but also gives you a sense of accomplishment during a period where you are potentially a "liability".

Secondly, during this period you network a lot inside the company. This helps in building rapport with a lot of people that you might have never met or talked with if you were part of a project in the first place. People often talk to other people, who you have not contacted yet, and thus a project itself finds a way to you. Also when you are involved in discussions your resume gets regularly reviewed by people who are a lot more experienced, and skilled and who have hands-on knowledge in the tech stack you just started in, this way you either get a good review or in the best case, a project.

The point is, the bench period might not be as bad as it sounds if you look at it with a righteous and positive perspective.

Deadlines and what did they teach me.

 Since I started working as a Senior Software Engineer in an MNC, I have felt the deadline heat quite often. And It is not something like a typical college assignment deadline. The stakes are high and the margin for error is low.

I still remember the first time when the "deadline" word was passed in one of the meetings and I simply cannot forget what followed after. It was an integration project which sort of had a steep learning curve at the start and we were still quite fresh into it. I was confident that we would be able to complete it the way it was desired but I wasn't sure of the day we will finish it. The team used to spend hours in the "WAR ROOM" discussing their findings, queries, and progress. It felt adventurous. Almost as if fighting the ender dragon with just silver armor (which is impossible). After a couple of days of agony and fatigue, we were thrown a deadline our way which was unexpected, difficult, and sounded like a mistake at first. But as the famous saying goes, nothing is impossible. 

It was quite overwhelming at first, I had spent all-nighters before completing projects and assignments so it was not new, but you never grow into it really. It's quite natural, isn't it? We all have the ability to achieve what we want, but the process of doing it makes us not want it. It's quite strange how it is, imagine yourself training for a half marathon, the sweat, pain, fatigue everything makes you question why you are doing so much for something that will be over in a day, but it is only after months of prep and that final day run, you realize that it was all worth it, I guess this feeling only comes when you keep thinking about quitting during the process and then go on and do it anyway with the pain and the thought of experiencing it.

 I feel that every person has this inherent curiosity that what will happen after they have done it, and the feeling of, "might as well find out now" that follows which makes us push through the last mile. So we did. we spent 13 hours every day of the week for 2 weeks straight, learning, solving, and completing the stipulated work. We went through arguments, disagreements, and long discussions but at the end when we gave the demo, the client had a slight smile on their face and nodded along. As if they expected just about what we achieved, nothing more, nothing less, of course, there were bugs in the code, and of course, it wasn't perfect but it was something, that made me happy. We weren't compensated for the extra work, but to be honest, we didn't need it. I guess we as a team took it as a challenge and not just "assigned work", which made the difference. And this made an impact on me. It's not always about the reward, recognition, or monetary gain. Sometimes it's about something that is a lot more, ie learning and a sense of satisfaction. I am glad that somewhere on the web, the integration that I developed is being used by people I don't even know, but indirectly I am helping them get things done.

3 SuperCool Github Repos for trainee developers

 1. RoadMap.sh 

Link : RoadMap.sh
In my opinion, this is one of best repo if you need a roadmap to start of with any tech stack from the following 

1. Frontend Roadmap
2. Backend Roadmap
3. DevOps Roadmap
4. QA Roadmap
5. Software Architect Roadmap
6. Software Design and Architecture Roadmap
7. JavaScript Roadmap
8. React Roadmap
9. Vue Roadmap
10. Angular Roadmap
11. Node.js Roadmap
12. Android Roadmap
13. Python Roadmap
14. Go Roadmap
15. Java Roadmap
16. Design System Roadmap
17. DBA Roadmap
18. Blockchain Roadmap

 I have referred to this repo many a times to start off with anything new , this doesn't actually make you a pro but is a great starting point for anyone who is clueless about where to start from. You can always run the repo on your local , but here is there website with the code hosted https://roadmap.sh/

2. Build your Own 'X' 

Link: Build your own

This is one of the coolest repos out there for people who love to build stuff and learn at the same time , this repo has "How to guides ". You can even build your own OS , isn't that something 

This Repo is a project hub as some would say, really nice projects to boost your resumes and profiles

3.Free Book Foundation 

Link :https://github.com/EbookFoundation/free-programming-books

This is the best place to get relevant programming books and tutorial related to a language or framework. The best thing is that it is maintained by devs of the world, so the stuff here is super relevant.

Have FUN Leanring !!

What is the best job for a fresher to start off in the IT field ?

MERN Developer FTW

Many people that are from a non-CS background often ask me, what will be the best job for them to get started in the IT sector, quickly and with less effort. First of all, there is nowhere you can go without "less effort", EFFORT is constant regardless of the field you start your career in. Although I do tell them that starting off as a "MERN" or "MEAN" stack developer is the best way for them to step in the IT sector. Here are three reasons why.

1. People often find themselves struggling with DSA problems on leetcode, codechef or hackerrank.Instead, they can start learning and making projects in MERN or MEAN stack and start applying for similar positions. This full stack is easy to learn when you build projects using them, and the process is motivating because the time you are spending to learn it is also being utilized to build the project column in your resume. This way you stay motivated and keep learning the tech stack as well.

2. The job market is booming with jobs for react , javascript , angular developers and most of them have "0-n" years experience in there description, with a really nice salary to kick start your career.If you want to see the amount of jobs , just go on linkedIn and you will see for yourself.The interview process is not rigorous as far as you know the projects you have build and are aware of intricacies of MEAN and MERN.

3.Your background DOESNT MATTER ! As long as you are qualified enough in your skill and have good communicative abilities , you can easily crack any react-js and nodejs interviews.It doesn't matter if you are from Mech, Electrical or Civil. I have colleagues that are from such core backgrounds but are experts in redux application and service development and integration.

Here are some really great projects for you to start off , best of luck 
MERN STACK PROJECTS

The Hurdle Theory

 I was about 14 years old when the idea of the "Hurdle Theory" came into my mind, initially it wasn't concrete and sort of amorphous but in due time it solidified its roots. The basic frame came to me when we had our Speaking and Listening assessments that day and the idea of the exam was to call students in pairs and have them speak on random topics that were assigned to them a day ago, and later on, the teacher would ask questions to both the students about each other's topics, my partner had the topic, "Problem Solving" and she gave a holistic approach of involving the deep study of the problem and knowing how to start and end it certainly helps, but when I was asked about what I thought, I gave an impromptu answer that only just made the landing but later on when I thought about it, it became a great help in times when nothing worked.

So the Hurdle Theory, is basically treating a problem in front of you like a hurdle race, where the hurdles are small broken down pieces of the bigger problem that you are facing, and you just have to overcome each small hurdle with a correct mindset and ensure every leap gives you direction and it is not a race with time or other people who are solving the problem, but how effective and efficient each jump you take is because these hurdles wouldn't make you fall, but crossing them will only make subsequent hurdles easier to leap through. 

I don't always use this theory, but in times where you have no idea where to start or what to do next, it certainly helps you pave way that makes it a bit easier.

My First Day as a Trainee Backend Developer

 My first day as an Intern developer in a startup was a DISASTER, and no I am not over exaggerating. I had mentioned it in my first blog (check it here) about the story of how I got the internship and knowing that one can guess, why my first day would have been a disaster. I had no idea what lied ahead, going into a new realm of work. Being from a different background of study and then working in a very different field altogether was quite overwhelming.

I can never forget that first group call, we were introduced to the team where we exchanged a few light-hearted comments with other developers, along with their backgrounds and field of study. To my surprise, almost half the developers were in fact from no CS field, but later on, had shifted to computer science. This certainly gave me some confidence and hope that I can maybe survive here. It happens sometimes right? try and remember the school days when you forgot a notebook on the day of submissions and you are worried about the punishment that follows, but you notice that 20 more have done the same, and now you feel less worried for no reason, it was that kind of feeling. So after the formalities were over, we were assigned tasks for the day, my task, now when I think of it was fairly simple and very easy, but when it was instructed to me, I had no idea how will I complete it. I can't explain the whole thing here but it was of creating a plugin on a third-party website." plugin', "third party", "XML" these words were brand new to my brain, and as anyone's brain does, my brain refused to comprehend them. All in all the task was more research-oriented than coding because even our manager knew that he had to keep it light for me on the first day. On the other hand, I despised him for giving me such a task. From the 1st minute, I knew I won't be able to complete it because I had never heard anything like it, and secondly I didn't know where to start from? Knowing where to start from is half the battle won, but not knowing what and how to do it certainly kicks your confidence to the ground.

We all know that it's important to learn from experiences and not repeat the mistake ever again, but nobody talks about how difficult it is to see yourself make that mistake and do nothing about it, anyway,  the day went by , i couldn't do anything. At EOD we all met for another call and discussed our progress. I had nothing to talk about because I had made no progress, I was ready for the embarrassment that was due to be followed, "first day, first impression, and he did nothing !!" I knew I had to hear the inevitable, but to my surprise, all I heard was," no worries, tell me what were the obstacles that slowed you down?" How nice of him to save me from the embarrassment, but on second thought, what were the obstacles that slowed me down, I didn't have anything to answer to that either! and just when I was about to say that I don't know how to answer the question, a realization struck me, all this time I was looking at the problem from an outsider's perspective and never really thought of solving the problem, all I was thinking the whole day was, how would I start? instead, I should have thought about whats the problem at hand, broken it down into small hurdles, and should have crossed each hurdle by the minute slowly and steadily, treating it not like a race against time, but ensuring that I cross each hurdle with the right mindset and direction and thus friends my little hurdle theory was born, and the day that I did nothing went on to teach me a lesson that never kept me idle.

How I landed my first Internship as a Trainee Backend Developer.

I don't think I would ever forget my first day when I joined in as an intern in a startup during my college days. But more about this later on, because the story of getting into that role is rather interesting. I never thought that fate and luck would play such a major role in my life before this happened. But before we start with the story, I would like to give a brief about my graduation and the field of study I was in. I am an Electronics and Telecommunications engineer and up until my third year I was pretty sure that my career would primarily focus on electronics and robots, not because I was interested in the field but because everyone in my branch would not shut up talking about it and you know how the famous proverb goes, "you are defined by the company you keep." :P but little did I know that it's going to change drastically when I start my 7th semester.

It was during early covid days when we started our final year and had to get a project guide for the final year's project, and unlike the others in our class we thought of going a very different way, instead of going for an internal guide we started searching for an external guide, because we thought it would look "cool" and will get us extra marks (lol who were we kidding.). After a few weeks, we found a senior who had a startup related to AI and ML and came to terms with doing a similar project related to the latter. We got really excited up until the point when our guide told us to brainstorm ideas about what kind of project we had to do. We had to think of something so "rad" that would blow his mind away and as this was going to be our first impression of him, we were really nervous. after about two days we had an online meeting, where we threw in our ideas and not surprisingly enough they were very "average." but what was surprising was the fact that he expected even less from us, we ended up impressing him. It sounds rude of him to expect less of us right? But he himself was from the same background as we were understood our stand on "computer science" and other budding technologies in general. We started working under his guidance and he started to see promise in us, I had no idea what we were doing, but after meetings, I used to read about it and watch youtube videos on it and started developing an interest in the same. It all felt intriguing, and the more I read and made small projects the more I started to like it. a month passed like this and suddenly one day our guide asked us whether we would like to work in his startup as interns, I always wanted an internship opportunity but never knew it will come to me when I least expected it to. I  knew I am going to say YES but couldn't answer him right away, he agreed and later on mailed us the clauses and some other rules that we had to abide by before starting work, in short, he sent us an appointment letter which also had the word "paid" on it. I couldn't believe it, I had other plans about internships but I never knew it would come to me eventually. That's the beauty of it isn't it, the thing that bugs us often, and makes us think about our future usually falls into place in ways we least expect it to, but little did I know that the day I join the startup and step in the world of computer science and IT, something called Imposter Syndrome is going to kick in and boy o boy it did.