Ronan Shortall

iOS vs Android - The debate that dominates society.   Clearly when most people mention iOS vs Android they are not referring to native development, but mobile developers still tend to have a preferred platform. But why not do both?   If you’re specialised in just one, here’s why expanding your expertise to both could be a game-changer:   🌍Expand Your Opportunities Increased Demand - Companies increasingly seek developers who can handle both iOS and Android, especially in start-ups where teams are small. Being versatile makes you more valuable and opens up more job opportunities. More Freelance Gigs - If you’re a freelancer, offering expertise in both platforms makes you a one-stop shop for clients, giving you a competitive edge in the market. 🔨Broaden Your Skill Set: Master Different Tech Stacks - Learning both Swift/Objective-C for iOS and Kotlin/Java for Android deepens your understanding of mobile development. Cross-Pollination of Ideas - Each platform has unique strengths. By working on both, you can apply best practices from one to improve your work on the other. 🔮 Future-Proof Your Career: Adapt to Industry Trends - With the mobile landscape constantly evolving, being proficient in both platforms ensures you stay relevant. Leadership Opportunities - As a dual-specialist, you can take on leadership roles, guiding teams across both platforms and driving unified strategies for mobile development. While specialising in one platform admittedly has its benefits, learning both native iOS and Android could significantly boost your career. Will you be diversifying your skillset? Or are you going to stick to being specialised? Drop you thoughts below 👇

13

1 Comment

Developers who secured post-covid jobs are on the hunt again. But this time, the market is COMPLETELY different. Here’s what you should be asking (which you might not have considered back then)... 1️⃣ How disposable is the tech team? > What short-term AND long-term projects do they have in mind? > How mission-critical (and realistic) are the long-term ones? > What are they doing to prevent more tech layoffs? 2️⃣ Will you be happy there? > Do they have the progression opportunities you’re looking for? > Will your manager have a hands-on or hands-off approach? > Will you be challenged enough to keep you motivated? > Will you get the work-life balance you’re after? > What kind of culture are they promoting? I’m sure most of you would’ve questioned many of these things right after the pandemic. But most job-seeking Developers were in survival mode. You asked the right questions to secure a decent job that paid the bills. Hopefully, this time, you can take a breather and find an opportunity that truly aligns with what makes you happy. #JobSeeking #Advice #Recruitment #Hiring #Developers

2

Software Developers - 2023 was rubbish wasn't it? However the market is really improving with many more jobs opening up compared to last year. But - there are now a lot of engineers active in the market too.. So some advice.. ⬇ A common complaint now is that you are not hearing back after sending your CV for roles you know/think you are good for. Here are some small pointers from my own recent observations to get you in the door to start with. ✅ You are competing now... your first mistake is having an unattractive, un-readable CV. Think - if you were the hiring manager, would you like this CV? ✅ This is incredibly important for Frontend focused developers.. ⬆ ✅ Less is more... focus on roles you are good for, don't use the spray technique if you know deep down you are not suitable. It's not good for your mental health either to get unnecessary rejections. ✅ Focus on your application properly - If you are applying for a Frontend / React/FS engineer, don't have PHP or Java as a visual focus point as soon as the CV is opened... this applies to all tech roles... ✅ Follow up after a few days - don't sit back and think Linkedin will do it's magic for you once you have clicked submit. ✅ Read the job adverts carefully until the end.. there is usually important information about the working style / location / criteria. Again, saves disappointment and your own time later on. ✅ Attitude - be pleasant and positive throughout. It doesn't matter if you are nervous or maybe you think your english isn't the best, people hire people they want to work with regardless of previous achievements. Finally - interviewing. ✅ Practice and prepare for your interviews well. It might seem a given but know your current stack in-side and out, and any current trends in your area of tech/expertise. ✅ Ask your recruiter or ask the internal HR/talent if there is anything you need to prep/research on. ✅ And of course, have a list of interesting / relevant questions for each opening, and not always the same formulaic ones. ✅ Practice the commons ones - why did you leave the last role, what is clean code for you, what are some projects you failed on / were successful at. Why. ✅ ✅ Please don't give up.

24

1 Comment

What’s the JavaScript market like?? Is a question asked on pretty much every call I have at the moment. ✅ The JavaScript market is slowly bouncing back. We’ve seen an increase in job flow, also in direct adverts from both agency and client side which is great ( mostly on perm ). An uptick in perm roles is usually a good indicator of a strong market and contract will soon be to follow. Candidates are getting involved in multiple processes at once. ✅ Time to hire still seems slow. Interviews are taking longer and feedback is delayed. Clients are saying they are wanting to hire but wont move promptly on signing things off/starting the processes or making offers. ✅ There are more experienced candidates on the market. A lot of contracts weren’t extended so there are more people looking. ✅ Seasoned contractors are more open to taking an interesting perm role. In short, things are slowly but surely improving. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions. #hiring #JavaScript #UK

23

5 Comments

Demand for Intermediate-level Software Developers is decreasing, resulting in salary levels on offer declining. For the time being it appears that the days of intermediate developers securing 15% - 20% pay increases when moving jobs are over.   Current advertised salaries for software developers in the UK (3 months to June 2024) are down to 2019 levels.   Is this trend mirrored elsewhere in the world? What are the causes for this?    

4

3 Comments

Regulation: a double-edged sword—essential, yet too much can kill deals. Dan Baublis -  a regulator who has been a developer deeply understands the impact of regulation And well, a regulator who hasn’t been a developer….perhaps only understands in theory The old saying rings true…until you have walked a mile in someone’s shoes, you don’t really fully understand. Who’s best to handle regulation “DC” or the “States”? a blend? What’s the sweet spot? Thoughts? Joe IV 👊 (Full episode link in the comments) #construction #transmissionlines #substations #carboncapture #greenchemistry #renewableenergy #cleantech #hydrogen #BESS #recruiting #innergeniuspodcast #confiogroup #environmental #projectdevelopment #cleanenergy #decarbonization

12

2 Comments

Results from last weeks poll. Very close call - seems we're split on this one. With demand for work / life balance on the rise. Is this an approach we might see adopted more in 2025? #4dayweek #prorated #softwareengineering

8

3 Comments

A huge thank you to Vitaly Sharovatov from Qase for contributing this great article to our Develocity blog page. It gives us much food for thought about the careful selection, setting up and usage of tools in order to achieve that harmony between disparate teams. If you have an article that you think would be relevant for our page, or some insights you would like to share for those looking to get into developer tools or those already in it...please do reach out to myself or Natalie Harper. We're always on the look out for genuine and interesting content. #DeveloperTools #DevTools #QualityAssurance #Developers

3

Why are you using #Go / #golang? Popularity with #Go / #Golang is going through the roof... particularly in the North West tech scene... but why? dcoded. we have been talking to a lot of #SoftwareEngineeringLeaders who are now utilising #Go as one of their primary programming languages within their Tech Stack. WHY? Well... the reasons tended to rhyme with: - Distribution and Compile capability - its quick! - Simplicity, Concurrency and Flexibility - so its easy... - Static Typing, and Code Formatting - its reliable & easy to maintain - The tech community loves it - lots of documentation and support available! - Backed by Google - its got real pedigree Hmmm... I am keen to hear the thoughts of other Software Engineering pro's on this. Why are you using #Go / #Golang?

13

Doing any salary planning for next year? We'll have our full salary guide dropping in Jan 2025, but here's a very quick overview of what we've seen these past few months... Salaries for high performing Software Engineers have grown LOTS this year. To give you some quick ranges... Our Mid-level placements since July have secured $150K-$160K. Mid-Snrs have been $160K-$170K. Seniors have been $173K-$198K, but the majority have been $180K-$190K. Staff has been $200K-$215K, and Principal has been $220K-$240K. All of these are PLUS super, and almost all had either equity or a bonus on-top. To add to that... Demand for Juniors is still on the floor (+ I've been told my multiple people that the quality is beyond awful. I expect this will cause huge issues next year). Demand from startups for people without startup exposure is also non-existent. Demand for 'Leads' is still pretty low. It's coming back, but I would describe it as "Staff who leads", i.e, almost entirely hands on, and some leading. True Team Lead roles are very rare and quite badly paid (often less than Snr). Any specific salary questions? Stick them below - I'll answer as best as I can :)

33

13 Comments

Hey all you amazing engineers - Check this out ⬇️⬇️⬇️ In a surprising twist, Jellyfish’s latest engineering management report has revealed some eye-opening trends in our tech world. A whopping 90% of engineers—from code wizards to DevOps believe their teams are key players in shaping business strategy. Yet, a staggering 66% of them have faced burnout in the past year. Talk about running on empty! 📉 But that's not all. Despite the recent waves of layoffs in tech, 60% of engineering managers and executives are waving red flags over a talent drought. They’re finding it tougher than ever to scoop up the qualified candidates they need. It seems like even the brightest minds need a bit of a recharge these days. 🌟💻 Check out the full scoop here! Jellyfish ThinkBIG https://lnkd.in/emrRBhDy

12

1 Comment

You know what's really cool to do as an employer... ... Pay people what they're worth (irrelevant of market conditions) 💡 I'm seeing a worrying trend at the moment - Companies looking for Software Developers with 6+ years experience, but not willing to pay more than £35k 😕 Look... I understand budget restraints... And as the owner of a start-up, I get that companies pockets are only so deep! But if your pockets are only deep enough to get someone with 2-3 years' experience... Stop looking for people with 6 years+ in the hopes that they'll bite your hand off because the hiring landscape isn't all that great at the moment! If you play the game like this, yeah, you MIGHT get a quick win now, but in 12 months time, when the market shifts (as it always does) your competitors will be queuing up to pay them what they're actually worth... And you'll be left back at square one!!  

41

7 Comments

Still got it. ("it" being the ability to do medium-hard leetcode exercises in a generous amount of time. I got absolutely flattened by one of these a few months ago which threw some much harder problems at me - there is a threshold of difficulty above which I really do need to go away and think about it a bit without the distraction of a ticking clock. When conducting live code test interviews I've often seen people fall on the wrong side of that threshold, sometimes for quite "easy" problems, and it's hard to say whether this is truly indicative of a limit to *ability* as such. It seems to me that there are at least three factors in play: 1. General familiarity with the space of "data structures and algorithms", and the ability to find a good answer using the tools and techniques you have at hand. This is what we generally tell ourselves we're testing for. 2. The ability to pattern-match that knowledge to arbitrary, and often quite whimsically expressed, challenges quickly enough to head off expeditiously down the right path to a solution, by using "fast" (heuristic) rather than "slow" (reasoning) thinking. This can be something a bit more like "muscle memory": people who do a lot of competitive coding challenges will tend to be sharper at it. To some degree this is indicative of accumulated experience and the intensity of someone's recent engagement with hands-on coding, in which we are also interested as interviewers. I've usually been impressed when a candidate's taken one look at the challenge, gone "oh yes, it's one of these", and rattled out a solution almost mechanically. On the other hand, it's not telling me much about how they reason their way through problems that don't yield to their heuristics. 3. The ability to use either kind of thinking under time and social pressure, which varies somewhat. Some people do freeze, and while I've always tried to help them out when interviewing it's not always possible for them to find their way back to the required presence-of-mind. Are the kind of time and social pressure you're artificially creating in your interview typical of your real working environment? Then I guess it's appropriate to penalise candidates who won't thrive in that environment. But it may not be the sort of place where real "slow" thinking gets done very often, and that might be a problem for both you and a thoughtful interviewee. There are lots of candidates, and we have to screen them somehow: the all-day on-site interview process I once went through at TIM, An Acuris Company might be unfeasible for most organisations now. But it was also a good experience and gave a fair picture of my strengths and weaknesses, and from what I saw while working there it brought in good people.)

19

4 Comments

Tech Industry Shake-Up: Gergely Orosz on Job Market, AI Revolution & New Realities Over the past 18 months, the tech industry has undergone a seismic shift. Here’s a breakdown of the key changes and how they impact software engineers and engineering managers: 📉 **Job Market**: The hiring landscape is tougher than ever due to fluctuating interest rates, changes in VC funding, and fewer IPOs. Finding the right job and closing deals have become more challenging. 🤖 **AI Revolution**: While AI is revolutionizing efficiency, it lacks a broad, initially free distribution channel like the smartphone boom had. This shift is more about enhancing existing workflows rather than introducing entirely new ones. 🔄 **New Norms**: Software engineers face slower career growth, a focus on simpler, well-established technologies, and added responsibilities. There's a shift away from trendy innovations back to foundational technologies like monoliths. 🔄 **History Repeating**: Drawing parallels to the Dotcom Bust of 2001, unexpected changes are the new norm. Prioritizing career security and adaptability is crucial in these uncertain times. 📚 **Advice & Insights**: The article offers practical advice on securing careers and understanding the tech landscape's ongoing transformation. Stay updated, stay adaptable, and navigate these challenges with confidence! #TechIndustry #JobMarket #AIRevolution #SoftwareEngineering #CareerAdvice #VCFunding #Startups #TechTrends

1

I thought it might be fun to start a bit of a LinkedIn Challenge - to meet 100 Developers in 100 Days I've been a C#/.NET software developer for over 2 decades. I've actually been coding with the .NET Framework since one of its beta releases Post a comment of what your primary coding language is and how long you've been mastering your craft #softwaredevelopers #coders #100devsin100days #linkedinchallenge

2

Currently rinsing the team of a scaleup that has their devs on call 24/7. (Keep asking them to do it, they love it, trust me, why would I lie...) Genuine question - why on earth would you ask your devs to do 24/7 on call? Surely you know that nobody who respects themselves is doing that right? You are aware that developers exist in other timezones and you can employ them too right? "But we can't get the quality outside of Australia" 1. Yes you can. The best Australian devs don't even work in Australia. 2. The devs who will agree to do long term 24/7 on call aren't high quality anyway. I can't see any world where it makes sense... Can you?

20

17 Comments

Ownership - Founding Fullstack Engineer 💰 Up to £140k base 📈 Generous stock options (5 vest 1 cliff) ⚙️ Tech Stack: Python & TypeScript 📍London Onsite (relocation offered) Having raised $3m in seed last year and already boasting an enviable client list this is a rare chance to join at the ground floor of a company that’s scaling rapidly towards a $1bn valuation. About the Role: 📍This isn’t your typical 9-to-5; it’s an onsite position where you’ll collaborate closely with the founders every day, helping to shape the company’s future. I’m looking for someone with a true owner’s mentality—someone who understands the high-energy demands of startup life and is passionate about driving impact everyday. In return you’ll be given ownership of tech direction and potentially life changing stock options from day one. Interested? Drop me a line in confidence. #Startup #London #Python #Typescript #FoundingEngineer #Ai

16

1 Comment

For my developer connections - When do you think is the best time for the team to bring in the first QA hire? Do you like a QA being involved from the offset? Or do you think it is more beneficial bringing a QA in later down the line? I had a chat with a Senior Dev yesterday, who preferred "working in a team with no QAs, as you can get stuck in a chokehold if they disagree or have a different opinion" ... I'm keen to get your thoughts on when is best to hire a QA or do you agree no QA is best? #development #qahiring

3

2 Comments