By now, many have heard about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. But did you know there are also seven habits of highly ineffective coders that all developers should try to avoid?
For one, poor coders do their work in isolation. They also speak with heavy jargon and minimize relationships. Poor coders master just one complex solution, then shoehorn it into every problem. They often overlook details or rely on languages they don’t really understand.
But worst of all, coders can let their skills grow stagnant.
Fresh, relevant, up-to-date coding skills are the lifeblood of any thriving engineer who wants to rise through the ranks in today’s innovative tech industry.
Pennymac is one example of a company that invests in professional development, which attracts and retains the very best talent. Built In spoke recently with Pennymac’s Troy Jasso to learn more about how the application developer keeps himself current, which keeps the agile fintech company current, too.
How have your code-writing skills improved since joining Pennymac?
What I love about software development is that it’s a skill-based profession. Anyone with the drive and humility to work on large projects can learn and contribute. Everyone in the field learns “one ticket at a time,” a phrase I picked up from one of my coworkers. Something as simple as changing a single line of code can fix a bug or make an improvement that gets used hundreds of times to improve a corporate workflow.
Software development is a skill-based profession. Everyone in the field learns ‘one ticket at a time.’”
Pennymac has facilitated my development by recognizing my potential and supporting me with a collaborative team that provides examples, pointers and feedback.
Tell us about a project that you completed thanks to your leveled-up coding skills.
I work within Capital Markets, and our projects can be quite fascinating. For example, a mortgage lender maintains liquidity and profit amidst the huge cash requirements for buying homes.
My code-writing experience with Pennymac has made my vision of leveraging technology to help our customers become a reality. Besides the project experience I’ve gained at Pennymac, I’ve also grown as a person and as a professional. I’d like to thank those involved with our mentorship programs, and I’m proud of the commitments we have to our Women and Technology group and wEMRG (women empowering relationships, growth and mentorship) business resource group.
How can engineers continue to improve their code-writing skills while on the job?
A career is never a simple, linear path — that would be boring! The most inspiring people I work with turn new challenges into opportunities and focus on serving their internal and external customers.
My advice for anyone interested in writing code would be to avoid comparing yourself to anyone else. Instead, boost your self-confidence by recognizing the unique perspectives you can bring to a team environment. Embrace challenges and setbacks as opportunities for growth, and look for value-driven companies that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion throughout their products, leadership, and culture. Pennymac’s core values focus on always being accountable, reliable and ethical in everything we do. If that aligns with you, we hope you’d consider joining the Pennymac team, too.
