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RubyConf 2018 - Empowering Early-Career Developers by Mercedes Bernard How can teams invest in and grow their less experienced developers into team-leading senior devs? I believe the first step is empowering them. On my team, we’ve created a process for each team member to lead and own one of our core features. Our early-career developers are learning client management and team leadership skills that they wouldn’t usually get to practice until they stepped into a senior role. In this talk, I’ll share our process and what we’ve learned so you can give your early-career developers valuable experience they need to become successful, senior team members.
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In the talk "Empowering Early-Career Developers" at RubyConf 2018, Mercedes Bernard emphasizes the importance of investing in less experienced developers to foster their growth into future senior developers. She leads a team where each member takes ownership of core features, allowing them to gain essential skills in client management and team leadership that are often reserved for senior roles. Key points discussed include: - **Industry Challenges**: Companies often prioritize hiring senior developers over mentoring juniors, which limits opportunities for growth and can lead to a lack of retention among talent. - **Reframing Terminology**: Bernard advocates for using "early-career developers" rather than "junior developers" to avoid negative connotations that can lead to impostor syndrome. - **Qualities of Senior Developers**: Essential traits include strong technical skills, effective communication, decision-making experience, and team leadership capabilities. - **Empowerment Definition**: Empowering developers involves building their confidence and supporting their abilities, enabling them to take ownership of their growth. - **Implementation Process**: Bernard outlines a three-phase framework: prepare, propose, and practice, which allows developers to gain new skills through defined roles and responsibilities. - **Delegation and Mentoring**: She shares her own challenges with delegation and emphasizes the need for senior developers to mentor early-career developers. Regular feedback and supportive check-ins are essential for fostering an environment conducive to growth. Overall, the central message urges the tech industry to invest in their early-career talent by providing them with ownership opportunities, mentoring, and a supportive environment, ultimately cultivating the next generation of senior engineers and team leaders.
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