Building a Personal Growth Plan for New Engineers

Mandy Nijssen is an associate full stack developer on the Partner Tech team at GetYourGuide. Here, she explains the steps she has put in place to maximize and keep track of her progression as she matures in her role as an associate, and paves the way for growth into a mid-level developer.

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Joining GetYourGuide six months ago was a huge milestone in my personal life. Moving from a job in healthcare to my first job in engineering is the reward for the time and dedication I have put into my studies over the past few years. On a professional level, the work has just begun. To keep track of my development and become the best engineer I can be, my manager and I talked about a personal growth plan (PGP).

Just like a complicated engineering problem, it can be helpful to break down the task at hand into smaller, more manageable pieces. As the name implies, a PGP can look different for each person , but these are some of the crucial parts of my own plan that have helped me along the way.

Competency profile

The first thing my manager and I consulted when we talked about personal development is the competency profile. It defines the specific skills, knowledge, abilities, and responsibilities that a GetYourGuide engineer of each seniority level should possess. Even though the core competencies are the same at each level, their scope and impact grows with seniority.

A good place to start is to write down your projects weekly, evaluate them, and discuss them with your technical lead based on the competency profile. This allows you to check in with your manager in small cycles and re-evaluate if you think the quality of your work exceeds the level set by one of the competencies, or vice versa.

This is an efficient way to keep all your hard work from the last few months in one place and get an overview of your performance, making it easier to prepare for formal review cycles. You can see the areas in which you have the most potential for growth and continue to focus on those. For example, if you are an associate engineer who has mid-level software design qualities but lacks experience configuring or monitoring automated tests, you’ve identified a great opportunity to take on a task where you can target that skill.

Focus on only a handful of tasks

While a broad knowledge base is a great asset in the software development field, it can be difficult to decide where to start when there is so much to learn. To really excel in some of the qualities mentioned in the competency profile, it can be helpful to focus on just a handful of tickets or projects at a time — especially multifaceted ones — so that it doesn’t become overwhelming.

When I worked on an experiment where we introduced renewed widgets used by our partners, I had to learn a new markup language, update end-to-end tests, and learn how to work with the monitors we were using, all within a single project. Since I was the main person responsible for this part of the project, I had to interact with stakeholders and be accountable for the end result, knowing that my team would support me every step of the way if needed.

You are not alone

Regular meetings with your manager can help you track your progress, so talk openly about your career goals and the support needed to achieve them. Ask to be assigned achievable but challenging tasks that provide opportunities to learn. I am much more likely to stick to a development plan if I am held accountable and feel supported, so this approach really works for me.

At GetYourGuide, I have the privilege of being surrounded by top-notch developers. Their advice on how to solve complex problems, or how to get started on a new task, is invaluable. Attending pair programming sessions, asking for technical reviews, or just receiving general feedback on your work gives you the opportunity to learn from people with a lot of experience, and you can incorporate their feedback into your growth plan.

Take time to learn new skills

As software development technologies evolve at the speed of light, you never stop learning. While this can be daunting, it also provides room for exciting, continuous growth. Taking the time to delve into a topic you are passionate about, or even learning an entirely new skill or programming language, can add significant value to your team and company. With your manager, discuss how much time you can devote to studying, and ask for recommendations for courses or topics if you are overwhelmed with options.

Asking the more experienced developers in your team or Guild (GetYourGuide’s Mo explains what a Guild is here) can also result in helpful advice; they have their own areas of expertise and can often guide you to reputable sources.

One strategy some of the team at GetYourGuide adopt is blocking out their calendars for the first hour of the day. While everyone else is starting the day by working through their emails, they use that time to focus on a course.

Setting goals can also motivate you to consistently stick to your learning objectives, even seeking out new ways to learn or make your mark. Look at your team's existing tasks and see if there are any where your newly acquired skills can be applied. Or take it a step further and look at your Guild's OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for the next few months.

Is there a strong focus on performance in the front-end guild OKRs and you are new to this topic? There’s your chance to learn something that can have an immediate impact. Moving from theory to practice by working on a relevant project will solidify your knowledge and give you a better understanding of the subject, as well as a great sense of achievement when you see your hard work in action.

Something a friend once told me has stuck with me: “The scariest place is the same place you were in last year.” Becoming a next-level engineer won’t happen overnight — it takes consistency, dedication, and time — and everyone’s goals look different, but putting the right steps in place can help you achieve them all. I hope that these tips help you on your path to career success.

If you’re interested in joining our engineering team, check out our open roles.

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