There are numerous articles on the net about “developer professionalism” but I keep coming back to “Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice“. You see, just about anyone can call themselves a developer, read a few books, accrue work experience at sub-par companies (those that do not demand professionalism) and end up as part of your organization.
As a professional in charge of hiring, it is your responsibility, to find developers who meet a certain level of professionalism. Junior developers are rarely held up to the same standards and I feel this does them a disservice. There are some things the junior dev will not be able to talk about but asking them questions like, “Give me an example of how you took responsibility for your code/work?” is a good way to get them talking about ethics and to find out just how professional they are. I have rarely come across any question that tried to ascertain your professionalism in interviews and that is both sad and scary.
If I find a problem with your code that would take you 10 min to fix and take me 30, don’t ever pass your faulty code to me to fix because you’re busy. Take responsibility [1.01, 6.08]. Fix it yourself. And on the other side of the coin, if you find fault with my code, bring it to me to fix. Give me the chance to learn what I did wrong so that I don’t make the same mistake again.
So the next time you run into a problem, be it hiring a new dev, or an issue in code, ask yourself, “What would a professional dev do?”
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