Develop.io is a software development company for the Internet. They have built web applications from the ground up for clients like Dish Network, iVillage, and LocalResponse. Working here changed my life. I knew close to nothing about web development and programming, but the president of the company wanted me anyway. He saw I was highly motivated to learn and assumed at the time that I will do anything AND everything in my power to learn. He was right. Although I cannot thank him enough for giving me the amazing opportunity to work at his company, I can say say that I have used and will continue to use all that I have learned from there. Besides the breadth of technical skills, here are some other extremely helpful skills I acquired in the three months I worked there:

• Learning to work with others:
  Working with others can be significantly awesome, simply dreadful, or somewhere in the middle. It really just comes down to figuring out what the person you're working with likes and doesn't like. If (s)he doesn't like you, then Google it.


• Learning to speak your mind:

  If you want to develop good software, collaborative brainstorming is key. Your teammates are bound to have ideas that you will completely or even partially disagree with. Just speak your mind. If you're afraid of speaking out, then you must fight the fear and force yourself to speak out, politely of course. Besides, the "worst" thing that could happen is you being wrong. This leads to the next important skill I learned.



• Learning to accept that you are wrong:

  There will always be someone smarter than you, especially if you are just starting out. When I first started working here, I was overwhelmed by how smart everyone was. "There must be a way for me to get on their level," I would say to myself. My co-workers at the time weren't going to just tell me everything I needed and wanted to know
  on their own. I need someway to siphon the information out of them...hmmm, ON TO THE NEXT POINT!



• Learning to ask questions:

  I learned that you will get nowhere and stay stuck forever if you don't ask questions. This includes both in real life and on the Internet. Before asking your co-workers or manager, assess if you are able to find the answer online first. That way, you won't be as annoying to your co-workers. If Googling it fails, then it is probably reasonable to ask one of your co-workers. P.S. StackOverflow is your friend.



• Learning to push yourself:

  It is one of the best feelings in the world when you finally accomplish something really challenging. This means that you've increased your potential to do something, and that you've leveled up, in a sense. Many times, your boss will tell you to do something that you've never done before. Don't be scared. Push yourself and get it done. Stay an extra few hours. Trust me, you won't ever regret leveling up.



• Learning to take breaks:

  You will get stuck. I know that because you're reading this sentence. But when you do get stuck, you need to stop, take a deep breath, and do something else. Go outside, walk around your office building, go eat something, do some drugs, do SOMETHING other than stare at your code in frustration.