These days you are more likely to find a unicorn than a good programmer, this is because good programmers possess a special combination of personality traits that people rarely have more than a couple of.
Finding someone that is great at math and problem solving, LOVES working long, uninterrupted hours to fix what sometimes seems like a backwards domino-effect of issues, AND is willing to keep learning their trade all the time is seriously tough. This is why recruiters exist. We’re unicorn hunters. Because solid programmers are so darn hard to find, we thought we would break down the four traits that make up a unicorn programmer.
Patience
If you become anything beyond a bit antsy in a five person deep Starbucks line, you may find programming to be a super annoying profession. Learning to code takes a special kind of patience only certain people were born with.
If you are able to learn code and refrain from taking shortcuts (i.e. Googling for quick code) as you find yourself needing continual education throughout your programming career, your true passion as a programmer will certainly shine through your quality work. This connection is what will make you great at your job, and something to bring into job interviews as a reason why they need to hire you. That brings us to our next P…
Passion
This is one of those P’s that is in every industry, people try and swap out for a different P: PAYCHECK. Let us assure you this is not the field where your check will outweigh the grind if you aren’t passionate about programming.
In order to rise to the challenges that are just part of the gig for stellar programmers, you must possess a true passion for the art of building and tearing down to solve problems. If the idea of picking apart someone else’s mess in order to clean and rebuild it better isn’t your thing, you really will not enjoy life as a programmer, regardless of the size of that paycheck.
Persistence
Often compared to learning a foreign language or a musical instrument, programming is difficult to learn and takes hours and hours of practice. Even when you think you know as much as you possibly could, you will hit roadblock after roadblock on some projects.
A good programmer will keep at it until a breakthrough is made, and may even become hooked on the chase for a solution. If you are truly interested in the art of programming, you will not only be willing to put in the time and effort to learn it, but also climb mountains on mountains of challenges along the way.
People Skills
This might come as the hardest skill for a programmer to master, but is crucial for a programmer’s success at any company. Often times programmers work alone, plugging away at their machine, but a good programmer needs to be able to step away from the code and the keyboard and have real communication with project stakeholders.
In order to truly deliver on what the client expects, you have possess some business acumen and the ability to solve problems on behalf of people that don’t understand your work and just want you to “make it happen.” If you can understand that, you will already be ahead of the game in communicating with project leaders.
If you feel you meet these four P’s of programming and have the experience to back it up, give us a shout, we have some programming positions open now.
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