We at TOPS Technologies surveyed the best Project managers managing projects in .Net, PHP, Java and Android across the country. The biggest differentiators is thinking outside the box. In a roomful of developers when most of them put their hands up in air saying I don’t know how to finish this project. That’s when the best software developers start thinking outside the box.
Think of how a Software Developer at Google working on Android thinks of how to offer the best search results or how a designer at Apple think about best of class user interface. Before Apple came up with an iPhone or Google came up with a better search engine there were phones and search engines that were good. But they thought outside the box and took over the market.
How do HR and Project Managers Differentiate the Best Developers from the Rest?
So what do companies like Google look for in the people they hire. They look for people who have the ability to solve problems. If a person has the ability to solve problems then they feel that as a person you will be able to learn new technologies and solve the larger problems. A person who can think differently and outside the box becomes the winner.
Most average programmers would need to experience things and a manager to teach them how to do things on the other hand the best programmers would start breaking down the larger problem into smaller problems and find a solution. In most cases people take the easiest solution and wait for someone to come up with a better solution. The best programming textbooks can only train a student on how to write code but to think outside the box is something that should come from within and that will differentiate the best from the average programmer.
Most of the project managers we surveyed shared with us that young developers and fresher’s have started thinking that a good software job is where the manager guides them. But in reality it’s the other way around when a fresher is given options to make mistakes and guided to use and think with an open mind will grow the most in the long run. In the long run patience and initial hard works pays big time.