What makes a developer look cool

If you still fell bad and as if you’re not doing enough here are some of the stuff you can do which will help you to raise your confidence. Doing this stuff will make you feel more confident in your professional skills as well as personal skills.

1. Start blogging

If you start blogging, it will improve your writing skills, your storytelling skills, as well as allow you to connect to other people. The most important stuff about blogging is to stay on schedule. Keep writing interesting things. Be consistent about it and don’t quit.

You never know, after a couple of years, your blogging effort might turn into significant side income. However, even if it doesn’t turn into side hustle, it will allow you to expand your network, give you a bigger mic and make you feel important.

2. Attend meetups

The more meetups you attend, the more your network expands. It should be good for both your social life as well as your professional career. I’m quite sure as time passes by, you’ll gain an interest in presenting on some of the meetups. Putting you in the spotlight and giving you a moment to shine.

It always feels good to belong somewhere and to be a part of community. It doesn’t have to be a programming nor tech related meetup, it might be a sports related or some other personal interest you might have.

3. Contribute to some open source

It always feels good to contribute to some software. If you have some free time why not join some open source project. It will give you both a certain level of exposure. You will grow professionally. It will allow you to expose yourself to different project structure. And it will allow you to put some interesting curiosity on your CV.

Besides spending some time, there is no downside for this one.

4. Treat yourself with some swag

If you are looking for that instant fix, buying some swag should make you feel as well as well as look cool. For sure it will give you social attention you might be craving for. It will make your personality shine. At the end of the day, getting some cool swag doesn’t cost that much.

5. Start reading

There are plenty of professional books out there. Wether you are into different coding philosophies, whether you are more product/business oriented person there is for sure something out there for you.

Even though reading seems like a lonely hobby, if you join sites like good reads it might be a social experience. It will give you ideas on what to read and allow you to connect with other people.

6. Get into competitive coding

Brushing up your algorithms and competitive coding skills will allow you to easily pass any interviews that come before you. Even though this isn’t exactly a social activity it is a fun one.

We always want praise for our skills, and winning a competition on sites like hacker rank might give you just that.

7. Join or fund an interesting startup

Sometimes, when working in enterprise companies we might feel as a small wheel in a huge locomotive. However joining a small startup might make your life feel more interesting. In startups things tend to be more intense, you get to wear many different hats. People are generally more socially closer. You’ll get to acquire many new friends.

On top of it all, if the project turns out to be successful, there might be a big financial reward for you.

Feel good about yourself

All of this things make you look cool in the eyes of other developers. However, the most important view is your own. Try to think of a things that will truly make you happy, and try to think of a things that you would enjoy. Try to commit to those and ignore the other people’s opinions. Your life is your own, and you are in the front seat so make sure you enjoy it.