At AppSaloon we are regularly looking for a new employee to strengthen the team. During our search we notice that it is quite difficult to find the right developer who, on the one hand, is passionate about web- or app-development and, on the other hand, fits within the team.

Syntra Limburg has been organising training courses for web developers for several years now and it is in this context that I have been able to address the new batch of web developers. In a way, each course is still an artificial setting, so Massimo invited me to take a look at how a web and app agency works.

During the interactive presentation a lot of questions were asked, but I would like to highlight one specifically:

“Are students expected to be fully productively deployable immediately?”

When you start a new job, a certain running-in period will always be necessary. This is determined by your own experience and the needs of the team you will end up in. Such a running-in period is not the end of your learning and improving yourself.

It is important that you are always looking for points where you can improve yourself, of course without looking at yourself from too negative a point of view! If you take a break and have a short brainstorming session, you’ll quickly discover a range of topics that you have the necessary knowledge about, useful for others to know as well. Once you realise this, you can look for a way to share knowledge within your team.

In reality

To make it all a bit more concrete, I’ll give you an example of how we do this at AppSaloon. We hold the Knowledge Sharing on a weekly basis. Every Wednesday afternoon, after the lunch break, one team member gives a short (± 15 min) presentation on a topic he/she would like to share with the rest of the team. Afterwards there is, logically, a short Q&A. Everyone in the team takes the Knowledge Sharing into account in their planning, so that most of the team members are always present.

The Knowledge Sharing is, of course, only one of the many possibilities to expand your knowledge. There are also courses, blogs, … . For us it is a method that has several advantages. Everyone takes an active part by doing a presentation on a regular basis and it creates a bond within the team.

Of course you can also learn by participating in congresses, conferences or meetups. You can always use the knowledge and inspiration you gain there as subjects to share with your team members.