Stage 1 · Lesson 4 of 7
Learning about the company
means spending a few hours understanding the business before you start. Use the product as a customer would. Read the website, recent blog or engineering posts and any public news.
Find out who the customers are, how the company earns money and who it competes with. If the company shares its (the languages and tools it builds with), note it. Then write down three questions about how the product works.
This gives your first weeks context. Tickets make more sense when you know who they help, and your questions to your manager and buddy get sharper. Company review sites can tell you about culture, but treat them as a mix of opinions, not facts.
Common traparriving knowing nothing about the product and spending the first week confused by basic business terms.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 1 cheat sheet entry come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- GuideFreeJob Scams (FTC Consumer Advice)
US Federal Trade Commission
The warning signs of fake job offers and payment requests, useful wherever you live
- BookPaidThe Missing README: A Guide for the New Software Engineer
Chris Riccomini and Dmitriy Ryaboy (No Starch Press) · Beginner · $29.99 print, $23.99 ebook
Read the first two chapters before you start: what the first year looks like and how you will learn
Practise
Keep handy
Also worth your time
- The Pragmatic EngineerGo deeper
How tech companies work from the inside, when you want the wider picture of your new industry