DonTheDeveloper Podcast
DonTheDeveloper Podcast
You should be THANKING Developers Who "Gatekeep"
In this video, I’m going to dive into one of the most controversial topics in the developer community—gatekeeping. I know it’s a term that gets thrown around a lot, usually with a lot of negativity. But today, I’m here to tell you why you should actually be thanking developers who are accused of gatekeeping the industry.
I’m not here to sugarcoat things. If you’re struggling to break into the industry and blaming it on so-called gatekeepers, you might need a reality check. The truth is, these developers aren’t keeping you out—they’re setting a standard that will push you to become better. I’ll share four solid reasons why their tough love is exactly what you need to hear if you’re serious about becoming a successful developer.
Whether you’re frustrated by the high expectations or feeling overwhelmed by the amount of learning ahead, this video will help you understand why embracing these challenges is essential for your growth. It’s time to stop complaining and start appreciating the developers who hold you to a higher standard, because they might just be the ones who care about your success the most.
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I'm going to be giving you four reasons why you should be thanking developers who gatekeep the industry. Gatekeeping when people are complaining about it is one of the dumbest terms that I hear when it comes to complaining about why you aren't getting a developer job, why you aren't getting a developer job, complaining that people are gatekeeping keeping you out of this position because they only want to let certain people in, just not you, and that is the reason you are not becoming a developer. It is because of these gatekeepers, and you, sir or ma'am, are full of shit. Now I'm going to tell you why you should be thinking these gatekeepers and why this term is really fucking stupid. So let's dive into this. So, most importantly, all of you know of a YouTuber who is creating videos that is overly optimistic and telling you if you just wanted enough, if you just you know, at least build kind of a basic website and you can use react in your application, or you could just build a really simple api. There's always a company out there that wants to give you a chance. That entire time you should have been cringing, because you know I was full of shit by saying that. You know there are YouTubers and content creators and developers engagement farming because you will like that video, because you will like that video you know there are content creators out there selling you that bullshit because it truly does farm engagement when you give that person hope that they just didn't have Falsely.
Don Hansen:If you have been paying attention to the market, if you have been paying attention to the industry, you understand that it is pretty damn difficult as an entry-level developer to break into the industry with you that you are labeling as gatekeeping, because they are saying the standards of what you must do, what companies will accept, are way higher than you think they are. And you probably need to lengthen the amount of time it takes to become a developer and you need to spend a lot more time digging deeper into the fundamentals, building much better projects, more complex projects, more professional-looking projects, and you need to build a bunch of shitty projects before you can even do that. You think your portfolio of three really, really basic bitch projects are going to get you a job. No, my friend, you are sorely mistaken. You might as well quit right now, because the industry expects so much more from you Developers who give you this kind of advice. They are telling you how difficult it is. They are telling you or they are setting the standard that you should hold yourself to because it is difficult, because they're not trying to farm engagement from you, because they're saying a difficult truth that is going to be hard to swallow and you need to get the fuck over it, or just quit, like most other people will, because you are just going the fuck over it. Or just quit like most other people will because you are just going to blame external circumstances. You are just going to blame the industry that it just won't allow junior developers in anymore. No, no, no. It's not because I need to hold myself to a higher standard, it's because the industry just won't give me a chance. Just quit already. I'm serious, just quit. There's no room in this industry for you, not in this market. Do something else. There are easier tech positions to get into. Go, do them right.
Don Hansen:The developers that are giving you a realistic perspective of what employers are asking for, what they expect, because they are still hiring entry-level, they are still hiring junior. The bar has just risen. You need to figure out if you want to hold yourself to that standard. That is the expectation. But developers who are gatekeeping often they're just sharing industry standards and you could choose to listen to them or not, but they are being real and honest, whereas some other content creators are just blowing you shit to get engagement. So you should be thanking them for that, for being honest with you. They also encourage deep learning, especially of fundamentals.
Don Hansen:The number of developers who are just so completely lost and just lack fundamentals and that are so glued to maybe like React or a framework or an abstraction, like they just pick up Tailwind or they pick up even Bootstrap and they are building websites and expect to get a front-end position with really weak CSS knowledge why the fuck should any company hire you with that knowledge? They shouldn't. Most companies shouldn't. Most good developers know that good developers come from a solid foundation. How far do we need to move away from CS degrees to where people are just learning abstractions and learning how to build apps but they're not becoming good programmers. To where we realize how weak a developer is that creates that can't adapt to new languages as quickly, that aren't able to dive deeper into harder CS concepts and harder programming concepts. That'll come up in your career that if you had that solid foundation, you're able to get through that. You're able to grow, you're able to ramp up with that company's problems, no matter what company you go into, because you have that solid foundation.
Don Hansen:How far away do we need to go from the original CS degree into this abstraction world to you realize all these other developers and coding bootcamp grads that never really built up that solid foundation? How shitty of an industry do we need to make it where these abstraction developers are not able to solve any complex problems, any deep problems, because their foundation is so shitty? How bad do we have to make the industry to where we start holding ourselves accountable, we start holding other developers accountable for this shitty foundation that they choose not to invest that time into. Oh wait, it's happening right now. Coding bootcamps are going under. Coding bootcamp grads are having so much trouble right now. Self-taught developers are having so much trouble right now. Hell, cs grads are having so much trouble right now, but at least they have that foundation and they just have a little bit to build more practical skills to build based off of the deposition they're going for.
Don Hansen:How many self-taught developers and coding bootcamp grads need to continue to fail because your foundation sucks, because you suck as a software engineer? How long do you have to go on before you realize that before you spend significant time building your foundation up, developers who gatekeep that highly encourage this foundation. They're encouraging deep learning. Lengthen your journey significantly. You will become a way better developer that is way more adaptable, way more hireable. I'm not saying you have to get a CS degree, but there's somewhere in between a CS degree and a self-taught or coding bootcamp grad somewhere in the middle that has a much more solid foundation that is going to set you up with success.
Don Hansen:But no people that encourage this CS-like foundation. They are just gatekeeping. Just CS grads that just don't want to accept that anyone can learn with alternative and you know just people that just can't afford CS educations. We just, they just want to keep us out. They are gatekeeping. You are once again full of shit. They are telling you a standard that the industry holds them to and continues to hold others to. They're saying spend time learning to code significantly more than you already are and stop jumping into abstraction after abstraction after abstraction. But no, they're gatekeeping. You should be thanking them for being honest with you. The deep learning, the significantly deep learning that you need to learn to get that job to be hireable, to stand out in this market.
Don Hansen:Number three. They often filter out uncommitted people, a lot of good developers, a lot of hard-ass content creators that really talk about this topic. They're telling you what the expectations are, and this is what I love about it. This is what I do. I am telling you what the expectations are and I am giving you a choice whether you are going to give up or you are going to rise to the occasion. You are going to learn what you need to. You're going to set yourself up with a solid foundation and spend a lot more time becoming a developer.
Don Hansen:When you hear these unrealistic expectations and gatekeeping, do you choose to just complain about it and just blame external circumstances of why you're not getting a job, or do you actually take ownership of? Hey, you know what I did dive into React too quickly. I got tested with some JavaScript stuff and, yeah, I got frustrated because I'm just going to be able to look up stuff, but they expected me to know JavaScript fundamentals. Like, yes, I got frustrated, but maybe that means like I have a crappy foundation and hell, maybe these other positions are testing outside of JavaScript. Right, I'm aiming for a lot of backend positions and my coding bootcamp prepared me for, you know, just to be able to use express and maybe sequelize and build a basic API and. But for some reason you know like they're testing me on stuff that we didn't learn in the coding bootcamp. So for these backend positions, maybe I got to learn more. Maybe I got to really dig deeper. Maybe I'm going to pick up another programming language on the backend right. Maybe JavaScript wasn't the best tool to set me up with success for a lot of the backend positions in my local tech city Not really hiring for Nodejs positions Maybe I wasn't set up for success and maybe I got to dive deeper. Maybe I got to build some other stuff with a different language where companies are hiring with that, or a different framework or just a better organizational pattern. Maybe I gotta just go back and learn and build my skills up right.
Don Hansen:A lot of content creators, a lot of developers that are saying really harsh things and setting really high standards, I think, a goal. Maybe I'm projecting, maybe it's just because I do, but I think a lot of other developers are doing this because you want to know why they're doing it, because they want you to stop being so pathetic. They want you to understand what you're really capable of and that you can learn these things, that you can develop a self and foundation, that you can be a really respectable software engineer that can go into almost any company, any situation. Um, given that you've, you know, ramped up and you've studied that stack and you've solved similar problems potentially, but like that, even if you didn't solve those similar problems, you have a solid programming foundation where you could just pick up a new language and you can then figure out what problems exist and how to solve them and how that code is organized and how you are going to play a role in joining this new company to be able to just hit the ground running and start with feature work very quickly and not have to ramp up and ask so many senior engineers for questions. You can just be resourceful enough with the solid foundation to just hit the ground running. They're holding you to a high standard, hoping, hoping, hoping, hoping that you are will choose to take these expectations as a godsend of.
Don Hansen:Finally, I am getting real advice on what to do. Do I give up on this career? Do I continue learning and just blaming the industry that they're not letting juniors in? Or do I hold myself accountable to learn what I need to to extend my timeline and truly get a knowledge worth hiring for. They are doing this because they want you to succeed. They want you to say you know what? I have a lot of room to grow and I know extremely little, but I have a lot of room to grow and I know extremely little. No-transcript that are applying for the same positions that I am these developers, these gatekeepers. They want you to succeed. You can get pissed off at them, but ultimately they want you to start taking the action to deepen your learning and deepen the types of complex problems that you can solve. They want you to become a good developer and they know most people won't. That's the reality. So that's the fourth thing. They are holding you to a higher standard than you are holding yourself.
Don Hansen:I've mentored thousands of developers over the past five years, over the past seven. I know how much effort you guys are putting in on average. I know when I'm being lied to and whether you did or didn't do an assignment, whether you did or didn't dive deep into the bug, or you spent like an hour instead of just 20 minutes on a bug when you actually were resourceful and you looked up documentation, versus just having ChetubiT solve your code for you. I know all the lies that you not only tell me but you tell yourself the reasons why you're not becoming a developer. I know what you're capable of. I know the lack of sacrifices you make. I know the amount of Netflix you watch. I am in your camera right now. I know you. I know you. You know you.
Don Hansen:Professional developers that have made significant sacrifices to get where they are know you. They've been there and, just like they force themselves to hold themselves to a higher standard, they're doing that to you because they care about you, because they know you are capable, they know you are capable of putting an extra hour or two in each week, minimum. They know that. They know that you're willing to, or you're able to, work with your spouse to say, hey, we're going to make some sacrifices If we really want to make this career work. They know the sacrifice that it takes. They know the length of time that it takes.
Don Hansen:This is not a get-quick-rich scheme and you have content creators out there and this is really unfortunate. You have content creators out there selling you a dream. Those are bad people that only care about engagement farming. Engagement farming yeah, that's the term. They only care about getting more views, giving you false hope. They only care about pushing you forward so you continue coming back, so you can get that little dopamine hit and you can feel good that you're making some progress.
Don Hansen:Good developers hold you to a way higher standard because they know you are capable of it and they know that's what will make you stand out among hundreds of other applicants for the same position. You should be thanking them for that, because I've been doing the YouTube thing for about four and a half years now and I know there are plenty of content creators that truly do not give a shit about you. They care more about the growth of their channel. They care more about the course that they make money from. They care more about the fame. They care more about the course that they make money from. They care more about the fame. They care more about the engagement. They care way more about the views than they actually do about your future. Good developers care about you, and that's why they hold you to a higher standard than you are holding yourself to you, to a higher standard than you are holding yourself to. That's why you should be thanking these gatekeepers, because they are actually here to help you.