We all know that web development industry is constantly evolving and growing because of the ever growing technological needs. Expectations with the developers have gone higher and internet has become a great platform for all sorts of needs. As far as a website is concerned, people expect websites to look good, provide extremely great content and give users an interactive environment. Since web development is in demand, developers and freelancers might not expect to see failure in their careers anytime soon. However, this is not completely true because if things are not handled in the right way and are not taken towards right direction, they can bring in a lot of harm towards any web developer’s career.

Today, we are going to enlist a few ways through which web developers can damage their career. In order to be successful, you should avoid the following things:

Giving away a false impression:

It is very important for any profession to stay true to himself and to the world as well. You should always represent your original self and now a fake image. Portraying a wrong image of yours can truly damage your career. Do not get unrealistic about yourself and only tell clients what you really think is true about you. Your client can totally understand your body language so you cannot make fool out of people. Your false image might raise the expectations of your clients and when you won’t be able to deliver the results, it can harm your reputation and your career.

Adhering to comfortable technologies:

We all love to work with the technologies we are used to and we are comfortable with. Same goes for the web developers as well because mostly developers have been observed using same technologies, languages, DBs and platforms again and again. Being hardheaded is not a very good thing as far as technology is concerned. Avoid sticking with the same technology regardless of how big of a fan you are. As mentioned earlier, new things are always being introduced in the technology world so as a developer, you should keep your options open and explore new ways of working. Do not associate yourself with a single technology because this is the beginning towards a career damaging road. Once you start learning and working with new technology, you will see so many new opportunities coming your way. So, avoid clinging to technologies.

Know When to Speak:

In many cases, the best thing you can do is stay quiet and if you do not know when to speak and what to speak, you are really moving towards destroying your career. Learn to speak wisely and know when you should stay silent. For instance, you should not be demanding higher rates from your loyal clients when they are already going through a tough time. It is inappropriate and they might never consider you again. So, think before you speak.

Less Networking:

As a developer you must attend conferences and different workshops because it provides you a great opportunity to learn about what is new in the industry. Apart from this, it is indeed a great way to get to know other developers. You cannot distant yourself from fellow developers because it will make your survival a lot difficult within the developing industry. You must try your level best to build and maintain relationships with your competitor developers. Once you maintain relationships with fellow developers, you will see that it is a great source for referrals. Not only other developers can help you get some new work, they will also help you with your problems. Developers’ industry appears to be very friendly and believes in a healthy competition. So, less networking will definitely affect and damage your career.

Avoid Showering ‘Friends & Family’ With Favors:

Well, if any of your relative or friend is about to launch an online business, it is but obvious that they will call you for a favor. In such situations, you should learn to say No because it can make things difficult for you. You will have to specially take out time for their work and you won’t be getting any money as well. This will also affect your paid work and if your client’s work will suffer because of personal favors, it is not very good with your career.

Yes, saying ‘No’ might affect your personal relationships but you have to make your family and friends understand the difference between personal and professional favor. If you thing that project is interesting, then take it but make sure that you do it under strict guidelines and also charge an amount for it. Charging minimum fees for doing their work will also let them know that you are a thorough professional and you have lots of work on your plate as well and you cannot afford favors.

Do not act Unprofessional:

If you are acting unprofessional, it can really hurt your career. Stay a true professional and avoid any sort of unprofessionalism. Clients’ do not like unprofessional people and if you ended up acting unprofessional once, they might never come back to you with more work.

Avoid Underbidding Projects:

When you are a fresher, you must have had underbid a project just for the sake of getting a project. As a fresher it is okay however, I have seen a lot of experienced developers underbidding as well.  You can give multiple reasons for underbidding however, I would never recommend underbidding a project regardless of how needy you are.

Always keep in mind that if a client is underpaying you, it will only undervalue you. Underbidding projects will make you an option and not a professional. In order to be successful, you should never ever underbid a project as it will affect your reputation in the market. Apart from all this, it will also water down the market. Undercutting your competitors with lower prices will make you lose your respect. So, do not underbid a project.

Team Player:

There will be numerous times when you will have to work with a team. Learn to be a team player if you want to be successful and if you want multiple opportunities coming your way. Everyone likes a friendly colleague so be helpful and stay friendly. You would not want to be labeled as someone who cannot work with others because in such scenarios people will avoid working with you and you will have no work at all.

No Marketing Tactics:

Can you imagine a web developer without his own portfolio’s website? This definitely sounds odd but such developers do exist. If you really want to succeed you should market yourself because this will definitely help in your growth as a freelancer. There are multiple ways to market your business so if you have a portfolio does not mean you should stick only to portfolio.

No marketing tactics will definitely affect your career so learn various techniques. You can always contribute posts for other blogs, comment on forums and promote yourself through various platforms. Although marketing has become really cheap thanks to social networking websites and other online platforms but sometimes you will have to spend some money as well along with the time. So, failing to market is one of the ways that can damage your career so promote yourself.

Forgetting the developer’s responsibility:

As a developer you should always remember the reasons behind your hiring. A client hires a developer because he lacks technical knowledge and he cannot do the task on his own. Being a developer it is your responsibility to educate your client because they do not know the technical terms so make them understand in a layman language. You might come across a client who is not at all interested in learning how his web is being developed and it can be frustrating but this is where you should take your responsibility and make them understand because this is your why you were hired. If you forget why you were hired, it can seriously damage your career.

Conclusion:

There would be a lot of ways through which you can develop a career but at the same times, there are a lot of ways through which you can damage your career as well. As a developer, you should avoid above mentioned things to protect your career from any sort of damage.