This board is older now, but has some good articles on it.
Im in the same boat, 1 yesr under my belt but still just keeping my head above water. I think experience is key, and having an open 1:1 with your senior/peers to ask and learn for ongoing situations is super important.
It very much depends on what books you're reading, if they're right for you at your current level and helping you take the next step up. it depends on if you're not just reading but also seeking for ways to engage with what you have read....there's a lot of factors.
Actively doing will always teach more than just reading, but if you read, try out, adapt, try again, then you may find more benefit.
Unit tests help developers, integration tests help logic.
This can annoy folks, but the straight forward truth is that integration tests cover the unit as well as the whole, so if time is limited, they should 100% be the priority as they bring more value.
That said, I love making sure that my code is well unit tested and I build TDD where I can to make that happen. Im not dismissing the value of unit tests, but when you have to make a choice, for me, Integration tests win.
I definitely think there would be a market for this, either on your own space (substack etc.) or maybe for blogs that do care about privacy and security.
If you do post some, I for one would be keen to read.
I'm a software developer and I come to HN to keep up with new ideas and trends etc. Often see things on here days before it becomes a thing on news outlets.
Generally I like to skim through articles and see whats relevant etc.
Its only a problem if you have a non-compete clause in your contract and even then, unless you're taking intellectual ideas, its hard to enforce.
In the past I worked at an insurance based company and they had a standard non-compete clause, but many left to work in other insurance companies and no issues were ever raised.
Ok, so firstly to your question, it sounds like you aren't happy at the company, not just that they may, or may not be unhappy with your fit. Personally in my experience, managers will only push someone out if they are continuously bad at their job and even then they'll spend months trying to find another solution.
I do agree with others here that you need to sit down and really think about what type of company you want to work for and start there.
It does sound to me that this company has process issues...tickets that are too big for a sprint, manager is micro-managing instead of letting the team self-manage etc. I think the team could do with a bit of space and time to figure out what their flow is. In software development there are those who fit well into a procesa driven culture and there are others who prefer more fluid approaches. You seem like the latter.
Dont really want to survive for the post apocalyptic world...but that said....my city is relatively small in the UK. So make it to the train tracks and out of the city with cans and as much water as we can carry and then head for the hills and see how long we last.
I do interviews at a decent sized company, but our office is really only 15-20 people. Our process is a bit lacking as we generally do 2 rounds of discussions (1 hour or less each) which has a focus on technical and soft-skill questions.
Its an ok process, but I personally would like to change one of the sessions to be an interactive dev... give a codebase ahead of time, nothing crazy and then get them to drive a solution, be the partner and then also work through a bug. Nothing complicated, I want to see their thought process and how they work as a team. Obviously google etc should be available.
In terms of being able to compete with larger companies, thats not always the case. Maybe not in salary, but thats only part of a job. Culture, perks, and the project itself can all be draws to bring in great devs.
I'd add that my worst ever interview was a coding one, similar to what I described, but the difference was that there were 3 people sat opposite me just watching me, no talking, no chat or fun, nothing. Dont be those people!
In all honesty, a CV and a degree just get your foot in the door. When I do interviews, I want to know who you are and what you're capable off...the way to talk and explain yourself and what you know is far more important.
I rarely look at a CV in depth.
That said, thats my personal way, and if you feel like completing the degree for yourself then you should.
Im in the same boat, 1 yesr under my belt but still just keeping my head above water. I think experience is key, and having an open 1:1 with your senior/peers to ask and learn for ongoing situations is super important.
https://trello.com/b/V2LWCIWu/manager-training-resources