Beyond submitting lots of applications and trying to find jobs through recruiters, are there any things I can do to make myself more appealing to potential employers?
Beyond submitting lots of applications and trying to find jobs through recruiters, are there any things I can do to make myself more appealing to potential employers?
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I second blogging.
Clean up your Linked In
Clean up your resume --> Make sure it aims for the job you want, not just the job you have. IE: Remove languages you're not interested in programming in ever again
Ask friends to review your resume
If you don't have a portfolio - I would recommend cleaning up your GitHub. I think companies look at open source too much - but I know many do. Makes me mad because some of us don't have time to contribute to OS every waking minute. lol. Anyway, another time.
Brush up on programming questions, things you learned in school that you're rusty on. I once talked to a recruiter at FB and she said most people fail at the OO questions.
Check your social media presence - Google your name. Make sure your spring break trip from 10 years ago isn't the only thing that comes up. lol.
Good luck on your search!
I think I've done most of the things you mentioned. I've been brushing up on programming over the last few months by means of the excellent posts by @vaidehijoshi (her explanations make way more sense than my classes in college did), but I wouldn't have thought of checking my social media presense.
I would suggest working on your online presence. Blogging can be a very good thing ( or vlogging, if you are more into this). The fact that you are here is probably a good start!
Blogging has a lot of benefits, which is outside the scope of this discussion I guess. But, if I try to put
myself in an employer's shoes, I would like to see that a potential employee cares about his work to put himself out there.
I don't know if checking one's blog or github is something that employers do, but I hope so.
I've been considering blogging ever since I discovered dev.to (thanks to @ben and @jess for creating this place), and I've neglected my GitHub account for far too long, so I'll start there, I guess.
Thanks for the advice!
Hell yeah. It's great advice.
My experience has been with meeting with people face-to-face. I did a lot of informational interviews, often asking people what they were working on, what they were interested in, and questions of that nature. It really helped me to get talking about programming comfortably with people who are much more knowledgeable and more experienced than me. Besides serving as mini-interview practice for me, it also helped me learn what I want to say when talking about myself and as a potential candidate.
Of course, there's always the chance that you'll run into someone who is able to hire you, and is giving you a mini-interview on the spot without you knowing.
As others have said, blogging is awesome! It helps a lot to show that you can write and explain things.
This Bike Shed podcast episode was also awesome. I listened to it after I got a job and really wished I had it available for when I was looking for a job.
Also, Haseeb Qureshi wrote up a great blog that helped me a lot. Loads of good advice there.
Hope this helps! Good luck with your search :)
Yeah, I've noticed that having a connection inside a company really helps with getting your foot in the door. When my application hits the HR folks first it never seems to get anywhere (I know they're just doing their jobs, but sometimes it feels like they're being too picky). Thanks for the links and the advice!
If you have some interesting pieces of code on your computer that you are proud of, consider opensourcing them on GitHub. I added a link to my GitHub in my LinkedIn bio and everytime I do interviews I am told that the CTO enjoyed going through my work.
Think about it: the CTO has the opportunity to see how you write code, what technologies you use, whether you write tests or documentation ... if you are going to be hired in this place, this is what you are going to do 90% of the time. If he has to compare you with other candidates, at least he knows how YOU write code.
Use a tool to keep track of the applications you take. Make it a spreadsheet or something like bagofjobs.com just keep track of names, appointments and other stuff.
For example, I can always tell the name of anyone I'm interviewing with, and this usually comes as a good thing. Being on the other side of the table, I hate those who have no idea of the company or the position they're interviewing for.
Get involved in local events and meetups. Hackathons, code camps and social events are great places to meet people and learn about new opportunities in your area. If you generate positive results as a side effect, this can also be used as resume fodder.
I would add to the ones already mentioned that when you send applications try to customize them a little for each company so it doesn't feel that you are just sending a generic application everywhere. For instance write a little bit about why you find the company and the particular job interesting.
TL;DR: sack off direct applications and go and meet people instead.
I'm having luck like Andy Zhao is- meeting people.
I've contacted close friends and asked them who they know that's vaguely connected to Tech. I've then asked for an introduction.
Ensure your meeting is defined by your interest in learning about them and what they do, rather than your desire for a job.
Everyone loves talking about themselves; before long, all that listening translates into being helped out.
Remember, employers might care about your ability, but they also want to know that you'll fit in the team. How better than a recommendation from their team?
That fits with what one of my professors told me just after I got my first job - who you know is much more important than what you know in the long run.