So. . . it has been a while since I have blogged. Honestly, I miss it. But the truth of the matter is you don't realize how busy you become once you start a job! I thought I would continue to blog and create personal projects every day when I started working as a developer, but I WAS WRONG! Then I came across the #4articles4weeks challenge on Hashnode and I figured this would be a perfect opportunity for me to get back into the hang of things. One prompted article once a week can't be that hard, right? Especially when I completed #100DaysOfCode and blogged/coded every day for 100 days. Hopefully, after this challenge, I can start blogging once a week for the rest of the year, maybe, just maybe. . . .

Anyways, this article is going to be very informal. I found out about this challenge a few days before it was due:

Time for me to get back to it! #ChallengeAccepted

4 Articles in 4 Weeks - Hashnode Writeathon
{ by @BatsouElef } from @hashnode#hashnode #challenge #programming #4articles4weeks #writeathon https://t.co/fXadvedl3z

— Brittany || B. (@SincerelyBrittt) August 18, 2022

Also, I just finished spending time with my nieces and nephews who were visiting for the weekend. My mom wrote her first childrens book/book in general and had her first book signing this weekend, which means my entire immediate family was here and it was nice. But now here I am writing a blog before its due so I can be proud of myself for completing this challenge in time. 😅

Now that you understand my situation, I hope you excuse any grammar and/or punctuation errors and continue to read it with extended grace. Now back to the subject at hand. . . the #4articles4weeks challenge had three article prompts for #week1. But since I just mentioned not blogging for a while because of my job I figured that would be the perfect opportunity to answer this question:

How did you get your first job as a developer and what advice would you give to new developers to get their first job? How can you strengthen your portfolio to showcase your skill set?

I will break down this question to the best of my ability and share as many details as I can.

How did you get your first job as a developer?

Studying, prayer, God, luck, personality, and more prayer . . . .😂

What advice would you give to new developers to get their first job?

Practice, I know you probably hear that all the time, but it is true. Before applying for your dream place. Apply to places you don't really care to work for, make sure to get that practice in, get those rejections, and get those acceptances. Get used to being rejected without letting emotions stopping you from trying again. In addition, if I am being honest, I had the opportunity to interview quite often before becoming an engineer. I worked in finance before transitioning into tech so I had my fair share of rejections and I think I had behavioral down, since I studied business and I've had professional work experience. It was mostly the technical that I was nervous about. So I made sure to practice technical interviews and algorithms. The usually, leetcode, hackerrank, codewars still work, but I recommend using websites, like pramp, to practice technical interviews.

If you need more practice, go to networking events. I remember while I was still in bootcamp, I was attending virtual career fairs. I found
the Black Professionals In Tech Network (BPTN) who hosted the BFUTR 2020 (Virtual Experience) Tech Summit, which was Presented by TD. It was cool because there were tons of companies and virtual rooms to network and get comfortable with my elevator pitch and sharing my resume. I found myself attending many events where I got the opportunity to practice interviewing and talking with people. It is great to find communities that you can relate to, I found myself gravitating to meetups and events that were for black women since I am a black women. . . For example I still go to womanhack events, which I LOVE because you learn about companies and have the opportunity to have 1:1 speed networking opportunities. If you cant find a meetup or group, practice with your bootcamp lead or other bootcamp goers, friends, family, anyone. Just practice!

How can you strengthen your portfolio to showcase your skill set?

Honestly, just keep building. I think something that helped me was I my ability to show that I wanted to be a developer. Well how did you do that Brittany? I am glad you asked, while I was in a bootcamp, I was required to learn and build certain things in order to graduate. I knew that everyone who graduated with me would be graduating with the same skills and projects as me on their resume. I thought to myself, "how can I stand out?" that is a question I am always asking.

What can I do to showcase my skills? What can I do to be different?

So while in bootcamp, I decided to join Major League Hacking and was apart of their fellowship. This made me stand out on my resume because I had my usual bootcamp projects, but also had projects where I collaborated on building things and using different technologies. In addition, I contributed to open source by participating in the 2020 hacktoberfest I made sure to put myself out there, show my capabilities of working on a team, and more. I used to participate in mintbean.io hackathons that happened every month. Hackathons are a great way to get experience and practice working in a group setting. It also adds the sense of urgency that is necessary in the real world. In addition, I blogged quite often to show my ability to write/document my experiences and code. In addition, I began tweeting about my experiences and staying in contact with the #devcommunity on twitter. Also, I made sure to keep my resume and Github up to date. Sometimes the little things, like a cool looking Github can make a difference.

Seriously, how did you get your first job as a developer?

Honestly, everything I mentioned above contributed to my success. I found a company with a culture that I loved, I practiced, I built things, and I never gave up. Keep coding, keeping trying, find a community to keep you accountable, never give up, and you will get your first job.