#FIRST TIME DEV JOB SEARCH
I'm super excited to hear that a few of you have already gotten fulltime job opportunities and that a lot of you are in the interview process. I thought that I'd take a minute to share some of my thoughts on what you can do to skip some of the pitfalls that I encountered on my search. This advice is coming from someone who is just barely a few steps ahead of you in the process. So there is no pretension in what I'm say. Instead, this is more of a reflection on the misconceptions that I had when I graduated and started job hunting.
Some of this advice will not apply entirely to those of you coming from a coding background before devMountain. Also, hang with me till the end. At first it may not seem encouraging, but I promise it'll help and you'll be better prepared by the end of reading this.
I guess it should be said that this is just my personal opinion and doesn't reflect devMountain's opinion in any way.
So here we go...
##Lesson 1 - You are not productive developers....yet.
One of the things that I got hung up with was thinking that I knew more than I actually did. I had done the projects and studied very hard. Somehow, being "aware" of lots of concepts, libraries, js tools gave me the false belief that I was actually productive in those things. It is a dangerous assumption that you know something just because you know about it. I had them all listed on my resume thinking that I would get better opportunities based on my 'knowledge'.
The fact of the matter is that, while it is truly amazing how much you've learned during the course, you actually know the tools far less that you might think. You can test that by trying to start an angular project from scratch without pulling from the other projects that you did in class. Try and think through that for a sec... :-) It's tough. The point is, tutorials and class are critical, but a little misleading because you are handheld and given the info that you need to finish a predetermined project. So you perceive that experience as knowledge and ability, when in actuality it is just exposure. As soon as you step away from what you did in class, things become exponentially more difficult.
So, what's the point? The more you learn, the more you'll realize how little you know. This is critical to help you know what kinds of opportunities that you should be looking for.
##Lesson 2 - No good company will hire you...based on your current skills
Any company that wants to hire you based on your current skill level is NOT a company that you want to work for. You want to work for people who understand your skill level for what it is. If you start working for a company that thinks you know more than you do, then that will be a bad experience for both parties. As stated before, you aren't ready for production coding. Not yet at least.
The point - if you have someone trying to convince you that you are qualified for a position and you don't feel qualified, You are probably right and that company probably isn't a good fit for you. Sometimes recruiters may try to set you up for positions that are way over your head. That is fine as long as you are honest about your experience. More on that later.
So who will hire you?
##Lesson 3 - You are CHEAP and you have POTENTIAL
Lots of you got into web development because there is SO MUCH DEMAND, RIGHT?!?!?! Well, that is sort of true. There is demand for experienced developers. Not so much for us Greenies. However, because there is so much demand for experienced devs, that makes them VERY EXPENSIVE. Companies have to go out of their way to get the best devs in town and that costs them a whole lot of resources. Many of them offer extraordinary pay, but still can't get the people they want. It's slim pickins' out there for devs that are worth 120k-140k a year.
Companies have to keep moving. If they can't get all the best talent in town, then they have to be willing to compromise on their standards. This changes the whole picture for all of us because the qualities that they are searching for are shifted. Every heard of quantity over quality? More on this in a minute.
In comes greenie...
##Lesson 4 - What you are “Worth”...
I truly thought that I was worth $70k per year when I walked out of devMountain. That is really laughable to me now. Not because it wasn’t possible to get that salary but because I understand now that I was definitely NOT WORTH that (and I am still not). After two months of working for a really awesome company, I can say that I have busted my tail as hard as anyone could, just trying to come up to speed. I can also say that I haven’t contributed a single thing that’s worth a nickel here. 2 MONTHS guys! That’s a long time. I am very confident in my ability to learn and I’m starting to gain good traction with my skillset, but I’m still surprised at how long this is taking.
So why in world would a company hire you?
##Lesson 5 - Economics of the jr Developer
As said before, good devs are very expensive. But surprisingly, so are not-so-good devs. People with just 1-2 years of professional experience are commanding 70-90k / year in our market and more in other markets, depending on their particular skillset. Many of them are still considered jr devs.
So think about it…
If a company can pay a greenie 20k-40k per year less than they would have to pay someone with only 1-2 years of experience… That could be a good deal. Especially if they can hang on to you for a year or two and train you the way that they want!
It is important to understand what you have to offer an employer and what you don't offer.
##Lesson 6 - What value you bring...
This is the takeaway for this article, so pay attention!!!
If companies aren’t hiring you for your skillset, then how do they decide to hire you?
From what I see, here are the three determining factors:
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Do you know enough so they aren’t wasting their time on you. They don't want to hire someone who has only done codeacademy. You need to have a solid understanding how logic, arrays, objects, and functions work. You need to be able to think through a 'simple' toy problem that you need to filter and return particular data etc... At some point i'll do another article on what minimum skills you should have to be considered employable as a greenie
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Are you smart? Are you passionate and excited? Are you just in it for the money or are you are nerd like them?
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Do they like you? Will you get along with their team? Are you teachable? Will you stick around.
It's actually pretty simple if you know what they are looking for.
##Lesson 7 - What do you need to change...
Your resume, Linked In, and Monster.com profiles (yep, i got my job through monster)! The primary focus of your profiles should be how excited and passionate you are about coding. That you are eager to find an opportunity so you can work on real world problems and stop doing tutorials. That you will outwork anyone else out there because you just love it that much. Express that you know that your project examples (linked in your profile) are simple but that every day you are learning more. Mention the tools that you currently use including text editor, that you use the command line, frameworks, and libraries. Put on there the next thing your want to learn.
Apply for jobs that you know you aren't qualified for. Job postings usually represent an "ideal" profile but rarely reflect exactly what an employer will consider. As long as you are honest about your experience, or lack thereof, you may be presented with opportunities.
If you find yourself getting rejected by companies because you don’t have enough experience, then your resume is wrong! They shouldn't expect you to have any experience! :-) Don’t get down about it though. Change your approach and I PROMISE that you will get better results. The beauty of programmers is that we LOVE to share our knowledge. If you present yourself correctly to an employer, then they will be eager to get someone who is passionate and wants to learn.
A quick note on how you present the learning part to an interviewer. Don't say you want a job so they will ‘teach’ you. Say that you want to be in an environment that presents real world challenges that will help you reach your potential. You want be sure to present yourself as self driven versus a leach on the company's time and resources.
PHEW!!! That was long. You guys are awesome and I know you will do really well. This advice comes from the best of intentions and I hope that it helps you experience less disappointment and quicker success on your search.
Now go get er' done!