Finding your first developer job is a difficult task, for multiple reasons. I have decided to maximise my opportunities, by building an online presence and sharing my experiences with my audience. By remaining proactive about my self-development & career progression, I have been able to land multiple interviews and make useful connections.
LinkedIn is an invaluable tool for job searches and recruitment. After having a bad experience with a few recruiters, I decided to state that I had no interest in working with them. I then received messages and connection requests from over 10 recruiters. Each of them understood my frustrations and helped me to understand why they get such a bad rep.Whilst I may have met a few of the bad ones, it makes no sense to ruin my relationship with those that are doing their job well, by overreacting.
Some recruiters hide their uncertainties with vague promises, however, that doesn’t help the candidates. I got told there was a job waiting for me upon my graduation, only to receive no answer when I did. Fortunately, I didn’t lay all of my eggs in one basket 😅✅.
By building an online presence and recording your journey, you can be your own recruiter.
Interview
On Monday, I attended an interview for a junior developer role at club systems international, an organisation that provides golf clubs across the nation with systems & applications. They are also the market leaders in member and visitor administration.
I turned out to be the only candidate willing to be interviewed in person, which was noted by the interviewer upon my arrival. Taking the interview in person, allowed me to ensure that I wasn’t misunderstood because I was able to clarify my answers. I was also able to build a rapport with all 3 interviewers because they could evaluate my body language and facial cues, which wouldn’t have been possible via a low-quality video call.
Asking some thoughtful questions at the end of your interview is a simple way to show your enthusiasm for the job. I asked if the company allowed developers to continue learning, to which they replied yes. This simple question highlighted my drive to continue developing my skill set and add value to an organisation.
Self-development
It is not by coincidence that my job search is going well. Since I graduated last month, I have:
Made 50 job applications, designed & deployed a portfolio website, and established a freelance dev business,
Developed a brand theme & started blogging weekly,
Gained 2 starter clients, and completed one project,
Shared 18 long-form LinkedIn posts, detailing my journey, job interests & self-development plans,
Connected with over 10 developers (4+ seniors), and had introductory discussions with 5 of them,
Picked up WordPress, photoshop, and some basic AWS skills
Fortunately, I am now able to continue benefitting from the sprint-based learning style at northcoders. I feel as though learning and understanding have become second nature to me, which is brilliant for my self-development.
A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d take on the challenges I am trying to now, such as freelancing and blogging, but times change and so do people. I’m thankful to have changed for the better, and I plan to continue developing myself, for as long as I am able.
Connections
Mentorship has been the best thing that’s sped up my growth and helped me to remain focused. A mentor should aid you in your professional growth. However, they should also challenge and guide you in your personal growth.
Over the last few weeks, I have been learning from a senior SRE/DevOps engineer at IBM. He is very interested in connecting with bootcamp graduates, like me. My profile stood out to Brian, as I had announced my intention to complete freelance work during my job search. I feel that is the best course of action for bootcamp graduates, that could be searching for their first job, for over 3 months. I have benefitted greatly from my conversations with Brian Schuster. We discussed my decision to take on freelance work since my graduation, and why more graduates should consider doing the same.
He has also introduced me to some more senior developers, whom i have also spoken with & benefitted from.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship requires some small element of craziness/stupidity – pure brilliance just isn’t enough. My labelling of recruiters as untrustworthy allowed some good recruiters to change my mind.
Last week, I struggled to complete my first blog post. This week has been a lot easier, due to my daily posts on LinkedIn. Sharing my journey online has brought me more opportunities and improved my articulation skills.
A few months ago, I strongly believed I didn’t have what it took to learn to code. Today, I am crafting the digital infrastructure, that will serve the business of my first client. The testimonial that I receive will serve as the basis for paying clients, in the future. Now that I have the skills to add value to an organisation, I have a lot more options available. Regardless of my employment status, my aim is to continue building my online presence.
What do you think of my decision to take on freelance work during my job search? Do you think it is wise of me to go for an AWS certification? I have started the process, and it has been fun, so far.
Thank you for reading my second blog post, it really means a lot to me. I think this is enough, for now, however, I do have more to share from this week in my next post.
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