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Discussion on: How do you survive over a year of rejected applications?

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Ben Robertson

Lots of good advice on this thread already.

I got my first development job on Upwork. I replied to a bunch of proposals with an hourly rate between $10-$20/hr and to my surprise the $20/hr job came through. I took down her WordPress site within 5 minutes of starting the job...but had a lot of motivation to get it back up and running. It was a great way to get experience.

Another thing to keep in mind as you apply for jobs is to think about the value you would bring to a company. Hiring managers dont always care about a portfolio, especially if you can communicate the value you bring to the company. I used to get really down because a lot of projects I worked on wouldn't go live or would see major delays, so it made my portfolio look weak. But then I started thinking about the accomplishments I was proud of, and that helped me reframe my value to a potential employer. For me, I would talk about initiatives I led in the company, things I had control over and some say in. Think about things you have done in any job that show you have good communication skills, can work well with others, take responsibility for your actions, or drive business success and you will start acing those interviews.