DEV Community: Ela Moscicka

Career change: my 1st year as a Software Engineer at Microsoft

Ela Moscicka — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 07:14:07 +0000

Celebrating 7 years at Microsoft and my 1st year as a Software Engineer after the career change: from recruitment to software engineering role at ‘Microsoft Teams’ Prague team!

This post will be a mix of my thoughts/learnings from my 1st year as a Software Engineer at Microsoft: it is not about “I delivered x amount of features in XYZ areas” or “I had a chance to do this and that”. Quite the opposite: it’s a very personal post about what was happening with me, what challenges I was overcoming. And while I knew that changing my career won’t be easy, I think I didn’t expect some of the below to happen.

I don’t see many posts of what is really going ‘behind the scene’ with those who went through a career change this is why I’m sharing below. Hopefully, you can be better prepared and avoid some of the things I’ve experienced.

p.s. if you start thinking “Is she really happy about that career change?” then I can assure you that yes 🙂 !

p.s. 2 If you want to know more about my journey into software engineering, then please check this post. My review of 2020 can be found here. And here’s where you can read how my remote onboarding looked like.

This was definitely a year where (in some areas) I felt like I’m back to where I was 10 years ago when I was just starting my career in tech: lots of unknown, feeling ‘imposter syndrome’, questioning my skills (oh yes, once again) and asking myself “Can I really do it?” type of questions more than ever.

1. It’s okay to not feel okay

Changing my career & leaving my comfort zone, going through a remote onboarding, relocating to Prague with my family in the middle of the pandemic, getting used to new life, having both of my parents in the hospital (dealing with huge stress when I have found out that my father has some serious heart problems and had to go through small surgery/treatment to prevent further & more serious problems), deep-diving into software engineering (this time for real!), taking part in Microsoft Hackathon, participating in Bug Bash, getting familiar with ‘Microsoft Teams’ codebase, polishing my JavaScript/TypeScript/React skills, writing my first unit tests, learning about “Internationalization, localization and globalization” (this is part I’m working on), working on bugs and delivering some really important features, blogging, mentoring people… the list could probably go on an on.

And while all this is great as I see how much progress I’ve done in the past year, I forgot about a very important thing: to take care of myself. To simply stop, to take a break. I forgot that taking ‘days off’ in order to take care of a family relative or taking a ‘sick leave’ does not equal taking proper time off to relax.

I’m really grateful to my Manager, Hugh Eland (and also my previous Manager, Juraj Kapsiar), for their help and support – for giving me enough time to get back my mental health on the right track, and for truly caring about me as a team member.

2. “Ela, don’t worry, it’s gonna be OK“

I still remember the first time I saw the ‘Microsoft Teams’ codebase. Happiness and excitement ended with the moment when I looked at VS Code and started scrolling down through all those folders and files. And I was scrolling…and scrolling…and… I think the below gif perfectly captures my reaction:

My first thought: “Are they really sure I’m capable of working on a such big and complex project?”. My colleague from the team who was also my onboarding Buddy (and my mentor), Sergii Mykhailov, must have seen that expression on my face as he started calming me down: “Don’t worry, all will be fine”.

And that was true: Throughout the year I had many moments where I experienced the same type of feeling. And there was always someone from my team that I could talk to about it. No judgment. Always a lot of understanding & support.

3. Don’t try to learn it all at once, take it step by step

As a Mentor, I am always telling my mentees: “Whenever you’re stepping out of your comfort zone, whenever you’re learning something new, give yourself time and space. It’s impossible to know it all, take it step by step”.

The truth is: I knew what I should (and shouldn’t) be doing, I knew that I cannot put pressure on myself, and know everything from day one (or two). I knew it all because I am helping people who are going through a career change, want to build their personal brand online, or need help with career development. But somehow, the “I knew it” wasn’t working for me for quite some time.

I’ve recently met with one of my colleagues from Microsoft’s Engineering Recruitment team and we both agreed that it’s so much easier to help others, advise them, boost their morale, but when it comes to ourselves, we’re our “worst advisors” – we know what we shouldn’t be doing, yet we end up doing it. And it takes a lot of time/conversations to stop it.

4. Knock, knock, it’s me, your imposter syndrome

Being in recruitment for so many years, knowing what to do, always having plan A to Z ready, growing others, being one of very senior Talent Sourcers and experienced member of the engineering recruitment team. To be honest I couldn’t even remember when was the last time I felt imposter syndrome. I think I forgot how it feels.

And that strange feeling became my ‘best friend’ from almost week 1 in my new role. I couldn’t deal with it for a few months – whenever I felt like I know something, then another task/new feature/new area was coming and I was back to feeling “stupid”, “not knowing how to code”, “not knowing anything”.

I overcame it with many conversations and pair programming: talking with my Manager, colleagues about how I feel, looking at how they code, tackle the problems, solve tasks has helped me a lot! Remember, people don’t have a crystal ball, can’t read minds, and won’t be able to help you if you don’t tell them about how you feel.

5. You’re not starting from scratch

Something that I had to remind myself over and over again: while I did a career change and started working in a completely new area I’m not starting from scratch. In fact, I’m adding another type of skills (in my case those are tech ones) to what I already know and learned while working in tech recruitment.

I’m really curious to see where it will bring me 🙂

6. Finding my rhythm in a new role

This was probably one of the hardest things: something that takes years to develop can’t be undone overnight. Recruitment has completely different working pace which I got used to. When I switched into a software engineering role I kind of thought that what worked there would also be useful here or that it will come naturally.

Unfortunately, it didn’t and I’ve struggled a lot until I realized that I had to stop working like I was used to for so many years and find a new rhythm. I’m still learning what works best for me, but I’m definitely on a good path.

7. “Why you’re not celebrating?”

I had a chat with one of my Mentors some time ago. We were talking about how it’s going, how I’m feeling, do I enjoy being a Software Engineer and how do I like my new life in Prague. At some point, he asked me: “Ela, I see something is happening. Look how much you’ve accomplished, look where you are. You should be proud! So why don’t you celebrate?“

That was the first time someone has asked me this question and it really hit me. Because it was so true: I was so into ‘learning mode’, dealing with pandemic and all personal stuff that I completely forgot to celebrate. I had to hear that from someone else to realize that instead of feeling proud, happy, and enjoying my work, I was focusing my time&energy on what I still don’t know and what I need to learn.

From that moment on I promised myself that I’ll be celebrating all my wins, no matter how small they might be. My tip: Write down in your notebook all things you’ve learned on that particular day/week/month – you might be surprised how much you already know!

8. What you bring to the team

It’s important to realize that each and every one of us is unique and brings different perspectives. You might not be the most senior person in the room, you might have a non-traditional career path, but it shouldn’t stop you from sharing your ideas. The experience you’re bringing from your previous job/role can help you look at things from a different angle and notice things others won’t see/think about.

Thanks for reading & have a nice day,
Ela
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Connect with me: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

How to look for a job?

Ela Moscicka — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 07:36:40 +0000

Looking for a job is not an easy task, and sometimes sending CVs might not be enough. It’s good to have a plan thanks to which you’ll increase your chances of getting a job!

1. Make a list of companies you would like to work in

Sounds simple and obvious? Yes, if you know the market and companies that play key roles in it. Otherwise, you’ll need to spend some extra time on making good research.

Check their websites, blogs, Facebook & Twitter accounts to see what they’re working on. This will help you understand if you can be a “good fit” with your skills and if they might be the right choice for you.

2. Visit companies’ career websites

Not every company publishes job offers on popular job boards (like pracuj.pl for Poland or HH.ru for Russia) so make sure you visit your Dream Company website. By doing this you can be sure that you won’t miss any opportunity. What is more, the CV you send will be stored in a database and can be found also in the future.

This is what happened to me. I was satisfied with my job and didn’t have a reason to change anything. I made a list of my Dream Companies (“would be great to work there in the future!”) and decided to apply to one of them*. Back then I got an email saying something like: “thank you for applying, we will keep your CV for the future”. A few months passed and I got a call from that company. They told me that they’ve found my CV in a database and have a role in which I could be interested. I got an invitation for interviews, passed them, and joined the company!
(* Don’t be afraid to apply even if you think you don’t meet 100% requirements).

3. Didn’t find a role that you could apply for or didn’t receive any feedback after applying?

This is not the end, believe me! Visit LinkedIn (international market), and look for a Recruiter/Talent Sourcer that works currently at the company you would like to work in.

“Recruiter“, “Researcher“, “Recruitment Consultant“, “Talent Sourcer“, “Staffing Consultant” – these are some of the examples of keywords you can use to find them (* you can also look for Engineers working at those companies).

4. What next?

Reach to that person directly explaining who you are and why you’re contacting them. Don’t forget to have an updated profile before you send a message – here you can find my tips for making the most out of your LinkedIn profile.

There’s nothing wrong with asking for help and/or advice. This way you also get first-hand information: “If the role you applied for is still open? Or maybe they changed the requirements and now they’re looking for someone more experienced? I didn’t find a role I could apply for but would like to work in your company – do you consider people with my expertise?“. Do not be afraid to ask a question.

Avoid one of the most common mistakes: reaching out with a general/not personalized message (copy/paste send to every Recruiter) that usually goes “Hi, I want to work here, hire me”. People working in recruitment receive tons of messages like this and they rarely will have time to reply to (all of) them. Your chances of getting a reply increase if you show you’ve done some research before & you refer to a particular role(s) or information found online.

* 5. Have updated LinkedIn profile *

I always say how important it is to keep your LinkedIn profile updated. Companies work with external agencies or have their own internal recruitment teams whose job is to go online and look for potential candidates (this is what I was doing as a Microsoft’s Talent Sourcer 😉 ).

The better LinkedIn profile you have = the higher chances are someone will contact you about a job opportunity.

6. Share news on your social media profile(s)

Have already a social media presence (don’t forget about LinkedIn)? Then make sure to write a post including the most essential information: what type of role you’re looking for, location, start date, tech stack & more.

Don’t just write “I’m looking for a job, if anyone knows companies that are hiring now, please let me know”. While this type of message could work, not everyone will have time to visit your profile and figure out what might be interesting for you. Therefore, your post should already include some of your preferences – thanks to this you’re “helping people help you”.

7. Networking

Make a list of people who can help you and reach out to them (again, make sure to tailor your message). Or maybe you know someone who can recommend you for a role in the company they’re currently employed? You can also ask your network to help you and spread the word about your job search.

As you can see sending a CV is just one of many ways of looking for a job. Which one is your favorite one / worked best for you?

Thanks for reading & have a nice day,
Ela
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Connect with me: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

Becoming a Software Engineer at Microsoft [Q and A]

Ela Moscicka — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 07:30:37 +0000

There is a lot of advice online for people interested in joining Microsoft as a Software Engineers. In this post, I decided to share with you the most common questions I’m receiving throughout my career from Developers interested in working at Microsoft, together with my answers.
*please note that the below answers are based on my work experience and refers to Engineering teams in Europe.

1. I’ve never worked with Microsoft Teams / Dynamics / Bing.com / Office365, etc. products / Microsoft technologies. Can I apply for the Software Engineer role?

Yes! What we’re always looking for are strong programming skills and a passion for technology. You don’t have to know C# / .NET to become a Software Engineer at Microsoft. Our Engineers work with various programming languages & tech stack. I’m part of the Microsoft Teams team and I code in TypeScript.

2. Do I need a certificate in advanced English to work as Software Engineer at Microsoft?

No, you just need to pass the recruitment process in English and be able to work in this language 🙂

3. Can I change teams/locations?

Yes, you can grow your career within MS across different product groups as well as different disciplines if you choose to! I was a Talent Sourcer based in Warsaw and working as part of the EMEA Engineering Recruitment team and now I’m a Software Engineer (I live in Prague). One of my colleagues moved from recruitment to sales team, another one made a switch from software engineering to a PM role.

4. Are working hours at Microsoft flexible or do I have to work 9-5?

Working hours at Microsoft are flexible and it’s up to you how you plan your working day/week.

5. Do you offer visa sponsorship?

Yes, if you require a visa we will help you with the application process.

6. Do you help with relocation?

Yes 🙂

7. I don’t know the local language. Is it a problem?

No, English is the main language used at Microsoft and teams are international and multicultural. I’m based in Prague and as part of the benefits, I’m having Czech lessons once/week (this is totally up to you if you want to learn the local language).

8. What if I apply and then fail the interviews? Can I take part in the recruitment process one more time?

Don’t be afraid to apply! First, you’ll have a call with someone from the recruitment team who will tell you more about the role, the team as well as will help you prepare for the next steps. If you won’t pass the interviews, you can always re-apply in the future (my recommendation: stay in touch with your Recruiter / Talent Sourcer and contact them once you’re ready to try one more time). Some of my candidates made in on the 2nd or even 5th try!

9. Do you hire only Developers with a CS degree? I don’t have one but I already have several years of professional working experience.

This might depend on the team and requirements, but yes, Microsoft is hiring Software Engineers without a CS degree. I don’t have such a degree and I’ve met many candidates who didn’t have it as well when going through a recruitment process.

10. I work only on Mac, so I guess I won’t be a good fit for a Microsoft.

It’s up to you what you’re coding on and yes, you can work on a Mac 😉

11. I’m a C++ / Linux Engineer, do you think there’s a role for me at Microsoft?

Definitely! You can check all openings on our career website.

12. Do you offer internships?

Yes! We have a special section on the career website dedicated to Students and graduates, you’ll find all details here.

13. How do I prepare for a remote interview at Microsoft?

More details will be shared with you by someone from the recruitment team, but you can check some of the general information before you decide to apply and take part in the recruitment process:

-Interview guidance,
-Virtual interviewing,

14. What can I expect during the interview process for a Software Engineer role at Microsoft?

Interviews at Microsoft for software engineering roles check both technical as well as soft/professional skills. Depending on your level of seniority you can expect to receive questions related to e.g., Design, Coding, Testing, Problem solving, Algorithms & Data structures. Always make sure to ask your Recruiter / Talent Sourcer what you should prepare and focus on. Here you can read more about Technical interviewing at Microsoft.

15. I’m a Senior Software Engineer and I’m not interested in becoming a Manager. Do you offer a career path for ICs?

Yes, you can grow your career as an IC from a Junior Software Engineer up to a Distinguished Engineer or even a Technical Fellow.

Interested in joining Microsoft? Make sure to check this post, I’ll be happy to recommend you.

Thanks for reading & have a nice day,
Ela
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Connect with me: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

My journey into software engineering role at Microsoft

Ela Moscicka — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:42:01 +0000

I was thinking about writing this kind of a summary of my journey for quite some time. And even though it is still ongoing, I decided to share it as I truly believe that “sharing is caring”: maybe it will inspire someone else to follow their dreams, maybe someone is also learning how to code and is having one of the “Omg, I don’t know anything and can’t code” moments. Whatever the reason is, I hope you’ll enjoy reading it 😉

How it all started…

I think first time when I was super happy about being able to build something on my own was high school. During one of Informatics classes teacher introduced QBasic to us. We were practicing it and I decided to solve one of his tasks he prepared for us. It took me quite some time (and a lot of lines of code) but in the end it worked! I showed it to him, and he quickly made changes: my code was rewritten to just few lines. I cannot remember why I didn’t continue back then. What I remember though is the fact that I was considering choosing mathematics as one of the exams for my secondary school certificate, but in the end, I picked geography. Why? I discussed my plans with one of my teachers and I heard from her: “you better go with geography; it will be easier”.

Second time was during “Rails Girls Warsaw” Ruby on Rails workshops (if you never heard of them go and check what they’re doing). It was the time when I was already working in recruitment industry. I was super curious to learn more about that community and ROR but wasn’t seriously thinking about changing my career. Here I’d like to pause for a moment and say huge “THANK YOU” to our Mentor: Olga Grabek! 🙂

Everything changed when I joined Microsoft in August 2014. Working with passionate people, on the projects using latest technologies made me feel that it would be good to get better understanding of how particular languages and programs works – not only know theory. And as I am primarily hiring Software Engineers and working closely with Managers who are building/growing their teams, I decided to take next step.

Learning through online courses

Codecademy:

I was already actively using Twitter at the time I decided “I want to learn how to code!“ and I think thanks to it I found out about Codecademy.

Based on my experience I can highly recommend it and together with freeCodeCamp they’re just perfect (in my opinion 😉) for all beginners. They are free and user friendly: you do not have to install anything; you just log in into your account and write code directly there!

Udacity:

At some point I felt that it would be good to try something else. Thanks to social media (again:) I learnt about Udacity. I decided to give it a try and it was very good decision: while Codecademy was mostly about reading text and doing tasks, here you have videos with topics being explained by industry experts. Depending on language you want to learn or “path” you want complete you might be doing some coding on their website or using your IDE. There is a lot of free content available, but they also have some paid Nanodegree programs.

Udemy:

They offer a lot of courses – the trick is everyone can create content and become “an expert”. I would recommend you do some search online before investing money (even if it is only 10 euro) into something that might be not worth it.

Thanks to being part of #100DaysOfCode, #301DaysOfCode, #WomenInTech community on Twitter I was able to select great courses. When I started feeling more comfortable with coding and wanted to finally understand Algorithms and Data Structures, I bought “JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures Masterclass” course by Colt Steele. I finished it long time ago, but as I want to refresh my knowledge will be going through it again soon.

Videos on Youtube

There is some interesting content out there! As I’m using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and React I often check what new videos have Brad from Traversy Media and The Net Ninja uploaded. Thanks to Brad I discovered Materialize and built my personal website based on it! 🙂

Meetups and Tech events

It can be fun to attend them! Not only you have a chance to learn more about various topics, but you also have an opportunity to network (NEVER miss networking -> that is often the best part of every meetup or tech event!).

Don’t be afraid if you don’t know anyone: I recently met girl who came to the meetup because she had free time during the evening. Her background was not tech and she told me she doesn’t understand what speakers are telling about, but she likes the atmosphere and people.

And never think “you’re not smart enough” to attend them. When in summer 2018 I noticed on Twitter that WarsawJS is organizing regularly meetups (every month, if you’re in Warsaw join us!) I just thought “Ok, I’m going”. I knew that few people I am following on social media will be there, so it was a little bit easier for me but believe me: I had NO IDEA what they are talking about.

There are still cases when I feel like this, but the more I am into coding and going to meetups/tech event, the easier it is for me to understand them.

Programming Workshops

WarsawJS community is HUGE. And organizers (shout out to: Kasia Grabowska, Piotr Kowalski and Piotr Zientara) are not limiting themselves to meetup only: they’ve also programming workshops.

I was super excited to go on my very first workshop (it was about “unit testing”)! If you want to know how I felt sitting there among all other people who were already working as Developers and knew what do to have a look at this pic below (I just love it <3)

Did I know what to do? NO. Was I lost? Yes. But as group was really supportive (as well as our Trainer Rafał Pocztarski) and I’m the type of person that whenever I don’t know something I ask until I get the answer, I was able to understand a lot in the end:) I even made pull request to GitHub repository that improved frontend part of the application we have been working on!

Outcome: I liked that workshop that much that I decided to go on another one..and another…and… In total I took part in 7! And I was even able to help others when they were stuck or lost during coding.

Here’s full list if you are interested what I was learning about.

Working on my own projects (social media, mentoring, GitHub)

That was probably the most difficult part. Online courses, YouTube videos, workshops are great because you are following someone else. They tell you what to do and how to build app. But when you are about to start building something on your own, that is when “so how do I write that code” thoughts are coming.

I consider myself super lucky because thanks to my activity on social media (one more time let’s mention Twitter here;) I “met” many great people who were helping me overcome many challenges (Wassim Chegham – thank you for your patience, you saved me many times!).

Another benefit of being active online is community. If you’re using Twitter I’d advise you to follow i.e.: #100DaysOfCode, #301DaysOfCode, #CodeNewbie. You’ll see what they’re working on, you’ll understand that you’re not alone and you’re not the only one struggling with writing code.

2 years ago, I decided that “I want to become a Software Engineer and I need a mentor!”. I discussed that idea with my colleague from Engineering Recruitment team, Milena Iwańska and she asked me “Why don’t you find a mentor at Microsoft?”. If you think I was 100% supportive of this at that time, you are wrong. I was full of doubts and wasn’t sure someone will be willing to mentor me (2 years ago I was just starting seriously learning coding, so let’s say I knew “zero”).

Long story short: in the end I found 2 mentors at Microsoft (one of them was my former candidate and we’re still continuing mentoring sessions – thank you Martin Petrla, I wouldn’t made it that far without you!). I also learned what mentoring means to me and that I cannot imagine having sessions with someone who does not believe in me.

The more time I spent working on my projects, the more I believe in myself. I keep track of all my coding/learning activity on my GitHub. The project I’m most proud of: I was able to built from scratch my very first Chrome extension with Martin’s help (you can find it here: ).

Challenges

Those are the most important challenges I had (or still have) to overcome while I’m following my dream to become a Software Engineer:

Changing career path & switching to another role is not easy and does not happen overnight. You need to put a lot of energy, time and passion into it, otherwise you will not succeed.
Combing full-time role & learning how to code – I wish I would have more time to code and that way make faster progress, but I’ve “9-5 job” and family. I also need to find time to relax and take care of myself. And sometimes I am just too tired to code and not opening my laptop for a week (the longest break I had was around 2 months).
Believing in myself – we all have ups and downs. I had few moments when I wanted to quit, because I did not know how to write to code or I considered myself “too stupid to learn coding”. Being part of #100DaysOfCode, #301DaysOfCode, #CodeNewbie communities is great, but you can sometimes feel like you are doing less (or less cool things) than others. In my case I was also comparing myself to people already working at Microsoft as Software Engineers and believe me, I felt frustrated many time (luckily that was mostly in the beginning and I am not doing it now).
Resources – there are many resources available and that is great. At the same time, it can be hard to pick the right one.
Trying to learn everything – I always like to get deeper understanding of how particular things works, how they are connected, but at some point, I just had to focus on one area and stop jumping between topics.
Haters – they are present and no matter how hard you are trying, there always will be people trying to put you down. Below are just a couple of thigs I have been hearing from completely anonymous people as well as from people who know me:
“Frontend is not serious programming”

“She’s just nice face looking for attention”

“Hahaha, good luck”

Learnings

Below are some learning I want to share with you:

Be open about learning new thingsela – as I had moments when I doubted my skills, it took me some time to start being open about my plans and career aspiration. Since I became more confident I started sharing my coding journey on LinkedIn, Twitter and also on Instagram. I believe it might be helpful for other people following their dreams 😉
Track your coding progress – this is what I decided to do. GitHub is perfect place for that. Also, you never know who might find your repositories useful!
Attend meetups/tech events and programming workshop, be active on social media – all those things will help you on your journey!
Don’t compare yourself to others – what you see is just a part of “their journey”. You don’t know how they life looks like or how much time they have to learn. Find your own pace.
Taking a break is important – don’t put a pressure on yourself that you have to code every day. If you feel that you need a break just do it. Otherwise you might soon find yourself frustrated.
Never give up – progress is progress no matter how small. Some people will change role in few months, others will spend a year or more to achieve their goal.

This was my very personal story about becoming a Software Engineer, I hope it will have a “happy ending” 🙂 Maybe you are also considering career change? Or you’re currently learning programming? Leave your comment 😉

[UPDATE 25.03.2020: My story has a happy ending and in a few months I’ll be joining “Microsoft Teams” Prague team as a Software Engineer!!! Read more here and here.

article was originally published on LinkedIn (11th November 2019)

Thanks for reading,
Ela

Check my blog for more career-related articles: https://elaintech.com/

14 TIPS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE

Ela Moscicka — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:31:31 +0000

I spent more than 9 years in recruitment and I’m pretty sure I have seen thousands of resumes/CVs/LinkedIn profiles during my career 🙂 Even though I’m no longer hiring, as a Software Engineer, I still have opportunities to do reviews (e.g. as part of my initiative where I’m helping #WomenInTech – check my Twitter and Instagram for more details).

Below are my tips for getting the most out of your LinkedIn profile (based on my profile ).

1. Background photo
What kind of picture you can put there? I’ve seen people adding the logo of companies they’re part of, photos where they’re together with their teams, companies’ motto/slogan. It can be also something more personal like the city they live in or favorite tech stack 😉

If you have many social media accounts use it to showcase them. The same goes for having your blog or YouTube channel – this is extra space that is visible and can help you stand out!

As you can see, I have information about my blog set as a background photo. There’s a high chance every person visiting my profile will notice it and decides to check the website (Pro tip: use this approach on every social media that enables setting background photo, this will help you build/promote your personal brand).

2. Profile photo
You can find many statistics online showing that users who have profile photos are getting more views and the ratio of their LinkedIn invites being accepted is higher (I’m always a little bit hesitant to accept invites from people who don’t have profile photo as it might be some fake account). It also helps you look professional and increases the credibility of your profile.

You don’t need a professional photographer. Find a good background, light, put the smile on and that’s it. I took most of my profile photos myself using my mobile. The current one is also taken by me:

3. Your full name + customizing your public profile URL
This one is important, especially if you have special characters in your name/surname. My full name is Elżbieta Mościcka, but as I am working with people from all around the world, I knew that this might be difficult to remember or pronounce for some of them. Therefore, I decided to go with a short version of my first name: Ela Mościcka. Small, but really powerful change, I highly recommend you doing the same 🙂

When it comes to customizing your LinkedIn profile URL all details can be found here, but the most important part to remember is:
it is a “must-have” if you have special characters in your name. My auto-generated URL based on my name (Ela Mościcka) was something like this:

All because of “ś” in my surname. The problem with this is not only lack of readability, but something much worse: imagine* situation where you add this kind of a link to your CV when applying for a job, and a person who clicks it will see the “profile not found” page!
(*not “imagine”, this happened to some of my candidates as I was always clicking through all links in their resume making sure that when CV will be sent to Hiring Managers, all will be fine – I was always double-checking and letting them know if something wasn’t working as expected).

Now it’s https://www.linkedin.com/in/elamoscicka/ (all I did was changing “ś” to “s”).

4. Headline
Don’t leave this space empty: it’s the first thing people see BEFORE they decide to click on your profile for more details.

Use this space as an opportunity to showcase the most important things for you / the ones you’re most proud of.

If you’re e.g., an Engineer who also does some community activities (being a speaker, mentor, having own blog, podcast, etc.) don’t be afraid to mention it in the Headline as well.

5. Location
Add it if you want your profile to be found by others (Pro tip: Recruiters are often searching by locations when looking for candidates).

6. “Open to” section
This one is powerful when you’re looking for new opportunities. Why? When Recruiters/Sourcers will be using “LinkedIn Recruiter” license and looking for candidates, they have the option to start from those that have “open to” on their profiles. This means your profile will be viewed before candidates who don’t have that option enabled.

You can specify what kind of work you’re open to by selecting “Job titles”, “Job locations”, mark if you’re open to remote work, what is your start date and type of jobs you’d consider (full-time, contract, part-time, internship, temporary).

Choose who can see you’re open to work – all LinkedIn members or only Recruiters:

7. About
Many people are doing a mistake and just copy/pasting things from their Experience section. Don’t do this.

Highlight some of your achievements or areas you’re most passionate about. When looking for a job write here what you’re interested in / what you’d be open to (both in terms of tech stack and roles/products, etc.). This will help you attract the right people to your network 🙂

8. Featured
Have posts/information you want others to find easily? Make sure to add them to this section. You can then reorder them however you want.

9. Experience
Keep it updated with Title, Company, Location, Start/End date, and Description. You can also add Media (external documents, photos, sites, videos, or presentations).

Not sure how your Experience section should look like? Feel free to check mine or the people I’ve mentioned here .

10. Education
While adding this section don’t forget about the exact dates. I’ve seen many profiles without a Start/End date and some Recruiters might be using these criteria when hiring e.g. intern roles.

11. Certifications, Skills & Endorsements, Recommendations, Accomplishments
I believe that every additional activity you’re doing brings extra value, so if you have something to add here, great, do it. It might be volunteering experience at programming workshops, courses you did in your free time, acting as a mentor & more.

12. Languages
Be honest and don’t add the language(s) you don’t know. Don’t say you’re fluent/native speaker when your level is intermediate/communicative. Your skills will be later checked by Recruiters/team members and not saying the truth can easily exclude you from the recruitment process.

13. Create your LinkedIn profile in English language
By keeping your main LinkedIn profile in the English language, you increase your chances of being found by someone from the recruitment team. Check here how you can set it in an additional language.

14. General Advice
ALWAYS keep your profile updated, you never know who might find it interesting and reach out to you 😉

Thanks for reading & have a nice day,
Ela

Check my blog for more career-related articles: https://elaintech.com/

DEV Community: Ela Moscicka

Career change: my 1st year as a Software Engineer at Microsoft

1. It’s okay to not feel okay

2. “Ela, don’t worry, it’s gonna be OK“

3. Don’t try to learn it all at once, take it step by step

4. Knock, knock, it’s me, your imposter syndrome

5. You’re not starting from scratch

6. Finding my rhythm in a new role

7. “Why you’re not celebrating?”

8. What you bring to the team

How to look for a job?

1. Make a list of companies you would like to work in

2. Visit companies’ career websites

3. Didn’t find a role that you could apply for or didn’t receive any feedback after applying?

4. What next?

*** 5. Have updated LinkedIn profile ***

6. Share news on your social media profile(s)

7. Networking

Becoming a Software Engineer at Microsoft [Q and A]

1. I’ve never worked with Microsoft Teams / Dynamics / Bing.com / Office365, etc. products / Microsoft technologies. Can I apply for the Software Engineer role?

2. Do I need a certificate in advanced English to work as Software Engineer at Microsoft?

3. Can I change teams/locations?

4. Are working hours at Microsoft flexible or do I have to work 9-5?

5. Do you offer visa sponsorship?

6. Do you help with relocation?

7. I don’t know the local language. Is it a problem?

8. What if I apply and then fail the interviews? Can I take part in the recruitment process one more time?

9. Do you hire only Developers with a CS degree? I don’t have one but I already have several years of professional working experience.

10. I work only on Mac, so I guess I won’t be a good fit for a Microsoft.

11. I’m a C++ / Linux Engineer, do you think there’s a role for me at Microsoft?

12. Do you offer internships?

13. How do I prepare for a remote interview at Microsoft?

14. What can I expect during the interview process for a Software Engineer role at Microsoft?

15. I’m a Senior Software Engineer and I’m not interested in becoming a Manager. Do you offer a career path for ICs?

My journey into software engineering role at Microsoft

How it all started…

Learning through online courses

Videos on Youtube

Meetups and Tech events

Programming Workshops

Working on my own projects (social media, mentoring, GitHub)

Challenges

Learnings

14 TIPS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE

* 5. Have updated LinkedIn profile *