It depends on what career-stage they're currently in. If they're unemployed and asking for advice they're probably more on the junior side, have been applying for a tonne of jobs and getting rejected without clear reasons. Here's what I would say to such a dev:
Dealing with Rejection
don't push too hard for "reasons" when you get rejected for a position. This is a waste of time because:
there could be any number of factors from "office-politics" to "our onboarding can't handle junior devs right now"
it probably won't be too fruitful to mould yourself to that particular company.
your biggest advantage is your energy and your enthusiasm, use that. Apply to smaller places that are understaffed and looking for people who can switch between many hats.
Improving Communication
Often times the thing that holds back junior devs is communication weakness.
The normal advice is to read a lot, but in software I'd say that high-quality argumentation is more important than grammar or vocabulary
Join a debate club, be more thoughtful when arguing on the internet, try and listen more and really understand what people are saying.
Do more writing; whenever you watch something try writing a summary of it and publish that as well.
If the standard job-route isn't working, you might be tempted to look into freelancing but that can be a minefield in and of itself.
My recommendation would be to also approach local businesses or reach out to friends and family to see if they have any paid work to get you started.For example you can ask everyone: "Do you know anyone looking for a website or an app?", instead of "Are you looking...". That way you can ask literally everyone you know for help, and not feel like you're pressuring anyone to help you.1
These are the thoughts that come to me off the top of my head. Above all, stay calm, make sure you're getting enough sleep, and use this down-time to get in touch with some hobbies and maybe catch up with friends that you might've not had time for lately.
All the best. :hug:
Credit for this tactic goes to a GaryVee video btw. :) ↩
It depends on what career-stage they're currently in. If they're unemployed and asking for advice they're probably more on the junior side, have been applying for a tonne of jobs and getting rejected without clear reasons. Here's what I would say to such a dev:
Dealing with Rejection
Improving Communication
Strategy
These are the thoughts that come to me off the top of my head. Above all, stay calm, make sure you're getting enough sleep, and use this down-time to get in touch with some hobbies and maybe catch up with friends that you might've not had time for lately.
All the best. :hug:
Credit for this tactic goes to a GaryVee video btw. :) ↩
This is probably the best comment I've read on dev.to in months. Props to you, sir.
Thank you very much sir. 🙌