How to Get Your First Opportunity Without Work Experience

#beginners #learning #career

Yesterday, I was a panelist at a tech event, and I was asked some questions which I was able to answer, but due to time constraints, I couldn't say everything. After the event, I had multiple people reach out asking different questions. Then I thought, instead of answering 30 people individually, let me actually write about this. I believe this will really help you, as it comes from what I have experienced, not just some generic facts.

Firstly, I was asked what three things would help someone just starting out land a strong opportunity within the next three months. I'll buttress this with things I've experienced, as well as what other developers in different sectors and companies have experienced, and I'll try to merge everything here.

What you want to start with is research, and this is one of the most important parts because it would be sad if you kept switching from one skill to another without actually building on those skills. You'll find out that three months have already passed, and there's nothing to actually show for it. Today, you are a software engineer, tomorrow you are a PM or backend engineer, and people can't even trust you with one job because you are all over the place without stability in a niche. You can know a lot of languages and frameworks, but you have to be recognized for something. From there, you can stretch into other things, and this is where research comes in. You have to dedicate time to researching your interests. It is perfectly fine if you spend a week researching or reach out to 1,000 people. Just make sure you pick something and have a goal for it for a month or two, being very consistent with it, coding every day, designing every day, or managing products every day. Whatever you pick, do it diligently, and you will get better.

Don't just consume information, build on it. Whatever aspect you pick, be practical and put out whatever you do when you are done. It doesn't have to be perfect, but from your first release, you will get feedback that will help you refine it until it becomes excellent. Most times, it doesn't get excellent in one try.

Now that you have picked a skill and you are consistent, know that AI is your friend. Once you get good at the basics and understand the architecture of what you are building, you can also let AI support you with learning, time efficiency, and other aspects. But make sure you are strong to some extent, and remember, AI can also help you become stronger by teaching you at your own pace. The most important thing is being consistent and practical with whatever you do.

You have crossed the stage of picking a niche, and you have also been practical. Now, you want to get opportunities, and the truth about your first opportunity is that it often comes from people you know, people who have seen your work, and people who want to trust you. But the thing is, if you have something to offer, you will get an opportunity. It could be volunteering, a hackathon, or even an internship, but you will get that first opportunity once you have gone through the process of getting practical with a skill.

I'll list some ways you can get these opportunities based on experience:

From hackathons: There are hackathons that pick some participants to become interns, e.g., GTCO, Cavista, and many others. So you are not just going for the money but also for networking opportunities that can help you. Most times, what helps you is having something to talk about, a project you have built or something you have done.
From communities: You can't know everyone in a community, and some people in these communities are actually there to help you, but they can only help if they know what you do and trust you. So you want to have a mindset of giving, not just receiving, in these communities. Help answer questions, share what you've built, and have conversations that show you are skilled.
From family and friends: This is one of the easiest because if you consistently post what you do, when someone needs someone who does what you do, you will be the first person on their mind, and these are people who already know you. So you want to let people know what you do and also solve problems that are impactful. This is the part where you put yourself out there through your WhatsApp status, Snapchat story, Twitter, LinkedIn, anywhere. You will see people notice you, even if they don't engage with what you do at first. If you keep pushing, you will land an opportunity, and it will help you even more.
From events, not necessarily tech events: You will meet people physically, and you should always be ready to tell strangers what you do. It will really help you and push you very far. Connect with people, smile at events, make sure you help in any way you can, and don't feel bad when people turn you down. Instead, use it as motivation to keep pushing because when you get bigger, people will find it hard to ignore you.

There are many other ways I can list to put yourself out there. In your school, church, mosque, anywhere you find yourself is a marketplace to sell yourself.

Finally, you want to start applying. Have a resumethat includes at least one or two projects you have worked on, skills you have, hackathons, or anything you have participated in. You don't have to have worked at big tech or somewhere extraordinary to get your first opportunity. Just properly arrange your experience in a document and keep applying. Rejection is something you can't prevent from happening, but rejections are stepping stones to your wins. Keep applying for jobs, cold-email people, message founders or other people, apply for hackathons, push yourself beyond your limits, and see how God will bless your efforts.

In conclusion, I assure you that if you keep pushing, you will get there. You want to make sure you have good friends to push you, a relationship with God to guide you because that is one of the best cheat codes and something that has helped me, and people around you who have done what you are planning to do so you can ask questions.

Feel free to message people, ask questions, and push yourself beyond your limits. They might ignore you, but out of 1,000 trials, there is a very high probability that 1% will answer, and 1% is enough.

I hope this helps, and I wish you the best, whether you are just starting out, in the process, or just reading for fun. Good luck!