DEV Community

Discussion on: How to be a junior software developer? Tips for students to grab a good job, what was your story?

Collapse
 
lizaewilde profile image
Liza Wilde

The best advice I can give to someone looking for a junior dev position is to focus more on your portfolio and Github accounts than your resume. In my experience (as someone who was hired, and as someone who now does the hiring) I look more at your project experience and what you've been able to create, than what is on your resume sheet.

So if you don't have a decent number of items in your portfolio at the moment, I'd suggest working on a few side projects to add in. They don't have to be big or crazy, just show what you can do and what you're interested in doing. It's always nice to see that an applicant has interests in growing outside of work as well as within the position.

Collapse
 
rusrushal13 profile image
Rushal Verma

Ohh that's cool. Something small could have so much impact on one's profile. I don't know that.
Thanks :)

Collapse
 
ben profile image
Ben Halpern

I agree. I think a good resumé might be thought of a lagging indicator of a great portfolio. Good projects say a lot about yourself. I'll also add that regardless of your area of software development, basic design skills go a long way and anybody can learn them. Even if it doesn't ultimately matter, if your projects provide a good experience, the evaluators will favor them more.

We're humans who don't always approach things "logically", so even if you're going to be working really low-level, consciously or not, I think people will evaluate the makers of well-designed projects more favorably.

Collapse
 
lizaewilde profile image
Liza Wilde

+1

So true. Thanks for adding that in Ben!