Job search points: Improve the competitiveness of software development job search for fresh graduates
Many developers who are eager to work have solid theoretical knowledge but lack experience in business development, which makes it difficult for them to gain favor from employers. In this article, senior recruiter Paddy Sherry provides some practical advice to help you increase your chances of getting a development job.
For any fresh graduate in computer or IT major, finding the first full-time job without experience in business development can be the biggest challenge in your career.
Just graduated from a technical major, it is easy to think that you have mastered all the knowledge of software development and can easily get your ideal job. You may have achieved outstanding results on your degree exams, completed impressive graduation projects, and learned cutting-edge technologies and JavaScript libraries.
However, unless you have demonstrated extensive programming skills since your mid-teens, have established relationships with your employer, or have completed an internship with your company, it will take time and effort to get your first job opportunity.
Why is it so difficult?
Real world web and software development is completely different from the environment you study in school.
You will work on a team, and while you may have completed a 12-week project with some classmates in college, there are much more variables at work. Each team member must deliver results and work closely with other members. This means understanding the product and the parts you want to build, submitting high-quality code that meets coding standards to the code base, delivering your features on time, and ensuring that it works properly in all production environments, not just in yours On the local machine.
The existing production system is in place, so it is very difficult to try to join in and start writing code right away, even for the most experienced developers. It takes time to learn the project structure, understand the code written by other developers, and commit it doesn't break changes elsewhere. Companies spend time and money looking for new employees, so they don’t want to invest more energy in coaching junior developers in the first six months of their internship.
In your own projects and university assignments, errors are tolerated, but not in a commercial development team. The company’s funds are closely related to every deployment, so if you ruin something, they will face loss of reputation and revenue until the problem is resolved. Every production release requires testing, safety, scalability, and high performance. Experience is required to understand all areas involved in a software product and what needs to be tested during development. It is impossible to have when starting your career.
With that being said, when you find a vacant position for junior developer, there are some things you can do to give yourself an advantage over other applicants.
Determine the language you are best at
Given the breadth of information, computer courses can only slightly involve web development, software engineering, databases, networks, user experience, architecture and business development. One common mistake job seekers make is to list all of this as a field where they are good at.
Any recruiter who reads "Java, C#, Python, PHP, Ruby, Javascript" will immediately jump to the next resume. You may be good at one or two languages, but early in your career it is impossible to be above the beginner's level of other languages.
Narrow your skills and determine the language you are good at.
Back-end languages are not prone to change, so if you want to enter the software industry, you can choose a strict language such as Java, C# or Python. If your goal is web development, choose PHP or Ruby. This is the foundation on which you will build your career.
Combining this with some front-end JavaScript knowledge, you can position yourself as a developer who can provide front-end expertise.
You reduce the skills you claim to have, but at the same time show that you are more focused while still giving you the possibility of choosing to specialize in front-end or back-end development later in your career.
Employers like this flexibility in their workforce.
Build your portfolio website
The interviewer won't ask about the courses you are studying in college because it's easy to pass these courses without really understanding the topic. What they want to know is experience, and while you may not have much experience, it can be easily obtained by building your own portfolio website.
It doesn't matter even if you don't have anything to list on the portfolio page. Registering a domain name, setting up a host, installing a CMS, creating an account, submitting it to a search engine, and adding Google Analytics are all important parts of building a website. At this stage, it doesn’t even matter to get traffic and make the website successful.
If you build a website, your friends and family will most likely know people who need to build a website, so there is a chance to add to your portfolio. This gives you the opportunity to learn from the initial mistakes and work for others. This brings you closer to real-world development experience while still providing a relatively risk-free environment to enhance your skills.
Then you have some experience to talk about in the interview, and if they think you can handle some small websites for them, you have a better chance to impress the interview group.
Create a product or plug-in
You will encounter various problems when building your portfolio website, which can usually be solved through plugins or JavaScript libraries.
However, if there is no solution available, or if your use case is different and you need some customization, then other developers are likely to be in the same position as well.
Try to find a way to solve this problem and package it into something other developers can use, such as WordPress plugins or public GitHub repositories.
This takes you a step further, as you have shifted from developing independent projects for yourself to considering the needs of other products and engineers, use cases, and how your code fits into a larger code base.
This is very valuable to the interviewer because it is closer to the real development team where you will handle a small portion of the large application and make sure your code integration does not cause problems.
A nice plus is that you can charge a small fee for your plugin and get some compensation for your efforts.
Participate in online communities
In addition to technical competence, employers also want to see evidence that you really like your work, because the development field is changing so quickly that you have to invest your personal time to improve your knowledge. You always need to understand changing trends and emerging frameworks or tools.
The best way is to read blogs and software websites. When you accumulate enough knowledge to contribute, start commenting on them and providing your ideas. If you can provide a solution to solve problems for others, your social credit will soar.
You may think employers won't care about this when screening candidates, but that's not the case. It is not uncommon for companies to check your LinkedIn, GitHub, Stack Overflow profiles to see if you are committed to your career. Top teams will even require applicants to have the lowest Stack Overflow reputation, because nothing proves your knowledge better than other engineers’ thumbs up with the fix you suggest.
Publish all code publicly on GitHub
Posted all your code online for viewing around the world. This allows you to accept criticism and analysis, but peer review is the key quality assurance tool software teams use to eliminate errors. If you get used to this early, you will show that you won’t have any problems with code reviewing in a business environment and you will be constructively accepting feedback.
It also gives the technical leader the opportunity to view the code you write. It's very easy to talk about all the great content you build and the problem you solve, but it adds a layer of trust to your development capabilities when advanced developers can view the source code.
Your potential team members also have the opportunity to check the quality of your code, the design patterns you use, and how clean your submission is. Most importantly, it shows that you are familiar with version control systems and how they form the core of software products and team building.
Conclusion
Getting a first development job without experience after graduation is a difficult task, but there are some proven ways to improve your skills and attract the attention of your employer.
Select a backend and front-end language, build a website, and then build a plugin. Follow the blog and comment on them and don't be afraid of what people will say. Put everything you do on GitHub and try out all the novel tools.
Remember that everyone is in the same position as you, with the same number of resources and opportunities. Follow the key points in this guide, stay committed and be patient and you will eventually get a highly paid job opportunity.
While you lay the foundation for your first job, it is also worth looking for a development mentor. Developers with mentors enter the workplace faster, and once in the workplace, research shows that they are promoted five times more frequently than developers who do not have mentors.
FAQ on getting web development work without experience
Building portfolios is essential to gaining web development work, even without professional experience. Start by creating a personal project. These projects can be simple websites or complex web applications. You can also contribute to open source projects or engage in freelancing. Show your project on platforms like GitHub. Remember, the goal is to show your skills and creativity to potential employers.
Web development requires a combination of technical skills and soft skills. Technical skills include understanding of programming languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and frameworks such as React or Angular. It is also important to understand databases, version control systems, and responsive design. Soft skills include problem solving, communication and teamwork.
In addition to creating your own projects, you can also gain hands-on experience by contributing to open source projects. This not only helps you learn and improve your skills, but also provides exposure to real-world projects. Participating in coding challenges and hackathons can also provide valuable experience.
The network is crucial in any industry, including web development. It can open doors for you to other opportunities you may not find. Join industry gatherings, join online communities, and connect with professionals on platforms like LinkedIn.
In the web developer job interview, you can expect technical and behavioral issues. Technical questions will test your knowledge and skills in web development. Behavioral issues will evaluate your problem-solving skills, communication skills, and how you work on the team.
Web development is a rapidly developing field. To stay updated, follow industry blogs, join online communities, and take online courses. Regular practice of your skills can also help you keep up with the latest trends.
Yes, you can get a web development job without a degree. Many employers prioritize skills and experience over formal education. However, having a degree in a related field can give you a better advantage.
To stand out, focus on demonstrating your skills, creativity and passion for web development. A strong portfolio, related certificates and a well-crafted resume can have a big impact. Also, don't underestimate the power of a well-written cover letter.
Some common mistakes include not adjusting your resume and cover letter to your job, not demonstrating your skills effectively, and not being fully prepared for an interview. Also, avoid applying for jobs that do not match your skills and interests.
Web development has excellent career development potential. As you accumulate experience, you can be promoted to senior web developer, project manager and other positions, and even start your own web development company. Continuous learning and improving skills can help you progress in your career.
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