How do you survive over a year of rejected applications?

Here is how I hacked a similar situation:

• I built a simple portfolio on github. It was worse than what you have right now. Don't dwell on this because it doesn't matter too much. Like a drop in a cup of water.

• I built a simple website that allowed people to contact me. Yours is not bad, but it needs its own domain. Also do the following changes:

Change this:

Interested?

Whether you are looking to fill a permanent position or just have a side     
project you think I would be a great fit for, you can shoot me an email 
at clstein1@outlook.com. I'd definitely love to hear from you.

To this:

Consulting Services:

I am a software development consultant focusing on Python. I currently 
accepting proposals for Python projects. Email me at clstein1@outlook.com 
to get started.

• I stopped trying to get a job and started looking for consulting gigs. How? Go to indeed.com, type Python and select your area. Then contact all of the consulting companies looking to fill positions. Why consulting? Because they hardly interview you and the pay is better. Don't take less than $60 an hour (that's really cheap for Chicago). This will get your foot in the door, experience, and industry contacts.

• Rinse and repeat that last step.

It is a numbers game for sure. However, consulting through tech staffing companies tilts the odds towards you.

PS. Remove the Aspiring Software Developer title from github. That makes you look weak. You ARE a software developer. No one can or will argue that.

It's tough, but when I was interviewing I really tried to have the mindset that 100 no's and one yes is the same as 0 no's and 1 yes.

Don't stop before you get that yes, but in the meantime you can try getting freelance work for anyone. You can start with super cheap contract/freelance and work up to make more as you continue to interview.

You don't need to come up w/ a side project that has never been done before! This is something that troubled me for soooo long, and then one day, I had real eureka moment. You don't need to come up w/ some genius idea that is completely original or novel. (In fact, if you're trying to come up w/ a business idea, you don't even really want to.)

Do you know how many blogging platforms there are? Or forums? Or task managers? Too many to count.

The point of having a side project is to demonstrate your skills, and not just your coding skills. Having a side project is an opportunity to talk excitedly (and passionately) about something you know very well and are familiar with. It's a way to show that you can identify a problem, come up with a solution, communicate it to others, market the project, design an interface, write a clear readme, etc.

You also don't have to come up w/ a full-blown side project or contribute to open source projects. I asked six technical founders how engineers can stand out from the applicant pool, and I thought Amy Hoy's response was really awesome. Here's an excerpt:

Speaking about programming or relevant professional topics, recording screencasts, sharing code snippets, designing cheat sheets, writing blog posts, all of these things will build reputation and communication skills and demonstrate that you are a well-rounded individual and not just a keyboard jockey.

Couple questions:

• Ae you open to remote work or just local?
• How often are you making it pass the initial screening call?
• What kind of positions are you applying to? Can you link some of the job postings and your CV?

If you are like I can give you feedback on your CV and run a mock interview with you. For the past 3 years I spend a lot of time interviewing and hiring developers, a lot of them juniors.

So I can give you feedback as the other person on the other side of the table. Shoot me an email at info@allanmacgregor.com

You just have to keep trying. I'm a Python/Ruby developer with over 10 years of stuff on my CV but living in a "developing country" (a.k.a. Third World) where most people won't pay a dime for your code and almost every developer position available is asking for either .NET experience or some ancient technology like Fox Pro. I work as a sysadmin/tech support guy to pay my bills and do some freelance coding (mostly for people looking to reduce cost by outsourcing) on the side while trying to keep my abilities up to date. That's the market we're dealing with, you just have to find a way to cope and keep going.

My advice: Keep a day job and join some Open Source project, keep yourself sharp and wait for a better chance. It will surely come.

You don't have to be sorry Christopher, finding a job can be tough!

@michaelgv here was looking for developers:

looking for workplace experience? we’re looking for developers

Michael

#career#hiring

What about joining local dev communities and conferences? You probably need to expand your network. The first people you think about for a referral are people you already know or you ask someone you know if they know someone, that's one of the fundamental laws of the universe (and it's definitely fallible but that's a story for another day).

Also, build something. Who cares if it's not original. I think one of my first web apps I built was a blog, nobody needed a blog, myself included, but I learned stuff. Don't confine yourself to scripts or to the idea that if it's not original it's not worth doing because you'll never start otherwise.

And yes, keep trying!

Good luck!

I was laid off and out of work for 18 months. In addition to side projects, you'll want to show you have an interest in keeping up with trends and expanding your skillset. Go to Meetups and see if local conferences (or conferences you have the ability to travel to) have Transition scholarships for people in your position. In my resume, there is a section for the most recent talks/meetups/conferences I attended. The inevitable questions are 'Why did you go? What did you learn? What did you like or not like?' Easy questions to answer and it shows both initiative and interest unique to you.

Can you elaborate on the jobs included in this hunt? If you are getting rejected due to lack of experience, my advice would be to apply to jobs that expect no prior experience (junior or entry level positions). It'd be helpful to know more details about these jobs though. What are the titles on the job posting? What are the industries?

Yes, I think you should keep trying... if this is what you think you actually want =)

About the side projects... At least in my team, one of the reasons we ask for side projects, is because is a way to know that you are able to build something... and that you have at least deal with the things required to ship that something...

One advice that I can give you (maybe because is my experience) is that is easier, to get accepted in companies that have, apprenticeship programs. Those companies are a good way to start... and maybe continue there =)

Good luck!

I got started freelancing on Fiverr.

I wasn't getting any real job offers, because I had no real job experience or a degree, but I knew my skills were up to par.

I posted a gig on Fiverr with ambitious pricing and portrayed myself as professional and experienced, which attracts more serious clients who don't want to go for the dirt cheap single page web site gigs. My gig was geared to people who wanted web apps with Vue Js and/or Node js backend.

I got less offers than I might've with a cheaper gig, but the first few clients were exactly the market I wanted. I offered new, niche-ish tech that can support advanced functionality, and clients approached me wanting mid-long term web apps. The 20% fee really hurts on Fiverr, but once I was able to get in contact with the client outside of Fiverr after the first gig, I was getting payed as a contractor biweekly!

I now work as a contractor for 7 months, my client being the company of the third guy who messaged me on Fiverr. I now have more experience, and I've been getting job offers I'm in a position to deny.

Not sure if you're bound to one location, but you can try applying to other cities if that's an option for you. I mention this since I know quite a few entry-level devs in NYC still trying to get their first development job, while others have had more success in other cities.

I also think it's a decent strategy to gain experience elsewhere, and then move to a city that you like.

Its a matter of luck also. I suggest you invest in real word projects doing pro-bono work. That's how I got my first job.

I would suggest you look here as there are lots of opportunities:

volunteermatch.org

I would also suggest putting any coding challenges you can on GitHub to enhance your application.

You can try also freecodecamp.org/ certifications as they give you lots of support and portfolio.

Good luck

On the subject of side-projects, I've struggled with that as well, until I realized that many projects my friends do are X-with-a-twist. Sometimes the twist is re-implementing in a different lang to understand the thing better, sometimes it's minor stuff.

Otherwise I have little advice outside of keep trucking and try to find sympathetic recruiters who might be willing to give you genuine feedback.

I will say that it takes a ton of character and bravery to post this, respect to you man. Countless people are in your situation but would be unwilling to post about it, I think it shows that you are light on ego and willing to try new approaches. Good luck!

Lots of good advice on this thread already.

I got my first development job on Upwork. I replied to a bunch of proposals with an hourly rate between $10-$20/hr and to my surprise the $20/hr job came through. I took down her WordPress site within 5 minutes of starting the job...but had a lot of motivation to get it back up and running. It was a great way to get experience.

Another thing to keep in mind as you apply for jobs is to think about the value you would bring to a company. Hiring managers dont always care about a portfolio, especially if you can communicate the value you bring to the company. I used to get really down because a lot of projects I worked on wouldn't go live or would see major delays, so it made my portfolio look weak. But then I started thinking about the accomplishments I was proud of, and that helped me reframe my value to a potential employer. For me, I would talk about initiatives I led in the company, things I had control over and some say in. Think about things you have done in any job that show you have good communication skills, can work well with others, take responsibility for your actions, or drive business success and you will start acing those interviews.

Ok, so for me there likely several "issues", that explain why you don't get a job. Some only you can know maybe your are shy or do not respond correctly to interviews, you speak up front that you want to work for the syndicate or whatever. Maybe you are rusted and don't look that bright as dev. We have no idea.

On what is visible, what can I say ? Well you don't have significant developper experience to show (github isn't the same as 2 years working as dev in python for a company, sorry), your diploma is old (they would have expected 6 year of dev experience by now) and bachelor isn't the same as master degree. Theses things mean that most potential employers for interesting jobs will not want you and the one that would then will not provide the same money at all... Or if they have choice will take somebody else. That had recent experience, better diploma and so on.

The consulting part some proposed may be interesting if you make it fly, in particular as you likely need money.

I'd say in the short term you shall not be too picky and try to get anything. But for the future, I'd stress you want a master in computer sciences. This open completely new opportunities and also give a whole different level on the money and your evolution. Most developers have a master, some have several or a thesis. You don't want to be part of the few that don't have one. Interestingly, once you graduate, you'll be able to sell you are beginner and just learned the latest greatest in some area. Ensure your master focus on being productive in the company. Project management, methodology, lot of courses on practical stuff like JAVA + APIs, Big data and so on.

You could try to both things at the same time, maybe try to graduate and have a linked part time job at the same time part actually of your graduation. At least in my country it is quite common. you would get a somewhat low pay but will make a significant experience and at the same time get your diploma. you'll be the guy everybody will want to get in their company after that and if your are half decent, chances are your employer would propose you to stay in the company.

Also, please if you don't find, don't be too picky. To get a job, you should accept to relocate, do things that maybe are not ideal for you... Especially the first job. Once you have a recent 1-2 year full time experience in the field, it will be much easier to get another job and so to do it more near to your ideal location.

All the best to you,

Nicolas.