It’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out as a developer in the job market nowadays. Since covid, more people have started learning how to code and the emergence of ChatGPT makes writing code easier than ever.
With the layoffs from big tech companies in 2023, recent computer science graduates and all the hobby developers now looking coding jobs, how do you stand out?
Here are 5 tips to separate yourself from the crowd. Let's go!
1 - Write tutorials or contribute to open source.
Every developer has googled a problem they couldn’t figure out off the top of their head. Searches normally leads them to a website like this or stack overflow where there is a tutorial or a code snippet. You may look at the article and think it was helpful, but new developers often don’t think about writing articles themselves.
Writing tutorials, contributing to open source libraries or even solving problems on stack overflow can show interviewers that you have a passion for coding. Personal projects are good but it’s rare for companies to scan through all your code to check your level.
From personal experience, not only have tutorials I’ve written generated hundreds (sometimes thousands) of views a week, but they’ve also led to job offers from some really big companies.
2 - Utilize AI but don’t rely on it.
Amongst developers there is both love and hate towards AIs such ChatGPT.
Those who love it will tell you about how much it helps them on a daily basis and saves them time writing code. If you want a code snippet it can save you minutes or even hours of writing. Furthermore, it’s great for debugging code that you’ve stared at for hours as it gives you indicators on what the problem might be.
Some traditional developers avoid it cause they feel it doesn’t always work, which is of course true but are developers always right? However, relying solely on AI can also be problematic.
You can't use ChatGPT during interviews and if you're pair programming it and it's all you rely on, it doesn't leave a good impression. Imagine ChatGPT provides you a huge code snippet or when asked to explain code to colleagues, you have no idea what it does?
That's why you should make sure your fundamental coding and problem solving skills are at a good level before relying on ChatGPT for everything. It should be a tool used to save time not your life support machine.
The rise of ChatGPT leads us to our next point which is keeping up to date with new technologies.
3 - Staying up to date with the latest technologies
Technology companies will introduce more efficient ways to do things based on user feedback. Programming languages and frameworks evolve all the time so make sure even if you’re not using them you, you are at least aware of new updates. It isn’t uncommon for companies to hire a new developer to help them migrate code from older version and/or framework to a newer version.
For example, as a javascript developer, when I learned react - it was relatively new. Since I started learning react, react has introduced function based components, typescript and useContext. These technologies have made React a lot more user friendly and handles tasks much easier.
4 - Companies hire people they like.
Companies will make room for someone under-qualified if they like them enough.
Here's a scenario to illustrate this point. Imagine you are the owner of a start up fashion company and you’re looking for a mid level developer to join the development team. You have been given two candidates for this role.
Candidate #1:
- went to school for computer science,
- knows the technologies you work with very well
- has been a senior developer for a number of years.
However:
- they don’t come across as very ambitious
- they don’t know much about the industry
- they aren’t very talkative during the interview.
Candidate #2:
- has no professional experience as a developer
- they have some knowledge of the technologies your company uses but not all.
- they are at a junior level.
However:
- they are obsessed with fashion.
- have remarkable eye for product based on their design background.
- an extrovert who gets along with everyone and very eager to learn.
Which candidate would you pick?
More often than not it’s the second candidate that gets hired.
Qualifications for candidate #1 look good on paper and of course you can’t go into any interview with absolutely no skill, however companies will overlook shortcomings of candidate #2 if they fit in with the company culture.
The best quote I heard during an interview is:
"We hire for attitude, we train for skill."
This could not be more true when it comes to being a developer.
5 - Don't just spam applications
Every candidate is unique, but illustrating that to a company is difficult through just an application. Give yourself the best chance by first doing the following:
- making sure your CV is well written
- your LinkedIn is up to date
- for developers your Github should not be empty.
Every company finds their candidate through different ways. But give yourself the best possible chance by being proactive and putting yourself in positions to be found. Like when coding, reverse engineer your job search.
If I wanted to recruit a developer, where would you go to find a new hire one?
- Coding meet ups - of course, everyone there probably codes.
- LinkedIn - easy way to search for what I need.
- Slack/discord channels for coding - good place to advertise a job for free.
- Job fares - can speak face to face with candidates.
- Websites where you can speak to companies directly - for example on hired or otta
If you’re currently looking a new job in coding, good luck!
Thanks for reading! Feel free to ask any questions in the comments.
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