Hello friends, I need your help. I've been pursuing multiple job opening for about 8 months now. One in particular has recently bloomed and the phone interview went well. Peer reviews will be scheduled within 2 weeks.
I could use your advice. Whether it's a link or personal experience.
How did you get the job, or how did you NOT get it? I would be forever grateful.
Top comments (5)
I sent a link to screencast of myself doing some live coding and reasoning with my solutions along with the usual CV and application.
When i got to the interview i asked a lot of questions. Actually most of the interview was just me asking questions. I was then given a coding nut to solve and after that went well i had a technical interview with a senior developer. Once we concluded the technical interview i had another short interview which allowed the first interviewer to ask me some questions he hadn't have time to ask because all my questions in the initial interview. :)
I learned that asking all those questions were key in advancing in the process. That showed that i was very interested to find the right job for myself. I also feel that the screencast was a quick way to showcase some skills in a more personal way than just pasting a link to github.
Oh yeah, dev.to helped me with questions. I used many question from this nugget of gold: dev.to/ice_lenor/do-i-want-to-work...
This topic is very complex and depends on a lot of factors. (Please mind: I'm in the hiring side, so my point of view is not objective)
In many cases, it's important that you can communicate well with the interviewers and share the way of thinking. It is just much easier if you only have to start your thought and the other person follows along instantly. Unfortunately, that's nothing you can prepare for, it either works out or it doesn't. And it's not really fair either.
Of course, you still have to display your skills, but communication is the foundation for all of this.
Here's a really fantastic talk with tips about how to land a developer job from a senior developer (@carlymho on DEV) who runs interviews!
Hi Ryan,
This topic is big. First the stupid stuff.
Did you send email(s) to the ppl you talked to 'Thanking' them.
If you get called in get emails and addresses for the same 'Thank you' notes. Yes, Write thank you notes as well as emails!
Have you read over the company website? Do you know what the company does? How you might fit in (job-wise)?
Do you know what the job you are interviewing is? What are they looking for?
NOTE: Every job description is a 'WISH' list, not a Must have.
So how well do you fill the wish list. List out what skills you have from their list and 'Practice' discussing your 'Successes' in these areas.
If you don't have a skill from their list tell them how you believe that the overall C.S. skills you already have will help you transition to the new 'platform?" or whatever it is.
In other words, You might need to sell them that you can help them with their problems. "You know I did something very similar to X and Y when I took over a project on Z. Here is how I succeeded at it."
You have learned all sorts of stuff in Uni. It is your turn now to connect the dots for them! "Here let me fill in this picture for you. You went to Uni to learn to Synthesize! This is your time to explain this in a HELPFUL, POSITIVE way.
my 2 cents, HTH,
M
Soft skills were what put me ahead of my "competition" in both of my software development jobs (hired for the first in May 2018, then moved states and hired for the second in September 2018).
I practiced algorithms, got decent at whiteboarding, and learned to speak my thought processes aloud as much as possible even in times of uncertainty. But above all, both hiring managers told me, the soft skills I've developed shone through and outweighed any technical skills they thought I was missing. My first manager even told me "you can teach technical skills, but teaching someone to communicate and work with a team is much more difficult."
So, long-ish story short: In my experience know your job-related stuff, but don't skimp on honing your communication and soft skills!