21–30 of 77 posts
This may not be what you are looking for, but it is worth considering /not to work in the industry/. I've been coding since the age of 7 and I'm now in my early 30s. There's a lot of programming that can be done outside of this industry (e.g. by working on free software projects), and in some cases it can even be financed through grants. In my experience a software development job is often the easiest way to destroy…
This may not be what you are looking for, but it is worth considering /not to work in the industry/. I've been coding since the age of 7 and I'm now in my early 30s. There's a lot of programming that can be done outside of this industry (e.g. by working on free software projects), and in some cases it can even be financed through grants. In my experience a software development job is often the easiest way to destroy…
I almost lost hope on my last job jump when it took me three months and six on-site interviews before I got an offer.
What will help you the most in the search is probably not what you think. I thought have a GitHub and some cool projects and a nice blog would make landing a job easy for me... Annnddd 95% of the companies I talked to didn't care.
What helped enormously was studying the same questions that interviewers are likely to pull from. Once I studied hard on interview Q&A I went from no offers to getting three in the same week.
The interview process is usually borderline hazing and the questions being asked have little or no bearing on the actual job. The job requirements listed are actually just some staff engineers wish list of what he would use if he could rewrite the garbage fire that is the application you'll be working on.
It doesn't help that half the time the manager interviewing you hasn't written a line of code for ten years... or ever in the case that you're interviewing with HR.
My theory is that male dominated fields tend to be steeped in competition, or at least the goal is to appear that way. You don't want your hiring to be "weak" and new guys definitely need to "climb the ladder". This makes interviewing for these positions a complete nightmare.
Just keep up applying and remember the interviews are tough on purpose. HR doesn't look good unless they can bring in an endless stream of top tier applicants. Management doesn't look good if they hire "anyone that walks through the door". The result: companies throw away many, maybe most of their good applicants.
You mention experience with Java - Maybe going the J2EE route could open some opportunities.
Some may say going down the more traditional enterprise stack is boring but I do wonder if that's where there is more work locally as opposed to work being sent offshore to a low cost dev shop that works with web /php / etc.
Of course I may well be wrong, but it's one perspective.
The industry is crying out for developers, theres no reason why you wouldn't be able to get a job. Yeah the industry is fast moving but businesses aren't. If they choose to use a framework, them its going to be in their legacy code base for a good few years.
Remember,you are not paid to develop, you are paid to make the business money. Would you rather hire a developer who wrote an amazing 200 LoC a day and earned you 10k or the developer who deleted 3 lines, sent a few emails and earned you 100k?
Apply for every interview, don't aim too high - you can get a junior position no problem.
Shortly thereafter, I rediscovered programming and I've been doing it ever since (20+ years). In hindsight, I think I had just gone through my first bout of burnout. I still find electronics interesting and enjoyable. So burnout may be one aspect of what you're experiencing.
Since you're an extrovert, you have a natural propensity that many people don't have in this industry. That can be a superpower for you. You might excel at giving talks, communicating with other teams, managing groups, and the like. The fact that you enjoy development and have put in the time means that these activities won't be vacuous.
The feelings of exasperation that you have are similar to what many others--novices and veterans alike--are feeling. Things change quickly in this field. Many others have written about how to cope with this. It's a real thing but something that can be mitigated and gotten past.
You might consider taking a step back and recharging. The New Year time frame is an excellent time to do so (generally speaking). Think about a few goals that you may want to focus on this year. If you pick a project, choose one that means something to you. It could be one of your own or someone else's. We live in an amazing time of open source and collaboration.
The main thing is, don't worry. You've got plenty of time ahead of you to pick your path and make things work. The fact that you're reaching out and searching for answers is a great indicator of future success. Just keep moving forward.
I know someone who was in a very similar situation and was getting turned down month after month. He made the decision focus on more enterprise technologies (.NET) and invested time in learning and building things with C#. Eventually things worked out. You mention experience with Java - Maybe going the J2EE route could open some opportunities. Some may say going down the more traditional enterprise stack is boring bu…
Most of what we did was automate annoying manual processes, which writing the code for was usually annoying in itself
I can't really say I know exactly how you feel, but I can safely say I've been in a slightly similar position before. And honestly, every time I look at frameworks like Angular or React, I feel like throwing in the towel right then! I think it's a good idea to choose a niche, and stick to it. Full-stack devs are awesome, but there's nothing wrong in sticking to a particular competency. Looking at your profile, it see…
Thank you Sealord, You post means alot, I would love to stick to mobile apps but majority of companies are looking for "Senior iOS developer" and the funny thing is they list frameworks that literally just surfaced in the tech community, yet these HR reps are asking for seniority and expert levels, on top of that you have things like Superiority in problem solving, x amount of years in agile dev/dev ops principles..e…
- consider web/iOS consulting companies: with a targeted skill set they may be better able to properly assess your skills. Pivotal, Thoughtworks, etc.
- consider 'boring' companies like insurance, banks, GE and similar, or pretty much anywhere that isn't explicitly a software company but does hire software developers. 'Software is eating the world' and everywhere needs developers. It might not be the ideal job, but you will learn a ton about how SW development works in an organization (as opposed to solo) and how that looks on the ground. And you will be in a better position to show that you can do this.
- consider smaller non-startup companies where you would wear many hats and you can grow and show your worth quickly. And they're probably more willing to take a flyer on you because they wouldn't be able to afford paying people for all the hats you'll wear.
- when you do land a job, befriend someone in HR and learn as much as you can about the general hiring process. Interview candidates if you can. Get involved in it to learn what candidates do that works and what doesn't.