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Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

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Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#21

Post by allo37 »

I have been lucky enough to have not encountered automated resume scanning nonsense, or maybe I got past the HR-bots and didn't know?

Anyways, I always felt that what helped me get jobs was my personal projects and extracurricular activities. Anyone can sit through a few classes and pass some tests (OK, maybe not everyone), but not everyone can prove that they can actually, y'know, DO stuff. I feel it shows a certain level of interest and knowledge that can set you apart from other recent grads.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#22

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

As someone who does hiring, I want to see a brief, personal, informal email.

If it feels like you’ve copied and pasted some mess of tech buzzwords and addressed it to “dear hiring manager” (I get this a lot), then it’s going straight in the bin. Ideally, I’d like to see:

Hi ,

I’m a junior developer trying to break into the industry. I studied x at y, and I’m super interested in . I’m hard-working and I love to learn. Are you available for a chat about this?

Regards,

Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#23

Post by ghaff »

itsrajju wrote: post #7
kavyaj wrote: post #2

To your question 'how to get through the automated resume screening', I literally just wrote a post today on Dev.to: https://dev.to/kavyaj/how-to-get-noticed-by-tech-recruiters-... For the other points: Firstly, I would say personalizing your application for the role you are applying for really helps. Sometimes students fresh out of college mention a ton of skills on their resumes that they only have an idea about. T…

Connecting to people already working in the company really helps. Pitch yourself to them and they might agree to provide you with an internal referral: it's an excellent way to jump the queue in the hiring pipeline.

Referrals are (or should be--I know some will refer any and all for the referral bonus) really intended to refer someone you have some first-hand experience with. I'm going to refer someone out of the blue to the company job site.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#24

Post by CWuestefeld »

mooreds wrote: post #16

> I hear the job market is "hot," but is that true of entry positions too? Not in my experience, based on talking to quite a few newer devs. There are a ton of folks out there. My advice is: * target certain companies * stand out How can you determine which companies to target? I don't know you so can't give direct advice, but generally, find companies that are: * growing * big enough to support jr devs (this depends…

This is good advice. I'd add that while I'm looking for someone who's at least competent at the major technologies, demonstrating that you've got promise can cover for many sins.

To do this, you've got to be willing to take some risks, too. My additions to the above would be:

Show enthusiasm for the specific role and even industry that you're applying for. Don't just say that your goal is to be a successful software engineer, say that you're aiming to be able to develop UIs for large-scale ecommerce systems (or whatever, as the case may be). As a hiring manager, I want to know that you'll be interested and not just using us as a brief temporary stopover to fortify your resume.

When you're doing an interview, particularly the tech part, there will probably be many questions you can't answer. Don't just say "sorry, I don't know". I mean, do tell them that. But then go on to think out loud, trying to work out for yourself what the answer might be. That's going to demonstrate to me that (a) you're up for pursuing a problem rather than just giving up, and (b) it'll show me that even if you have a specific gap in your knowledge, you've got a sound foundation to build on.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#25

Post by lbriner »

pella wrote: post #13

> does having projects on GitHub help? yes. My advice ( valid in the pre-covid era ) - Check the local tech meetups ( https://www.meetup.com ) - Give a presentation. - In the last side .. add some indirect info about your job search. - go with an after party - and make a personal connections.. ( and ask advice )

I echo this. As a hiring manager, depending on how many applications I get, I need someone to stand out. Most of the time, I am not sure about someone so anything that helps me to feel like you would fit well is a good thing.

Things that github projects tell me:

You are interested in the industry You have have to work with other people You know how to code (or not, depending on the code!) You have already learned various things about the industry that you mostly don't learn in college.

Don't do stuff for the sake of it, like fake projects or whatever but find something interesting and get stuck in. Someone who blogs or attends the local events etc. are all things that say that you are interesting.

Next, you should generally come across well in the interview and this can be hard because it will depend on the industry/company as to what they are looking for so be confident but don't be fake. Don't think we are not interested because you are a new graduate, if we cared about that, we wouldn't be talking. Think about what you are interested in, what has gone well, what hasn't. Why do you want to work here? What are your unique selling points over the possibly hundreds of other applicants?

Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#26

Post by bigrightmiss »

Mc91 wrote: post #4

> I'm a self-taught programmer who recently decided to finish my bachelor's degree in Computer Science. I'll be finishing in a month or so, and I'm trying to do some planning in advance. If I was you I would apply to internships right now to a lot of companies as a college student. It might be too late if you're about to graduate. Internships are the easiest way into a company as a junior. You intern somewhere for a…

i went internship route after completing a bootcamp. also worked for the company that put on the bootcamp. but the only reason i got the internship was bc i went to a ReactJS workshop/meetup that the company hosted at their office. i showed up, presented the work i had completed in the few hours of the class, and made sure i shook hands and said "hello, my name is ... thank you for ... can i leave my contact info with you for any opportunities here?" to those running the event. it made a big difference and i was told that shortly after i was hired.

make it easy for companies to hire you by making connections with people. im now in a position where i'm interviewing people for open positions here, and it is not a fun task (especially for entry level jobs). if someone can show up, demonstrate some level of competence, and an enthusiasm for learning, it is such an advantage over the faceless resume-senders.

some technical advice would be to demonstrate your understanding of the underlying tech of whatever popular framework, library, etc. the company you're applying to is looking for now - its important, and Sr. devs will appreciate it more than you think (especially if you're self-taught).

Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#27

Post by tombert »

When I dropped out of college about a decade ago (oh how the time flies), I realized that it's a lot more about "quantity" than anything else. Apply to every job that seems interesting to you; worry about qualifications later. It's not your job to determine if you're qualified, it's theirs, and as long as you are upfront about what you know, they might be willing to overlook a lack of qualifications.

> How to get through the automated resume screening, does having projects on GitHub help, etc?

It definitely does, though I would recommend not putting school projects on your resume, at least projects where everyone in the class was doing the same thing. I can't tell you how many people I interviewed who put the same Handwriting Recognition project on their resume, only for me to hear that they basically just followed what the teacher told them.

However, if you can really geek out about a personal project, talking about technical details and what you had to figure out to make it work, that goes a long way, degree or not.

P.S. I recently finished the WGU Bachelors in CS as well...congrats on making it this far, and if you're planning this far ahead for a career I am confident you'll make it in the job market. If you need any help in the future feel free to email me, address in HN profile.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#28

Post by notreallyserio »

yakshaving_jgt wrote: post #22

As someone who does hiring, I want to see a brief, personal, informal email. If it feels like you’ve copied and pasted some mess of tech buzzwords and addressed it to “dear hiring manager” (I get this a lot), then it’s going straight in the bin. Ideally, I’d like to see: Hi , I’m a junior developer trying to break into the industry. I studied x at y , and I’m super interested in . I’m hard-working and I love to learn…

As long as you promise to send out brief, personal emails to all candidates that introduce themselves this way but are not selected for an interview, I fully support this.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for applying to Junior Software Engineering roles?

#29

Post by MattGaiser »

Get a LinkedIn premium subscription and ask for referrals from your fellow alumni. Just flat out send your resume in the message and ask to be referred.

Some will find it sleazy and there is going to be at least one person who replies to this with some version of "I hate this behaviour", but plenty will happily throw you into the HR system as we get a reward for referring you to the company. At my past company, every single person who asked for a referral from me got one.

Don't target senior people with this. Go for those who are mid level. People who have opinions that count, but are not pressed for time and are not being overwhelmed by other people trying the same strategy. SDE IIs.

A referral, at least everywhere I have worked, has guaranteed human review and often lets you make a short case for why the person should be interviewed.

A referral can't guarantee anything else, but it can usually guarantee a set of human eyes. After that, it is up to you.

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