Difficulty finding jobs/interviews

Question

Hey all! Apologies if this has been stated many times before, but I finished a coding bootcamp last year and have been having a hard time landing even an interview. I had a brief stint as a Solutions Engineer at a start up but that ended as quickly as it began due to a company re-organization. Ive been contemplating going back into customer service just to have a steady paycheck again. Do you all have any advice for a new comer in the industry?

Thank you for your time.

dm2000 · Accepted Answer

Keep up your coding practice, especially around the time of applications (LeetCode, HackerRank, AlgoExpert, etc). Find job boards on GitHub which update daily with the newest SWE positions. Apply everywhere you possibly can (and meet basic qualifications for) to maximize your chances. Try to make some connections with people who work at these companies if possible (might help get a referral) and don’t be shy to message recruiters directly if such an option presents itself. Overall, the industry recruiting is still a full crap shoot right now so you can’t do much but grind and hope for the best. Of course if you need money, take whatever you can now and focus on SWE in your free time. Best of luck to you.

John · Answer

Few suggestions that may help:

- Leverage your network: Reach out to friends, former colleagues, LinkedIn connections, etc. to see if they have any leads at companies that are hiring. Referrals can make a big difference in getting an interview.

- Keep applying: It's a numbers game, so you have to keep putting yourself out there. Try different job sites, go to local tech meetups, and don't get discouraged by rejection. Persistence is key.

- Work on projects: Build a portfolio of work that demonstrates your skills. Contribute to open source, do freelance gigs, or create your own apps/websites. This will give you more to talk about in interviews.

- Check out LinkedIn Job posts too:

Most hiring managers want the best candidate for their role, so they actively promote the open position on LinkedIn.

They'll do this by posting, liking, or sharing the job ad on their personal LinkedIn profile.

Here's how you find them:

- Search for: [Job title] hiring
- Click on "Posts"
- Click on "All filters"
- Find "Author company" and type the company name
- Click "Show results"

Hopefully, you'll find a post that is advertising the role. Give it a quick sense-check to see whether it looks like the hiring manager.

Check out CareerScience (https://www.careerscience.co/) for some great, actionable tips to accelerate your job search. Their newsletter and courses look really valuable.

Difficulty finding jobs/interviews

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