Tips & Tricks on How to Get Your First Job In Tech

So you finished reading "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python", completed a university degree, graduated PyLadies course, or got certificates from a dozen online courses? In any way, congratulations! But what next? Where to find entry-level jobs? How do you know you're ready to start applying? How can you prepare? If these are the questions that won't let you sleep, listen to this talk!

Honza Javorek is a software engineer and an author of junior.guru, a Czech guide for people who want to start coding or seek their first job in tech. In 2011 he founded the Python meetup in Brno and since then he's been involved in growing the Czech Python community.

Transcript

1. Tips & Tricks How to Get Your First Job In Tech Honza Javorek - 26th November 2020
2. honzajavorek.cz junior.guru
3. You https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
4. You https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
5. What next? https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
6. 1. learn 2. practice 3. get a job https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
7. requirements 1. Programming language 2. Project(s) to show off 3. Ability to break down assignments to tasks min() https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
8. requirements 4. English! 5. Basics of Git 6. Basics of command line (Bash) https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
9. Job Market in Tech Many companies seek SENIOR developers. They'll spend tons of time and money to find them. They'll want to spend zero on teaching you. Food chain: juniors < companies < seniors https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
10. nobody likes you everybody hates you you're gonna lose
11. Be Like Bruce Willis 1. Prepare for the worst 2. Suffer, but persist 3. Win anyway https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
12. passion projects hard skills soft skills * = Explain why they should invest in you time for learning your salary time of colleagues
 their salaries you are here ? https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
13. Projects Don't push hard to impress! Show that: - You can build things - You finish things - You can apply knowledge Give them a realistic idea about what they need to teach you. https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
15. Passion Give them an idea about how easy it is to teach you. Give them an idea about the direction in which your learning will be the easiest. Show more projects, community activities, blog articles, extra education, ideas, interests, hobby side projects, passions. https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
17. what you already know Your CV should describe your "career vector" who you want to become things that prove that the journey is doable in a fast and efficient way https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
19. Who You Want to Become Let other people explain their roles to you Peek into fields if they seem to be interesting Testers, sys admins, tech support - detour? If you want to code, make sure you'll code https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
20. Where to Find Jobs Job boards, profiles, recruiters. Only 26% of jobs marked 'entry-level' on LinkedIn are actually entry-level. Filtering doesn't work. Recruiters' provision is higher when they work on seniors, and it raises your cost for companies. junior.guru/jobs https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
21. Leetcode = theoretical puzzles tested at whiteboard (time complexity, binary trees, sorting algorithms, recursion, hashtables...) Not so prevalent in the Czech Republic (?), but in some other countries it's almost the only way companies test applicants. Train! BaseCS, Codewars, HackerRank, YouTube https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
23. Reverse Interview Have questions you'll be asking the company: - Will there be someone dedicated to help me? - Can you give specific examples of the work I'm about to do? Have your limits. If it's shady, don't accept the job. Watch out for red flags! It's like Tinder - rejecting early saves time for both of you. https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
24. Stand Out - Cold e-mailing - Networking - Volunteering - Community work - Blogging - Portfolio https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru
25. junior .guru https://bit.ly/pyvo-juniorguru