Job Preparedness Workshop Session 2: How to Really Read Developer Job Postings and Cover Letters

In this session, we will learn how to “read between the lines” of developer job postings, and discover that many postings are written by an HR person who might not entirely understand the job they are writing about. You’ll also get a better idea of how to write a cover letter for the web industry, and a template to do so!

Transcript

1. APPRENTICESHIP JOB PREPAREDNESS
2. APPRENTICESHIP JOB PREPAREDNESS SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS
3. READING JOB POSTINGS
6. SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS Developer Job Postings for Unicorns ‣ Let’s look at one of those very frequent examples of a job posting looking for a unicorn developer ‣ Google Front End Engineer ‣ Blink Front End Engineer vs Blink Senior Back End Engineer
7. SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS This is all to say… ‣ Don’t let years of experience, certain “necessary skills,” or degrees stop you from applying somewhere ‣ Job postings often aren’t written well ‣ Can use postings to learn about a company’s culture
8. SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS And Soft Skills Are Important! ‣ Companies don’t often list out the soft skills they require — which are generally more important to working on a team! ‣ Soft skills include: -communication -writing -self-motivated -humility, ….
9. If you have the curiosity, the communication skills, the interest, the enthusiasm, the tenacity, and you actually care, you can learn just about any front-end dev language you want. ~ Zoe Rooney
10. The soft skills are the ones that will keep you progressing as the technology changes and will make you enjoyable to work with. They’re the ones that will keep the clients happy and will help ensure you don’t burn out. ~ Zoe Rooney If you have the curiosity, the communication skills, the interest, the enthusiasm, the tenacity, and you actually care, you can learn just about any front-end dev language you want.
11. COVER LETTERS
12. SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS Cover Letters: The Basics ‣ Do not recycle cover letters ‣ Learn about the company ‣ Try to find out who o you should be addressing cover letter to ‣ Spell/grammar check ‣ Don’t swear/use colloquialisms
13. SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS Cover Letters: How You Can Stand Out ‣ It’s not about you, but about what you can do for the company -How are you a good fit for the role? -What skills do you have that will be an asset to them?
14. SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS Cover Letters: Sections ‣ Why are you a good fit for job? -qualifications: hard AND soft skills ‣ What do you like about company? -Can show you researched company, understand values ‣ Conclude it looking towards further opportunity to chat
15. SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS Cover Letters: Highlight YOUR Strengths ‣ So.. we shouldn’t recycle cover letters, but we can work on sections you can re-use about: -Your strengths -Your passions -What makes you special - Your background and experiences
16. So.. Let’s Workshop Your Cover Letter Strengths Sections Now! Your strengths Your passions What makes you special Your background and experiences
17. SESSION 2: JOB POSTINGS & COVER LETTERS Resources For Cover Letter Writing ‣ https://mattstauffer.com/blog/how-to-apply- for-a-web-developer-job-at-tighten-and-how -not-to ‣ Job Scan Tool: https://www.jobscan.co/cover-letter
18. THANKS!