How to get noticed when starting out in your career
You’re about to finish your studies and are eager to find your first job. Where do you start? How do you get noticed?
So how do you do that?
With LinkedIn’s “Career Advice” feature, I have been getting a lot of people ask me what they could do to get started in the Software Engineering Industry, so I thought I would write down some of the suggestions I have been giving. This advice is by no means specific to the tech industry or specific role in it. It is intended to be a bit more generic and my views on what is important for when you are not only starting out, but when you are looking for that next awesome opportunity.
I want to point out that there is no silver bullet here. As with most things in life, you really need to put in the effort, get yourself out there and get known.
Attitude
For me, the most important factor when looking to hire someone is their attitude. Someone with the right attitude can be exceptionally powerful in a role compared to someone with super high experience who is not committed to the role or the business.
What I mean by attitude is your level of curiosity, your capacity to learn and an enthusiasm for it. It’s having the ability to truly listen to someone and work collaboratively to produce something amazing. It’s being someone who is proactive and doesn’t sit back waiting for someone to always come to them with things.
Have confidence in yourself and your abilities. You might be looking for your first job, it might be that you have decided to change careers altogether and are starting over. Whatever it is, remember that you have a lot of skills and abilities that someone would be very happy to have on their team!
Exposure
Get out there, get known for what you do and who you are as a person. This could be your GitHub page, personal website or portfolio.
You should be networking, going to meetups, talking to people who are doing what you want to do. Learn from every experience you can.
Interview as much as possible. This can be very hard, especially if you are more of an introvert, but it is very important. If you get a no, learn from it. Make sure you ask for feedback at the end of the interview. Take the information you gained and learn something from it, then get back out there and do it again.
Experience
There will be a base knowledge that everyone will want. Some employers put a very high value on the type of experience and education you have had. I feel that there does need to be this base level of hands on knowledge for the role you are applying for, but that it is not the most important factor. You can learn technical skills, attitude and passion are not things you can teach someone though.
If you are just starting out, this will be a tough one as you obviously don’t have the experience yet. Don’t be disheartened though, if you have the right attitude, great potential bosses will see that and snap you up.
These are just some if the things I think are important. What a hiring person is trying to figure out is what value are you going to add to their team. What about you stands out against the other 20 people they might be seeing.
Remember to do your research on the business and person you are interviewing with or that you might want to join. This is key to showing that you are really into the opportunity they might have.
I hope this helps. Feel free to connect with me and comment if you have any questions.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on September 5, 2018.
