How to find work as a part-time developer while in school (Part 1 of 2)
Learn how to get fruitful part-time work experience as a student in positions that are NOT often listed on job postings
A computer science degree is no longer enough
Let’s face it — most of the things one learns in higher education will not come to be relevant in the real world. This is true in a unique way within the realm of Computer Science and Software Engineering majors, which while are very in demand and technical fields, inherently churn out technology stacks so fast that no school curriculum will be able to realistically keep up with it.
Don’t get me wrong — much of the programming concepts, patterns, and methods taught in University CS can be universally transferrable, time-tested to last, or at the very least cyclical in trend (isn’t GraphQL simply glorified RPC?). However, as many new grads understand, there’s nothing more effective in shaking off impostor syndrome than getting direct experience in the most current ever-expanding tech stacks.
Every student’s dream job: ANY relevant job.
Among university students, both the importance and means of finding year-long internships and co-op positions are already well known. Most believe, and often rightly so, how big of a leg up previous work experience provides to new graduates. Many are hired right upon graduation by the same company they worked for during their years in school. However, a lesser-known way of getting work experience as a student is through part-time work.
Many of my peers and I who were studying computer science have had part-time work experience as developers during our years in school despite these positions not being listed on job postings. In this article, I will take you through my personal journey as a developer in Athennian starting from having a summer internship position, to a part-time position, to now an intermediate developer position as a recent graduate.
So is the dream of doing school and relevant work at the same time achievable?
How to achieve exactly that:
Step 0: Grind through the prep work
As mentioned, much of what you’ll be learning through school won’t exactly align with what you need to know at your prospective job. This is where prep work comes in: personal projects, hackathons, tutorials, and more can help pad your resume and the up knowledge you can demonstrate.
In my case, much of this prep work came from spending months doing projects through freecodecamp.
Previous work experience on anything will also help. It helps with the interview process, learning how to deal with co-workers and management, and just familiarizing yourself with the day-to-day rituals of a business. Bonus points, however, if your work experience has anything to do academically or entrepreneurially (and/or pays more than minimum wage!). The best part-time job for students which fits within this criteria is tutoring. Keep reading until the end if you’d like to learn more about how to start your own tutoring business. :)
With 2 years of experience from school, certifications under my belt through freecodecamp, and work experience as a tutor (alongside other jobs I’d rather not get into now), I was ready to apply for a coding job. That’s where I stumbled upon a particular full-time summer position on UCalgary’s career page.
Step 1: Get your Foot in the Door
This section will have a bit of an obligatory nostalgia-trip side story. I’ll get it more straight to the point, I swear!
I remember applying and getting the interview with Paper (now Athennian) Spring of 2018. It was a full-time position as mentioned, but this is part of the important first step.
Before the interview, I read over the copy of the job post for Athennian and checked their website. It was obvious to see the young, scrappy, and hungry start-up culture Athennian so exemplifies. Hence to fit in, I decide to dress down: simply opting to wear a dress shirt, chino pants, and my heart on my sleeve. Did I bet right? Well, I walked into a bustling open floor plan office with collaborative work happening in every workspace. So far so good.
My interviewers, Shane and Andrew, finally walk into the interview room wearing those paper T-shirts seen below.
“Is that… a uniform?” I ask myself. “It comforts me not to be under-dressed, but I do hope uniforms are only mandatory at the Executive level.”
The uniform conundrum, fortunately, distracts me enough from the questions to come, alleviating some nerves.
Answering the culture questions was a matter of both relating my previous experiences from work, school, and personal projects, and also showcasing me.
So how well did me align with the company? Not to absolutely spoil one staple interview question from Athennian’s hiring process (pencils down please), but my favourite interview question was “What is one thing you’ve learned from school that actually turns out to be B.S.*?”
I liked that question (along with the answer I came up with) so much, that it inspired the very first sentence of this article. And like that, I gained confidence that I’d be able to find a place to fit in in Athennian.
They shot me an email soon afterward that my foot was in the door. 🎊
* (abbreviation did not stand for Bachelor of Science.)
Step 2: Slam the Door in their Face!
If your fit and performance as an intern goes well, your company would likely want to keep you around full-time. This is your leverage, as a student, to instead settle for a part-time position.
The illustration above is how the negotiation went in the Summer of 2018. I’ve made use of the facts that I’ve already been onboarded to Athennian, that I have other options for work during the semester, and that ending internship work doesn’t appear as a red flag on resumés.
Step 3: 🧘Find balance✨
Now that you’ve hypothetically gotten in as a part-timer, know that you’ll need to balance two jobs: work and school.
While this pursuit of Nirvana seems doomed to fail, I’ve found ways to make it a bit less impossible. I would share these pointers, but, unfortunately, this article has gone on too long! Stay tuned for part 2!
Takeaways
- Due to the speed of progress in software development technologies and practices, employers highly value up-to-date work experience.
- Part-time positions as a student exist, but unlike internships, part-time positions are almost never listed on job postings.
- Coding projects on current tech stacks are very useful towards obtaining a programming job.
- Any other part-time work experience can still also be useful.
- Note that this is only the beginning of the journey: thriving in your part-time job is also important!
If you’d like to read more informative stories like this, follow BACIC where yours truly, Elvin Limpin, will post more about both culture-related and technical topics.
Thanks for the read and stay tuned for part 2 :)
Bonus Content
In my past life, I had made a Youtube video about starting your tutoring business. While watching it now makes me cringe pretty badly, I believe that the information is valuable still that I ought to share. 🙈🙈 Enjoy!
