Networking: Top Strategies for Achieving Your Next Job in Web Development
Web development is one of the fastest growing industries in Colorado. According to the Department of Labor the field is expected to grow by 38% by 2024. You would think that means jobs on every corner. That is both true and false. On one hand, yes employers are growing at incredible rates, but that doesn’t mean every hiring need is listed on public job search sites.
How do I find the unlisted jobs?
Most of us have heard of the “hidden job market.” Some professionals estimate as many as 60–75% of jobs are unlisted. What this really means for job seekers in Web Development is that the vast majority of jobs have yet to be created.
Here’s the key: Knowledge is power. On one hand, job search is a continuous journey to learn more about what we don’t know, but on the other hand the more effective you are at developing your resources, connections, and industry-expertise, the more efficient you will be at uncovering those hidden opportunities.
Being at the right place at the right time.
From my experience, employers would rather hire workers they know and trust. The fastest hires typically come from word-of-mouth referrals to the hiring manager. No one wants to sort through hundreds of resumes if they already know of a great fit.
Some benefits of developing these valuable hiring relationships include: learning about a company’s technologies, culture, best practices, and finding mentors / others who are willing to help prepare you for the role.
Here are some main points to help you get started positioning yourself for fact-finding and career success:
- Identify local companies in industries you have some prior experience in. You may not realize it, but your transferrable experience lends credibility to software companies working in this space. Also, check your primary network (people you know 1st person) to see if there are great opportunities out there you might be missing.
- Seek informational interviews for information, not jobs. An info interview is a job-seeker driven process by which the individual connects with a company-insider for insight into future hiring needs, technologies used in SDLC, best practices for preparing to work there, and to figure out who key stakeholders / decision-makers are. Info interviews are best when they occur in a comfortable, conversational setting (like a coffee shop). Alternatively, you can have a phone, email, or Linkedin conversation which may provide just as much value.
- Attend as many networking events as possible, as early as possible. For many, Coding Bootcamp is a perfect time to practice your networking skills. For those out on the job market who aren’t attending events, what are you waiting for? Meetup.com and Eventbrite.com offer numerous opportunities to bump shoulders with the local tech scene. Be honest with the people you meet about your skill level; you may be surprised how many people will offer you advice. Network to find your next mentor!
- Develop and refine your Elevator Pitch. This is key to developing a strong first impression. Basically an elevator pitch is a brief intro that expresses your passion, mission, expertise, and overall offers unique insight into you as an individual. A good elevator pitch should be concise (no more than 30 seconds), should be unique to your mission and goals, and should be targeted towards a specific industry or area of expertise. Practice your pitch in the mirror (or even better) out in public until it is second-nature. Forbes offers some great tips here.
- Be Assertive. Do not be afraid to make your voice heard. The most heartbreaking strategy I encounter is job seekers sending out resumes and then waiting for weeks or months for a response, often to no avail. If you have not received a response from your resume within 48 hours, chances are you are being sorted into a pile of hundreds of other resumes. Call, email, walk-in, or use Linkedin to follow-up on the status of your application. Yes, some hiring managers find this to be an annoyance. However, from my experience the job seekers with both self-initiative and guts are the ones who receive the most interest. Caution: Read the signs. If a job posting says, “Please no calls or walk-ins” you should probably heed that advice. A good rule of thumb is a maximum of 3 contact attempts before moving on.
- Team up. Have you ever heard of the old adage “strength in numbers?” Going to networking events in small groups can make it more approachable. Your group can support you and keep you motivated where your networking skills may be lacking.
Like any new habit, networking takes practice. Introvert or extravert, experienced developer or not, your strategy and effectiveness will improve the more time and effort you commit to it.
Final consideration: Networking has to start somewhere. Bootcampers Collective designs innovative events that make breaking the ice much more approachable.
Join Bootcampers Collective on Wednesday, August 30th at Connecting People for a fun new way to meet others and get your career questions answered.
Career Conversations:
When? Wednesday, August 30, 6:00–9:00 PM
Where? Connecting People, 301 Kalamath Street, Denver, CO
Description: Career Conversations is a panel-style event featuring speakers with experience facilitating job seeker success, who provide insight into overcoming the barriers that new web developers face in finding jobs in their industry.
RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/Bootcampers-Collective/events/241861328/
Give it a try! All are welcome.
For more information visit us online:
About the Author
A Career Services professional in Colorado with over 6 years of experience, Scott Bowman recently worked as Director of Student and Career Services for RefactorU, a coding bootcamp in Boulder that started in 2013. Scott led RefactorU’s compliance and placement reporting initiative with CIRR.org in late 2016 and early 2017. Currently working with Bootcampers Collective, Scott continues to provide assistance to those transitioning into Web Development in Colorado.
Bootcampers Collective, 2017 — www.bootcamperscollective.com
