An Alternative Guide to Becoming a Kick-Ass Junior Dev
Landing a job you want is actually hard
There are so many amazing reasons to get into tech, and tech draws so many different types of people. However, one thing most people have in common is that they start from the bottom. I mean entry-level. For some, that may be QA or testing; for others, that might mean an internship that turned into a job. Either way, most of us are not starting as Elon Musk’s right-hand man, and that’s okay.
Alternatively, if you have had the pleasure of reading some of these entry-level job descriptions, you might have run across some of these under their lists of requirements:
- Multitasking Unicorn
- Developer Ninja
- Willing to work hard (There was an option to work softly?)
- 29 years of experience in Flutter ( Do I have to have a time machine too?)
- Previous CTO experience is a plus ( okay jk this wasn’t an entry-level job, but the role definitely wasn’t a senior role)
- Understanding of the blockchain (Your business model wouldn’t even benefit from the blockchain model.)
This list could be endless. It’s common knowledge that those requirements are just a “wish list” or dreams of the hiring manager. But why are they dreaming of magical possibilities and paying in cheese sticks and experience? There is a disconnect here. Rather than tell you to “update your resume” or “network,” let me offer some alternative and potentially painful advice. Let’s Begin.
1.) You aren’t special … yet
Most of us are not blessed with super-rich parents or family members with unique connections, which means most people have never heard of you and don’t know you exist. If you combine this with being a newbie and lacking skills, it’s a recipe for disaster and having your resume thrown in the trash.
However, not all hope is lost; in fact, you can use this to your advantage. Everyone starts as a beginner, and as you learn, you will have the opportunity to teach and speak to other beginners. You don’t have to make tutorials or give talks but spread the knowledge that you acquire. Make content, even bad content, about what you are learning. Every time you spread your knowledge, you have the opportunity to meet new people and impact others. It’s through that impact that you start to amass some interesting skills.
2.) You have done this before … right?
When you are applying for entry jobs, you usually are competing with dozens of applicants, if not hundreds, for the same positions. What is it about you that will set you apart? It’s like applying to college all over again. If you don’t have a stellar resume with tons of work experience to back yourself up, what social proof can you show? Do you have projects on your GitHub? Have you participated in hackathons? Are you a heavy participant in your local coding communities?
Ignoring all the stigmas about coding interviews, it can be pretty hard to determine if a candidate has programming abilities. You can go a long way in promoting yourself by having social proof. Whether that social proof is people, GitHub, trophies from robotics competitions, or a recipe organizer for your mom, having something you can talk about at length that is not a calculator helps a lot.
3.) You have to work for … free
I am not telling you to take an internship or a job for no money. I am telling you that people will have an easier time believing that you can do something if there is proof of you doing that thing. That may mean working for free on the weekend to create projects to fill up your portfolio. It might be working together with a local charity that really needs a website. Perhaps your little brother needs help hacking his game to beat his friends. Regardless of what path you take, being a developer is going to require you to learn a lot. Every moment of that learning is not always going to be paid. If you can accept that you need to work for free, building up social proof is a breeze.
4.) You do know how to pitch … right?
Say what you want about Shark Tank and Venture capitalists; they know how to get to the point. No one says no faster than a small child and VC accelerator fund. One of the main reasons for rejections, no unique value proposition. If I have 100 applicants in front of me and they are all equally awesome, why should I choose you? Saying “Because I need a job” is not an acceptable answer. While it may be true, it’s not winning any prizes.
This is the part where I get all touchy-feely and ask you to think about the places that you want to work and why you want to work there. Tech is a tough field. You will have some long nights; you may be asked to be on call. You might have interns delete your entire codebase. Knowing why you want to be somewhere helps get you through those tough times; it’s okay if the reason that you are working somewhere is purely selfish; own it.
On the flip side, getting strategic about where you want to work helps you tailor your unique value proposition. If you are a former teacher, you might be a great technical trainer or team lead. You could also take that experience and look for tech companies that focus on education. Philosophy majors can make for great software architects because they are used to thinking very abstractly and logically. Get creative. It’s a part of learning how to pitch.
5.) You are already at the … bottom
This may come as a shock to you right now, but you are already at rock bottom in terms of your tech career. You cannot become a bigger noob than you currently are right now, which is great. So be 100% shameless in your learning and growth. What do you have to lose? Everyone already knows that you suck. You will learn more by letting go of your ego and just embracing the suck. Honestly, it’s tiring pretending that you know things. I dare you, just once this week, say, “I don’t know.” Stare someone in the eye and say it. It’s freeing.
Final Words & Bonus Tip
Becoming Kick-Ass is not easy. It will require long nights, lots of stress, and even some breakdowns, but I promise it is worth it. You don’t become Kick-Ass by winning a trophy or having someone grant you the title. You become Kick-Ass by putting some skin in the game and believing that you are.
Final Tip: Being a developer is a job, but a job is not who you are.
