How to land a job in… Oh god, not one of those again
So recently, I have been job searching for the first time (as a full-stack web developer) and I certainly wasn’t expecting reality. It didn’t blow up in my face, but I learned that expectations and eventual outcome have nothing in common, when it comes to the job market. So if you see posts/tutorials/articles that claim to hold all the answers, you can calmly make peace with the fact that it’s a flat lie.
I decided to do things differently and tell you about my process. No unnecessary exclamations, just a story (with some necessary exclamations 😌). Hopefully, it will be more helpful than an article titled “How to land a 1000000$ job in 3 easy steps!”. Let’s dive in.
Disclaimer: I won’t disclose the names of the companies or the people in question as they are not the primary point of this article (or in our case a blog post would be more accurate. As I told you, it is a story).
My target job
First, I had to define my target job. Sounds easy right? Well it actually was, I don’t know why added the suspension pause there. Guess it was for insuring you will take it seriously, even though it is probably the easiest part of it all.
In my case, I wanted a senior full-stack node.js and React position within a startup. Defining my goals helped me in filtering unfit positions as well as almost fitting ones. What do I mean by that? Simple, if I saw a job posting for a full-stack Angular developer, I dismissed it momentarily. If I wouldn’t have been picky, I would be attending job interviews until it’s 2020 and I have neither the time nor the will for that.
CV
So I went a little overboard here. And by little, I mean a lot. Here is how it went down:
Google Images> Search “CV Templates” > “Wow, cool, can I design something so extravagant myself? Challenge Accepted!” > 2 days later: “Was ctrl+c, ctrl+v that hard to do?” > “Well OK, my CV is too unique not to send it now, so let’s get the party started!”
I should also note that I sent my CV to my more experienced friends first, so I could receive their feedback and correct it. It may seem like a while(true) loop, but it is actually a while(noneOfMyFriendsAreApproving) loop. Eventually it ends and you end up with a great CV you are proud of. I was proud of mine.
Headhunters
A side note about headhunters. It’s your choice of course to approach them (I know they are approaching you, since LinkedIn is an easy platform to take advantage of in that sense). Most of them are actually great people, who can offer legitimate assistance, but:
- A friend told me his company is valuing candidates sent by headhunters lower than their “self-suggested” contemporaries, hence they offer them a lower salary.
- Some headhunters tend to overwhelm and burden you with unreasonable amount of positions you are not really interested in, just because they have an established partnership with the places, which offer them. Remember the goal defining part? Swimming in a sea of jobs is so much worse than it sounds.
So I am currently headhunting myself, but you are free to be hunted by others 😉.
Interviews
As I have mentioned above, headhunting was not an option I used. So how did I find potential jobs? Through friends, LinkedIn and Facebook. Surprisingly Facebook turned out to be even better than LinkedIn in my case (more on that later), but it is a very specific case, so feel free to use both platforms 😃
Before the interviews
Google search “node.js interview questions”, “React interview questions”, “web development interview questions” or whatever fits the position you are looking for. Thank me later.
On a more serious note, Those searches are extremely helpful, not only because they provide you with potential interview questions, but because they help in strengthening you core theoretical knowledge and even more importantly, your self esteem. Those are super important for any good developer.
In addition, I recommend collecting information about your potential employers beforehand. I googled mine and learned anything I could find about them. How long do they exist? How much money have they gathered? What stage is their product currently at? And so forth. It helped me show interest and ask more relevant questions during the interview itself, as well as be informed about their financial situation.
During the interview
Remember I just told you to learn more about the technologies you claim to be an expert in? Well forget that. My first interview was the only one which tackled my knowledge. And it wasn’t even that thorough.
The reason is startups usually search for candidates with a good algorithm in their brain rather than candidates with a large DB (wow it’s my geekiest analogy so far). Therefore, they prefer logical questions intended on showcasing your thinking process as well as getting to know you personally in order to establish how you fit the team.
I wasn’t ready for it. I thought I had it all figured out after reading 200 interview questions, but then I found myself reaching into the depths of my brain, trying to solve some tech-logic riddle.
All in all, it went pretty good. I didn’t let my sense of bafflement get the better of me. But I was caught a little bit off guard during my later interviews as well, because I couldn’t comprehend the fact that every interview is similar. No one was interested in my npm packages. They just wanted me to sort their binary trees. And that is the essence of it.
More of the unexpected
Expected or not, I have to admit, I enjoyed those interviews very much. I love solving quizzes as well as getting involved in business matters. But then, every company I applied to, added something different to the mix, resulting in me going through 4 very different application processes. Let’s present them chronologically:
1. The first company asked me to make a React minesweeper game as an examination task. They told me it should take me about 2–3 hours. Needless to say it was way more. More like 2–3 days. So why did I comply, even though there is a general rule of thumb not to agree to long home assignments? Because I wanted to master React in a fun way, so I thought of it as a great opportunity to do so. I also wanted the job, so I guess it also had something to do with it ;)
I forgot to mention that this was in addition to a technical interview where I met the CEO and the CTO, 2 incredibly talented guys, who I can learn a lot from. So I decided it was my turn to impress them. And I wasn’t disappointed as a few days later the CEO drove all the way to my place, so we could have the most open discussion on my future within the company. I really appreciated the gesture.
2. The second company invited me to an additional round of interviews. Besides the HR interview, the second round was the same as the first. Just more of those logical questions. By the way, I think this is a good place to mention it:
Please have hobbies! It’s for your own sake!
3. I’m very glad I went to this interview, because it was absolutely horrible. A 3 man company with their only developer being an unpleasant CTO. He was taking jabs at me at every opportunity he got and the whole damn thing felt like an overly opinionated trial. So yes, I’m glad I went there and I’m glad it was the first interview I failed. This place didn’t deserve me and it’s not arrogance speaking, it’s realism. I’m not going to be slammed with the statement:
“A good developer doesn’t create bugs and then fixes them. I search for developers, who never create bugs in the first place”
and think nothing of it. Especially if it comes as a response for me suggesting “css grids” as a new solution for layout design in web pages (and yes I know they are not supported yet in every browser, but it wasn’t the topic at the time). Of course I exercised patience during the interview, but there was so much I wanted to say. Anyway I’m glad I didn’t and I’m glad it is over.
4. This one I was definitely not expecting. More precisely, I wasn’t expecting anything coming into this interview. I found this small startup on Facebook and decided to contact them, for job security purposes (as an insurance, if I failed everywhere else). Then I met their CEO and WOW! My mind was blown!
Just to make it clear, we didn’t even conduct the technical interview. We just set for an hour and a half and analyzed the market and our society. It was a learning experience I will never forget. I received so many explicit and implicit tips, it felt way more like a mentor-ship program than a candidate selection process. Which is why I decided to terminate my process there. I knew I wasn’t ready yet. I had so much to learn and the following years will serve as my stepping stone. Hopefully I’ll get another opportunity along the way to work with this particular individual, but this time, on a more equal footing. Right now, I just thank him with all my heart for illuminating my path for me. Yeah, who could have imagined this could happen in a technical interview.
After the interview (a.k.a The contract)
If everything went well up to this point, you should be getting a contract. Read it thoroughly, have experienced friends in the industry who got screwed over before and have a lawyer mother. Those are my recommendations. Or just read it carefully and do your best to make sure it doesn’t come to bite you in the future. Either way, you can’t protect yourself from everything, so there is nothing else to do here, other than gain experience with time.
Results
I have made my choice, but I’ll keep it for future articles. I mean blog posts. As for this one, here is the outcome:
- I have made a minesweeper. Seriously here it is, feel free to play:
- I learned a lot of theoretical material and I feel like a more developed developer (come on, I had to make this pun. But I mean it!).
- I exercised my brain a lot through logical quizzes and had a lot of fun, while doing it. I absolutely recommend all of you to attend technical interviews for fun (I know I sound crazy).
- I learned a lot from a business stand point, which is something I’m very intrigued in.
- I met incredible people and I intend on maximizing and capitalizing on my newfound opportunities.
- I greatly boosted my confidence.
Overall, I call my job hunting process a huge success. Hopefully it will go the same way for you too!
