开源日报 每天推荐一个 GitHub 优质开源项目和一篇精选英文科技或编程文章原文,坚持阅读《开源日报》,保持每日学习的好习惯。
今日推荐开源项目:《我的回合,抽卡 gh-card》
今日推荐英文原文:《How to Get Software Engineering Interviews With No Experience》

今日推荐开源项目:《我的回合,抽卡 gh-card》传送门:GitHub链接
推荐理由:GitHub 的个人页面里那些仓库卡片是一个不错的展示项目的方式,这个项目能生成一个指定项目的卡片:HTML,Markdown 或者干脆是一张图片。想要在博客文章中插入一个 GitHub 项目的时候会比直接使用文字描述美观不少,而如果想要将自己参与过的许多项目都排列在自己的页面上的话,这个一键生成的功能也能节省很多时间。

今日推荐英文原文:《How to Get Software Engineering Interviews With No Experience》作者:SeattleDataGuy
原文链接:https://medium.com/better-programming/how-to-get-software-engineering-interviews-with-no-experience-6e62739e2d37
推荐理由:有工作经验更好找工作这是当然的,那么第一份工作要怎么起步呢?

How to Get Software Engineering Interviews With No Experience


Getting your first tech job, whether as a software engineer or data scientist feels impossible.

All the job descriptions you read for entry-level positions seem to require at least 2–3 years of experience. How in the world are you supposed to get experience for an entry-level position?

Especially if you don’t have an internship or a background in software engineering.

Many of us have been there. We have been nine months into sending out hundreds of resumes, going to dozens of meet-ups and feeling as if we are no closer to even getting an interview, much less a job.

Yet, our friends seem to all land jobs right out of the gate at some big tech company with a six-figure salary.

How?

The truth is, you never know what will work to get you your first job in tech. Each of us have different skills when it comes to getting jobs. Some of us are good at developing our own apps from start to finish, some are good at writing tutorials, others excel at making YouTube videos and still others are socialites who do really well at meet-ups.

A combination of your skill sets, timing, and hard work will all help you get your first job in tech. Even if it takes a year (which we have seen), don’t get discouraged. We have seen people with a non-technical background use a few blog posts to get noticed by large tech firms. It may have taken nine months, but they got the job!

So whether you are just starting the hunt for your first tech job or are already several months in, we hope this post gives you a few ideas on how to get noticed and also motivates you to keep going!

Don’t Only Focus on the FAANG


One of the hard parts about trying to get a job in a tech role is that most of the jobs seem to be at a FAANG company. All of which seem to be looking for either interns or candidates with at least 3 years of experience.

This is why it is important to remember there are other companies besides the FAANGs. For instance, hospitals, insurance providers, banks, and manufacturers are also great places to get your feet wet in tech. Along with start-ups (so long as you are paid) and other corporations. Yes, many of us want the prestige and clout of working at a FAANG. That way we can brag to our family and friends about our job, we get it you work for Amazon. But it’s ok to work for other companies.

In addition, most of the tech companies will start sending you interview requests once you have 2–3 years of experience. So bide your time, make sure you are keeping up with your data structures, and technical interview chops and just be ready for when the time comes.

You never know you might like working for a different company. Think about it. Companies like Ikea, Ford, and FedEx are not what we consider “tech” companies. However, all of these companies have very complex business processes that require intelligent engineers to fix. You will often be developing the frameworks at these companies from the ground up at some of these corporations. You might not have the clout or get to work with all the cool shiny new tools, but you can still learn to be a good engineer. There are always trade-offs, but also there is always a lot to learn.

Create a Project/Website/App


If you have an app or website idea, like maybe a game or a SaaS product, then why not consider developing it? Putting together a website and deploying it online to allow other people to see can show that you can do more than just talk through interview problems. At the end of the day, showing practical skills will benefit you.

We don’t mean a plain old static website. We really mean developing a website.

Take some time and think about a basic social media website that requires setting up a database, user accounts, authentication, cookies, and content delivery. There are a lot of different aspects that you need to master to be able to deploy what might seem like simple features.

Take it one piece at a time. Don’t try to design it overnight. Really think through the process. This is also often a good way of studying for design interviews. You suddenly need to think much deeper than just the pizza program you developed in C++ in your college 142 course.

Think about all the high-level aspects, as well as the low-level design features. It both helps you study for interviews and gives you something fun to do.

If you have a lot of smaller projects, then create a portfolio on Github. Some companies want to see your past work. This is much easier to do before you get hired because once you are, you will often be too busy to work on side projects and you most likely won’t be able to share the code you work on.

Start a Blog

Start a blog. Whether on WordPress, Medium, or your own Django website that you are hosting on AWS. Whatever content delivery system you decide to use is less important. The key is creating content.

This won’t always show off all your technical skills, but it can add another talking point. It shows you have interest and passion!

You can also use blog posts as a great way to practice for interviews. Choose topics that align with subjects that are standard in tech interviews. Here are three possible topics!
  1. Breaking down how a data structure or algorithm works
  2. Walking through how to design Twitter or Uber
  3. Talking through a Leetcode problem
This can help you in the future when you need to show off some of your skill sets beyond just engineering.

Attend Meetups Even If You’re An Introvert


We recommend, no matter your personality, you go to the occasional meetup (even if you have a job). The people that benefit most from meetups do tend to be extroverts, but that doesn’t mean introverts can’t benefit at all. There are many pros to going to meetups including finding future jobs, meeting future partners for start-ups, or just learning about what other companies are doing.

You do need to attempt to converse with the other people though (shocker).

Don’t just go to the meetup, stand alone in the corner, and claim there is no point in going to meet-ups.

If you didn’t make an effort to talk to a few people, then that is on you. Now don’t think everyone is going to offer you a job. In fact, there are probably a lot of people also there looking for work. Instead, just go, talk, meet new people and if an opportunity arises where you are talking to a hiring manager, then make sure to get an email.

That being said, we have seen people get their first job by first writing a blog post or two and then going to meet-ups and using the blog as a talking point. This can also be said about the projects and apps you have developed. So don’t feel like meetups don’t work if you haven’t given them a fair shot.

Reach Out to Friends or Family

There are plenty of companies that work with referrals. From personal experience, getting contacted by Amazon is much easier when you have someone refer you vs. just throwing your resume into their application system.

Don’t feel bad asking for referrals. Now, notice we say, friends and family. As someone who has been asked by total strangers for referrals, we really find it awkward referring people we don’t know.

Instead, look for people who know you, your work ethic, and your personality. They will be much more inclined to help you out. That being said, they will only be able to help you out with getting the interview. For instance, with Amazon, they don’t care who referred you. They care if you can pass the interview or not. So make sure you study.

Do Everything at Once

We have used the example of Disney’s marketing strategy before in our tips for getting your first consulting client. The concept of blending all of these actions into one strategy is where you will see the largest impact. You want to blog about your portfolio and projects so that when you go to a meetup you can share it and land an interview.

We can’t guarantee the interview, but we have seen people with no tech backgrounds get interviews by doing everything! For example, we once gave a talk at a meetup where a data scientist who had been searching for a job for a while came up afterwards and asked us to get coffee. We eventually found out that their background was in English not Programming. Considering we had a blog, we asked them to write some posts for us which we compensated them for. A few months later they reached out to us and told us how they went to another meet-up and shared the blog post with a hiring manager. The manager then gave them an interview which eventually led to a job. Notice, this person had to go through several steps. They went to two different meetups where they engaged with us as well as the hiring manager and wrote blog posts. The power of multiple small actions built up to the result they wanted!

Keep Applying And Meeting People

It can become difficult to continue to apply for jobs when it feels like no one is responding to you. But, you need to not give up. Always be looking for jobs at different companies, look for roles everywhere because you never know what will stick. It might be a hospital, it might be Amazon. However, if you aren’t applying, then you will never get interviewed.

Don’t Lose Hope!

We do hope these tips help you get your first job in tech, no matter the role. Most importantly, don’t lose hope. Keep track of where you apply, the Meetups you go to, the people you meet and make sure you reach out to them. At the end of the day do not lose hope and keep up a positive attitude as you reach out to the people you have met.

Don’t lose hope!

Getting your first tech job is difficult.

It can be disheartening.

It can be stressful.

But never lose hope!0*
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