How to get hired (as software engineer)
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Set programming as a goal
Programming is not a sprint, it is a marathon.
Think about programming in the long term, not the short term. The first thing you need to understand is that some technologies will be replaced before others.
For example, this year’s most popular framework could be obsolete in a couple of years, but that will not happen with a programming language.
With this in mind, there are two key points to focus on from the begging of your career:
- Fundamentals: A programming language, Algorithms, Data Structures, Low level design (like understanding of OOP), etc.
- Debugging: Improving your debugging skills will put you far ahead of others developers and that means finding and fixing bugs in “natural” way (not using Google or AI).
Find out what people want you to know in order to hire you
Play the game to get hired, then do whatever you want.
Now that you are comfortable with your programming skills, you should focus on something that will help you get your first job.
Choose a tech stack:
- What are the most in-demand positions in my area?
- What is the tech stack I am interested in (base on the answer above)?
Build a portfolio
Show what you can do
Now that have the fundamentals and know what companies want you to know, it’s time to build projects with those technologies.
Let’s say you have decided to become a Front-end and you choose to learn Reactjs:
- Build some projects without Reactjs, just JavaScript, HTML and CSS (proof that you understand the fundamentals).
- Build some projects with Reactjs (proof that you know how to use the demanded tool).
- Build some projects full-stack (proof that you understand the end-to-end process from client to server).
Other things that would be interesting:
- Use git.
- Add testing.
- Add CI/CD.
- Contribute to an Open Source Project of interest to you.
Networking
You have some cool projects, share them with the community (social networks like Twitter/X, LinkedIn, etc). Don’t wait until you have +1000 projects, start sharing them from the begging.
Another thing you should do is to participate in events:
- Go to Conferences and Meetups.
- Participate in Hackathons and other competitions.
I hope you find your first job soon, if you have any other recommendations leave them in the comments.
Thanks!
Kemil
