Standing out as a new grad candidate
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The document discusses strategies for standing out as a job candidate in the competitive software industry, emphasizing the importance of developing skills outside of formal education. It suggests undertaking original projects, contributing to open source, and sharing knowledge through blogging to demonstrate real-world skills and communication abilities. The conclusion encourages candidates to showcase their work effectively and engage with trendy technologies to enhance their employability.
Standing out as a new grad candidate
- 1. Standing Out Growing your skills outside of classes and internships Sashko Stubailo Engineering Manager Meteor Development Group meteor.io
- 2. Who am I? ● Work at Meteor - developer tools in the JavaScript and GraphQL API space ● Engineering manager for 1.5 years ● Looked at thousands of resumes ● Been in hundreds of interviews We work with many companies including:
- 3. The software industry can be competitive ● Hard to get a job ● Hard to hire good people ● Hiring the wrong person is a big risk for any company ● Making yourself stand out as a candidate is a good investment Job requirements Available candidates Hire
- 4. Getting ahead ● Learn new technologies that aren't part of the regular curriculum ● Become great at communication ● Acquire real-world skills beyond academics How? Do interesting projects!
- 5. Good projects ● Your original idea, not something prescribed as a class project ● Used for their intended purpose by someone ● Explained well, with clearly communicated value ● Available to try, or lots of images/videos/data are available Some examples: ● Stock trading simulation to experiment with friends ● App to coordinate volunteers at a hackathon ● Hate speech index for Reddit using natural language processing
- 6. Do the last 5% of the work You've done the hard part: Actually building the thing. Now, put in the last bit of effort to present it nicely and make it work for you. ● Create a README ● Make a website ● Make a demo video ● Write a detailed description on your resume
- 7. Benefits of open source contributions ● You get the legitimacy of the project you're contributing to for free ● Guaranteed to be real-world relevant ● Your code is reviewed by some of the top programmers out there
- 8. How to get started Pick a project you use, and look at the issues. Often docs are an easy place to start.
- 9. Blogging ● The ability to explain your work is critical to job success ● You can blog about anything you've built or learned, even if it seems simple to you ● Get a proofread from your friends before posting, and ask them to share https://medium.com/@kt_seagull/salary-and-negotiation-for-new- grads-data-and-insights-42d55666bca2
- 10. Trendy tech Seek out tools and technologies that are too new to learn in school. Maybe your interviewer can learn about a new thing from you!
- 11. How do I find the time? ● These aren't just fake things to get a job, these are the same skills you'll be using on the job ● Just as important as your classes ● For certain careers, better marginal return than taking that extra class ● Good news: With strong fundamentals, you're already primed to jump in!
- 12. Conclusion ● Do interesting projects ● Take the time to showcase and explain your work ● You can help yourself stand out with excellent communication, trendy technologies, or open source contributions Please email me if you want a review of something, or might be interested in working at Meteor: sashko@meteor.com