How To Land Your First Development Job Without Experience
- Growth & Learning
Ayesha Naveed- 0
- 8 minutes read
Alright! So this is 2020 and if you are someone with a passion for coding and developing software, apps, and websites and have been looking for jobs with no luck? Then stop right here and hear me out!
Everything in the tech industry evolves very rapidly and keeps advancing every single day and so the demand for devs is always high and is everywhere. And when there are tons of job opportunities for a developer, there are tons of aspiring and experienced devs out there too! So even though you feel oh-so-cool after finishing that programming course and building the project that was taught in that tutorial, how are you going to land your very first job as a developer when you never worked in any software house before and got no work experience at all?
Your basic information on the resume, list of your skills, and a few projects you worked on during your e-learning or your university course won’t increase your chances to get a job. In fact, you’ll end up applying everywhere in frustration and when you’d get no positive response or no response at all? Well, that sure would hit your confidence level and your heart!
So in this article, I’m going to tell you some key tips which if you follow, you’ll land your first job as a developer with no prior job experience!
1. Practice is the key!
First of all, be mindful of the fact that only doing online courses or even taking diploma or certificates from institutions won’t qualify you for a job or even internships if you are not practicing much or if you are “only” relying on that specific course thinking that you have learned enough. </p
Programming is a lifelong journey. You learn something new each day and the more you practice what you’ve learned, the more it becomes a second nature thing to you, and the easier it will be for you to develop anything and tackle any challenge that’s thrown your way.
2. Build your portfolio
Seeing is believing. So even if you list down 10 projects on your resume that you developed, it won’t be an attraction to anyone unless those projects are live on the web and can be seen and used! So the best thing to do is to make your portfolio, make it go live, and add all the projects that you have built on your portfolio. Your portfolio is that one best thing that makes you stand out from the crowd and would make people take interest in you.
When building your portfolio, always do good research on how other developers have made their portfolios and how they showcase their projects and what kind of projects they have built. Never try to copy someone else’s portfolio and be unique in what you’re making because that represents you.
Got no money and can’t host your portfolio online yet? Well, you can still host your portfolio online without spending a single penny. Yes, you heard that right! Here are some great platforms using which you can host your portfolio online:
3. Learn & use GitHub
Github is a great version controlling system and is a very essential skill for you to learn these days since exploring Github in depth would be out of the scope of this article, so, for now, I’ll keep it short and simple. Keep Github in your list of skills and be a pro at it and not just that but make your GitHub account and push all of your projects there instead of keeping them on your local machine and admiring them every day. That is a great way to show the world what project you have in your belt.
4. Contribute to Open-Source Projects
Contributing to open-source projects is a really great way to learn and polish any skill you want to. There are a lot of open-source projects out there on GitHub and you should contribute to them. For contribution, you just have to look for an open-source project, use and analyze it to understand what’s going on. And from there on you can add a new feature to it, improve an existing feature, check the list of bugs and fix any of the bugs, and so on. This is one great way to be a part of an open-source project, learn how others code in the real world, and what kind of projects people make, and with your contribution in it you not only gain experience working on real-world projects but your skills get improved to a great extent.
5. Networking
Whether you are an aspiring developer or already have a job, building connections with people who do the same work as you is essential. It not only gets you linked with like-minded people but brings a variety of opportunities for you. And these days networking is as easy as joining a tech facebook group, attending a tech event, or being a part of tech talks. One great place to start is Meetup. This is a place where you can find groups and events related to tech and other things, see what events are going to happen in your city and simply attend those events, talks, and groups. You must actively participate in such tech events and join tech groups because that would bring you closer to other developers and people who are already working in this industry. Not just that, but if you are a member of a tech group, you can always find people to lean on and know who to ask for support, guidance, and help when you are stuck at any coding challenge! So go ahead and join a group near you today.
So these were my 5 key points to help you land your first job as a developer. Often times at the start of our job-hunt, we’re too confused and have no idea where to start and we just keep applying for jobs with no luck. But having a clear plan with a realistic approach will surely help you in succeeding. Follow all these five steps and do let me know in the comments down below how it turned out for you!
