Am I Ready To Apply For Jobs?
Steven Kneiser
2-minute read
“How much coding do you need to know
to get into these interviews
and be offered a job?”
Before we get started, let’s clarify:
There is no such thing
as a Junior Developer™
or a Senior Developer™
There is no professional certification
You don’t get knighted by the Queen
You’re not licensed by The State
No doubt:
getting a job in our industry is tough
Many developers stay in jobs longer
just so they don’t have to again!
It’s almost like you’re re-validating your professional credentials at each interview. That’s precisely because our industry has no formal regulatory institutions (with very few exceptions)
Doctors have their M.D. (or Ph. D.)
Lawyers pass the statewide Bar Exam
But you’re just a computer whisperer
(or someday, a “Creator” who codes)
The cop-out answer:
Software evolves sooo quickly
credentials can’t keep up
True, but that’s not half the story
You may apply to similar companies,
but they’re different teams of people
with different customers to serve
At first thought, that really sucks
but that means standards vary a lot!
But is there a better way?
What if your job search was less like
hoping for a college acceptance letter
& more like picking a dream team?
College curricula are inherently designed
to be unremarkable & inter-changeable
I didn’t get my CS degree from Harvard
but we covered the same fundamentals:
- Operating Systems
- Data Structures
- Discrete Math
- Algorithms
- etc
Could we say the same
for your favorite athletes?
Do they share identical knowledge & technique? No.
Everyone disagrees on their dream team
because athletes are one-of-a-kind
You’re one-of-a-kind!
Why are you trying to be
a good-enough candidate for so many?
You’re not listed on the stock market
where multiple people can invest
Start today
You’re ready to start applying today
…just not everywhere
All it takes is one “Yes”
Stop sending 100+ applications
Find where you have Employee-Market Fit