We were recently involved in a Women Who Code Tech Talk called “Zero to Hero.” It featured an all-female panel who had graduated from our Intermediate Coding Bootcamp, and they discussed their different career paths taken after graduation.
After the event, an attendee sent a message:
“I wanted to thank you again. Hearing your stories gives me confidence in my job search.”The job search can certainly be challenging. That’s why we wanted to share these 10 lessons learned from that panel discussion:
Lesson 1: Connect with a software engineer at the hiring company
Try to speak with people who actually work at that company before you have your job interview. What you miss in the job description is the nuances of that company, such as company culture. There are only a few key requirements that an employer is really looking for, and you want to make sure you hit those points in your resume and during the interview.Lesson 2: Trust your gut
It’s important to take a moment and say it’s okay to not take a job if it’s not the right fit for you, no matter how awesome it sounds on paper. You need to recognize what is important to you.Lesson 3: Practice what you’re not good at
Job hunting can be uncomfortable because you have to sell and promote yourself. Take every opportunity to get in front of people, and practice answering hard questions. Practicing things that make you uncomfortable will help you get better; hard questions will start to become part of muscle memory. You should target the aspects you struggle with and practice those aspects over and over again. Then you can be confident when you land a big interview.Lesson 4: Have a growth mindset
Learning to code is very doable, yet so many people don’t realize it. You have to adopt a growth mindset: it’s okay to fail (many times), and when you do, just pick yourself back up and try again.Lesson 5: Break down and solve problems like a software engineer
No matter what you’re doing—whether you’re a recruiter, in sales, or looking for a job—you’re still trying to problem solve, and that engineering mindset will take you a long way. You can solve anything when you break down a problem into its smaller components. Then, think about your output (final result), and reverse-engineer the solution by using the steps of OICE:- Output: The final result you’re after
- Inputs: The variables involved in getting to your output
- Constraints: Challenges to getting to your solution
- Edge Cases: Are you asking all the right questions?