Your First Job

Introduction

This lesson contains an activity on the last page that you should complete.

Getting an Interview

Search online

Searching online is always a good start for finding a job. It gives you a good idea of what is out there, what to expect from the industry, and whether there are jobs near you.

One issue is that it does mean your CV needs to compete with everyone else who applies for the position. This might mean you would want to be applying for more junior positions at first which would give you the space to grow into a team and build your experience.

Use connections

Having industry-related connections is a great way of finding a job. Sometimes you will be recommended for a job by a friend working at the company. Many employers want someone who will fit into the team well, and if you are already have connections at the company, that can be a real boost.

We will cover networking and building connections in more detail in Module 2.

The Interview

Succeeding at an interview

You might not fit exactly what the job is after, but be open to adapting your skills and learning new ones. In an interview you can discuss the tools that you’ve worked with, and how they relate to the tools used by the company you’re interviewing with. The company might use Vue.js and your experience is with React, but if you show that you’re willing to learn, they could be persuaded.

Have your own questions prepared for the interview to make sure this is the right place for you, plus it makes you appear more prepared and serious about the position. Read more here.

A Technical Interview

You might be asked to do a technical interview. Usually the interviewer will set you a series of tasks to complete in an interview setting. This allows them to make sure that what you say you can do on your CV, you can actually do.

The New Job

Negotiating a Salary

Often one of the harder aspects of a new job is negotiating the salary. One of the most important things is to know what salary you believe you and your skills are worth, and know what you’d be willing to accept.

To assess your worth it’s a good idea to do research and see what salaries are being offered for a similar position. Take into account your skills, education, and experience.

Once you’ve decided on the salary you’d be looking to accept, let them make you an offer first. That way if it’s higher than what you wanted it’s a bonus, and if it’s less you can go back to them and negotiate for a higher salary.

What to expect from your first job

Many companies look to hire junior developers into their team as a long term strategy to build into individuals with potential. A junior developer is meant to learn the codebase and make small bug fixes and usually work with mid and senior developers on projects they are working on. Development companies will have their own ways of doing things, own technology and for the first while you will just be getting up to speed on how things work and how everything integrates. Don’t be concerned if you feel overwhelmed, a good company will on-board you slowly giving you achievable tasks to learn and contribute more as you learn.

Activity

Lesson Task

Goal

To practice answering interview questions.

Level 1

• Go to Github and practice answering various questions that you might well be asked in an interview.

• Practicing ahead of time means that you are more prepared and reassured in your understanding.