So you graduated bootcamp, what now?
Without fail in a given week, I get several DMs asking how to navigate the tech scene as a new grad, fresh out of web development bootcamp. When I notice a trend in questions, I try to do my best to put pen to paper and offer some suggestions that are applicable more universally. So here is Kat’s Guide to the Junior Dev Galaxy™.
I’d also like to note at this point that it is totally fair if you disagree with my perspective as a new grad or as an employer! There is no one-size-fits-all type solution to landing that first job, but I have found these to be solid principals to live by so if nothing else — it’s a good place to start.
What should you be doing?
1- Coding
Above all, this is what you want to do. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
But seriously, you should code! Now that you are out of bootcamp, the options are endless! The way I see it there are 2 routes you can take to show your initiative to potential employers:
1- Keep coding in the techstack that you are most familiar with from bootcamp and try to get a better understanding for the things you might have glossed over before. That is a great thing to focus on!
2- Learn something new. Also a great thing to focus on!
What I am trying to get at here is that there isn’t really a wrong way to do this, so long as you are coding. More coding = more learning = more experience and and better level of comfort with being a developer. Whether you chose to learn something new or build on existing skills is a matter of preference so do what feels right to you.
Not sure where to start? Make your resume into a website. It doesn’t have to be complicated and you can use a boilerplate. If you are starting your career as a developer then I think it is important to make sure that you have some kind of digital resume available. Use your github.io page (it’s a freebie and there are so many templates that people have opensourced) or buy a URL for cheap and learn a bit about hosting using tutorials.
2- Making Connections
But make meaningful connections. Reaching out to a stranger on LinkedIn and telling them that you are interested in junior opportunities isn’t going to return the results that you might expect. Yes, that is technically adding a connection by LinkedIn standards, but it isn’t a real meaningful connection that will move the dial on your employment situation.
I think in the covid-lockdown-world we are living in now you can expect 3 different types of digital events:
1- Larger scale speaking events: These can be valuable for learning and you should attend if you are interested in the subject matter. Generally I find the networking part of these events to be lacklustre so don’t count on them to bring you to any job/connection leads. These are still great and valuable events for learning though so don’t write them off entirely!
2- Small meetups: go to meetup.com, type in `tech`, put in your city and behold all of the results that it yields! Of course this likely isn’t everything going on in your city, but this will have a pretty decent spread. I find that meetup groups have a much more informal format and offer a lot of opportunity for making quality connections. Maybe you meet someone at a local JS meetup that is also into the same weird hobby as you.
Did you watch Dark on Netflix? That show literally blew my mind!!!
Sure, you might not be showcasing your dev skills, but you are building real relationships with real people that may eventually turn into a friendship or even a job opportunity. I’ve met some of my best friends through these kinds of meetups.
Hi Christine! (she reads all of my posts)
3- Coding based events like a hackathon or a volunteer group: This is the jackpot. With hackathons you get to work on projects with other devs and build cool and new stuff! They can be exhausting and difficult, but spending 48 hours hacking away at something with a small group will make a lasting connection. Don’t be afraid to join these events — often the more senior people that join them are totally down for mentoring and can end up becoming a long term mentor and support down the road.
A lot of cities have some version of Code the Change where people get together and work on opensource projects. Do that!! If you happen to be a Calgary resident like myself, I encourage you to check out the Project-Based Mini-Hackathon group. It’s not a formal hackathon, but just a gathering of devs who have ideas working with devs who want a project to work on. It’s a great place to get your hands dirty and meet some cool people.
How will coding and networking get you a job?
As most things in life, effort and persistence will be key in achieving your goal. It is unlikely that you will find your next boss by attending a single meetup. It is also equally unlikely that you will be good at coding if you stop pushing code when your bootcamp ends.
1- You learn ‘stuff’ pretty good
I made a recent LinkedIn post about Github contributions that a lot of you liked. I won’t repeat the entire post, but your Github contributions are often the first thing that employers are going to check out when you apply for a position at their company. Some pickier ones might delve deep into your code and evaluate your code quality, but the thing that most of them are looking for from a first-time dev is consistency. Do you have the motivation to keep learning on your own? Prove it! Obviously there are other way to measure progression, but this is a good place to start.
3 months of bootcamp does not make anyone an expert in coding. Heck, a 4 year degree also doesn’t make you an expert, but it does mean that you probably know more than us schmucks who only studied it for 3 months. No one is expecting you to be a pro at this point in your career, they just want to see that you are driven enough to one day become that senior developer.
2- You look good with all that ‘stuff’
I’m not going to mince words about the current junior market: a lot of people have turned to bootcamps because of covid so there is a surplus of juniors looking for their first opportunity. No matter what bootcamp you chose, chances are you have built a bunch of `{popular_app}-clone`s. When you graduate your resume is going to look exactly like everyone else’s. If you build new projects then right off the bat your resume stands out in a sea of bootcamp grads. It doesn’t matter if you use a tutorial or a course, or if its painfully simple or very complicated — just build some shit and update your `Projects` section to be different than the rest.
3- You plant the seeds for valuable connections that maybe result in a job now or much later in your career.
You’ve done the most hard thing — you left something comfortable and familiar and picked a totally new career and that is something to be proud of! There is a lot of unknowns right now, but hopefully development is something that you you have been enjoying.
Personally, I have jumped industries more times than I care to admit so when I fell in love with coding it was nice to finally feel ‘at home’ in a sense. I can finally say with great certainty that I’m going to be in tech for the rest of my working days, so now is the time to really make lasting connections. Sure, that may not benefit the needs of right now (aka a first job), but just trust that if you keep investing yourself and the connections that you make you will have a long and fruitful career.
Invest in yourself, invest in your connections, and trust that paid work and a stable career will grow from there.
