This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by Dev Wanderer
If you’re a new developer looking for a job early in your career, an interview can seem quite daunting. The good news is that if your interviewer is like me, they’ve probably set their expectations to an appropriate level. When I interview, I look for potential more than experience. Here are some tips that would get you a great review from me.
Your Resume Will be Short, so be Ready to Back it Up!
It’s fine that your resume is short. In fact, if you have limited, or no professional experience yet somehow stretch out your resume to several pages, I probably won’t read it.
The important thing is that however few item are on your resume, you should be sure that you truly understand each one. If you only list a few skills then I want you to be able to talk about each of them and share your own observations. I don’t want to just hear that you read about it once.
If I can find one or two areas where you can contribute right away and see that you know how to learn new skills then I’ll have no problem recommending you.
What Projects Have You Worked On?
If you are trying to convince anyone that you are a developer then you should be able to discuss some projects that you’ve worked on. Maybe you’re looking for your first job and don’t have any professional experience to point to. That is fine, but I’d be disappointed if you haven’t found any interesting projects to work on — even if you had to create some of your own.
What projects did you work on in school? What projects have you done for an online course, or boot camp? What side projects are you working on of your own initiative? If you love to write code, I would expect that you have founds lots of places to do so.
Furthermore I want to see that you truly understood these projects. Don’t just say that you did some online tutorial. Tell me about what was built and how it worked. Tell me about the steps that were needed. What did you do when you got stuck? What did you learn?
What was Your Role on those Projects?
If you worked on an interesting project at school, or perhaps a previous job — what was your role? I want to hear about the important contributions that you made and how you interacted with teammates. I don’t want to hear that your teammates made something cool that you didn’t really understand. I want to see that you took ownership of important tasks and can explain them in detail. There’s nothing worse than a candidate who “can’t remember” all of their best experiences. It’s worth keeping notes.
How are You Learning on Your Own?
I want to see that you know how to find new information and learn new skills. If the entirety of your skillset is what a teacher told you then that isn’t very impressive. I want to hear about the times that you went the extra mile to learn how to add a special feature to your project. Tell me about the new programming language that you’re learning on your own just because you were interested. What personal projects did you choose as a way to practice your new skills?
Do You Communicate Effectively?
If I get really excited about a candidate, it’s rarely a purely technical analysis. I can overlook some technical gaps if you are clearly passionate about your work, can explain it clearly, and have a positive attitude that I want on my team.
Not long ago I held a full day of interviews on a University campus with students nearing graduation. One candidate impressed me so quickly with her ability to talk through her class projects and express her enthusiasm for her development process, that I immediately switched into recruitment mode. The interview ended up being about why she should consider our company instead of why we should consider her. It was interesting since her true technical experience was not the best I’d see that day. We made her an offer, but I was not surprise when she went to a larger company instead that offered a significant compensation package that we could not match. They saw potential too.
I think that is the goal for a junior developer candidate. You need to have some technical background, but it is even more powerful if you can show me that you’re on a road to technical success with or without this job.
Conclusion
In summary, I want candidates that take initiative to learn on their own, look for projects in which to practice their skills, and take time to truly understand the final solutions. These are qualities of a great developer. Mixed with even a little technical know how, they show that you can learn the rest as you go. As the candidate, I think a company that wants to know you can learn is a great opportunity, because it means they’ll have a lot to teach. My best jobs were the ones where more experienced developers shared their knowledge with me and I want to do the same with you. Just show me you’re ready.
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What I Look for When Interviewing a Junior Developer was originally published in Level Up Coding on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by Dev Wanderer
Dev Wanderer | Sciencx (2023-04-20T16:31:46+00:00) What I Look for When Interviewing a Junior Developer. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2023/04/20/what-i-look-for-when-interviewing-a-junior-developer/
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