We had a great panel discussion in September at Lunch Function 101:Finding the Right Job in Tech. Below is a link to the video of the talk as well as a recap of the panel discussion. We want to support and grow our tech community and we hope our audience as well as those who read the recap will take away some valuable information to help them land the right job in tech.
Our panel discussion was led by Jessie Gilligan, who is a junior developer at Focus Labs and a recent graduate of the Georgia Tech Developer boot camp. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicagilligan/
Panelists include:
Laura Furlayter, Sr. Technical Recruiter with INT Technologies, LLC
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-fulayter-8a415b1/
Rob Lingle, Founder of Oak Works and Senior Full Stack Developer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roblingle/
Mark Stahl, Project Lead and Java Script Developer at Bitovi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-stahl-05684a156/
Watch the Panel Discussion
Panel Discussion Questions and Answers
Q – How do I get past gatekeepers to get an interview?
- Make yourself available, digging around and doing research on who makes the decision then reaching out via linkedin or email
- Communication via resume.
- Following instructions on job advertisement.
Q – How do I market myself?
- If you want to be a developer – go develop – have passion for what you want to do
- Business value/ scheduling trumps technical excellence
- Look for local groups that are into your field and getting recommendations from others
- Finding a client to help for free and trying out different things
- Have a genuine desire to do it
Q – How do I progress once I get a job?
- Be aware of other opportunities and technologies around you that interest you.
- Finding problems that you’re interested in to apply a given technology to. Make time to work on new technology.
Q – What is the difference between finding a job and the right job in tech?
- Find a job initially then you can figure out what you’re good at.
- When you work for a smaller company you will get exposure to multiple projects
- Once you find that spark in the industry that you like then go for it whether managing data, managing systems, network services, developing, or programming.
- Knowing how to talk about software and be able to talk to developers, articulate your desires about it is a big key. You don’t have to be able to write it. But you can find something in the field.
Resources
Networking & Researching Jobs
- LinkedIN – get to know people and companies through a professional networking site. Look at other people’s profiles for ideas on how to explain your skills and experience.
- Dice.com – Look for jobs in your area or remote jobs
- Glassdoor.com – check out other people’s reviews of a company you are interviewing for.
- Slack.com – Join our Slack channel here and join the Career Board Channel to see local/remote jobs.
- Technical Interview Article
Development and Current Dev News
- MDN Web Docs
- Stack Overflow – ask questions, answer questions, get help and find resources in the dev community
- Github – show your projects/coding ability through your GitHub repository
- Hacker News
