Lessons learned from 400 unsuccessful job applications - how Scrimba student Gandev finally found success
09/14/21 • 25 min
With every rejection, Gandev felt more determined than ever. It didn't matter to him that no one had replied positively yet because he was only really testing the waters - applying to jobs before he was ready in order to see what he could learn about job-hunting while simultaneously skilling up on Scrimba. In the end, Gandev learned the key to his success was to connect with the people behind the jobs. In this episode, you are will learn how to do the same.
Who is Gandev? Gandev is a Scrimba community member and Frontend Career Path graduate with a tenacious attitude. He was recently hired as a Junior Frontend Developer at a London-based web development agency, and joins the podcast to share exactly how he got there.
Timestamps
- Introduction (00:00)
- Gandevs immensely productive Scrimba schedule (01:45)
- Recovering from failures and finding your drive (08:07)
- What Gandev learned applying to 400 jobs (13:57)
- How to make your own luck by connecting with Senior developers and recruiters (17:22)
- How to assure employers you will pull your weight (22:53)
Links
With every rejection, Gandev felt more determined than ever. It didn't matter to him that no one had replied positively yet because he was only really testing the waters - applying to jobs before he was ready in order to see what he could learn about job-hunting while simultaneously skilling up on Scrimba. In the end, Gandev learned the key to his success was to connect with the people behind the jobs. In this episode, you are will learn how to do the same.
Who is Gandev? Gandev is a Scrimba community member and Frontend Career Path graduate with a tenacious attitude. He was recently hired as a Junior Frontend Developer at a London-based web development agency, and joins the podcast to share exactly how he got there.
Timestamps
- Introduction (00:00)
- Gandevs immensely productive Scrimba schedule (01:45)
- Recovering from failures and finding your drive (08:07)
- What Gandev learned applying to 400 jobs (13:57)
- How to make your own luck by connecting with Senior developers and recruiters (17:22)
- How to assure employers you will pull your weight (22:53)
Links
Previous Episode
How to work with recruiters according to Senior Recruiter Taylor Desseyn
For every sucky recruiter conflating Java and JavaScript (oh boy), there is a recruiter like Taylor Desseyn ready to listen to your goals, craft your resume, and help you land your first Junior Developer job. Yes, even new programers are eligible to work with a recruiter! In this episode, Taylor breaks it down step-by-step.
Who is Taylor? Taylor is a Senior Recruiter who has been recruiting since 2011 and has helped place more than 450 people land their dream jobs. He joins us today to share his best advice on how to connect with and utilize recruiters in general.
Timestamps
- Introduction (00:00)
- Recruiting is inherently broken (01:52)
- Differentiate between agency and internal recruiters (04:11)
- How to connect with agency recruiters even if you are a Junior (05:38)
- You wouldn't wait to go to the gym until you're in shape... (09:37)
- 3 rules to write an impressive cold message (10:10)
- LinkedIn is where it's at but do not discount Twitter and Polywork (14:57)
- How to stand out on LinkedIn (17:50)
- The tenants of a standout resume (21:37)
Links
- Follow the guest
- Follow the host
- Links mentioned in the episode
Next Episode
What a good developer resume looks like and how to write one - learnings from an Uber Engineering Manager
Your resume determines if you will be called in for an interview or not. It’s an advertisement targeted towards your future boss and it can make or break your application. Yet, most programmers fail to write a good resume! In this episode, you will learn to increases the chances that your resume makes it to the “yes” pile according to an actual Hiring Manager.
Who is Gergely? Gergely is the author of The Tech Resume Inside Out - a highly-rated book about what the hiring process look like inside companies and how to make sure your resume stands out. Before that, he worked as an Engineering Manager at Uber for 3 years.
Timestamps
- Introduction (00:00)
- Most resumes suck so Gergely wrote The Tech Resume Inside Out (01:27)
- Remember: Your resume is a sales tool (07:52)
- Create a master resume template (14:26)
- The problem with using LinkedIn as your resume (15:20)
- How hiring funnels work from the inside out(18:35)
- Myth-busting Application Tracking Systems (26:20)
- Avoid photos on your resume (35:22)
- Why resumes should look plain Jane (35:25)
- References available upon request? Obviously (36:34)
- Internships and Computer Science degrees (36:48)
- Employment travel visa options for new programmers are few for a reason (39:12)
- The dreaded reference check (41:29)
Links
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