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How To Get Hired
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Who Am I?

Site: Jason.Land

  • Front End Engineer at Diego Dev

  • Co-organizer at meetup.com/sandiegojs

  • Previously Tipsy Elves, The Control Group, Origin Code Academy, Touch This Media

  • Curator of n00b.news

Remember:

A Job is Just a Job

You are trading time and labor for capital.

Don't fall in love with a position.

It will never love you back.

So you need a job

5 tips to get you hired

1. Don't Panic

Keep living life

  • Eat Right
  • Get Sleep
  • See your friends/family

Keep Track of Your Work

  • Trello is easy and free
  • List your network contacts who might be able to help

2. What Do You Want?

  • Front/back end or full stack? Mobile? DevOps?
  • Startup, enterprise, contract, non-profit?
  • SaaS, B2B, B2C, E-commerce?
  • Find what satisfies you

Are You Experienced?

  • Every job description is a wish list
  • Unless it's wildly out of your skill set, you can probably get it
  • If you don't know something on the list, then Youtube, Udemy, Egghead are your friends

Look online

Check out Indeed/Monster/etc

But don't use them to apply!

---

A typical job submission site

Be attractive, don't be unnattractive

  • Setup a website, but don't build a website
  • Your projects should be running live on Now or Heroku
  • Resume is also in HTML format and downloadable as a PDF

3. Find out who's in charge

The "No" Person

  1. It's their job to say "no" to that stack of resumes from Indeed

  2. It's your job to get them to say yes

Target Acquisition

  • Look at the company's staff page, find the senior developers (never the CTO unless it's a startup)
  • Check if they have in-house recruiters
  • Contact someone in HR as a last resort

4. Don't You Forget About Me

  • Don't let more than 4 days go by without a message contact
  • Don't harass, just ask if they've had a look at your resume
  • Only give up after 14+ days of no response

Go Pro

  • Get a LinkedIn Pro account
  • Free for the first 30 days
  • Send a direct message & connection request to your targets ⬆️

First Contact Message

Why does a Company Hire?

  1. To save time
  2. To save money
  3. To do something they don't know how (which is really a combo of 1 & 2)
  4. Your message needs to convey 1, 2, or 3

Be Accessible

  • Setup a site w/screenshots/gifs of your app(s)
  • No one has time to install the source so make a portfolio page
  • Host it on Now.sh
  • Get a great README on your repos: http://bit.ly/nice-readme
  • Host an HTML resume on your site w/PDF download

Practicing what I preach: Jason.Land/resume

Look The part

  • Business casual attire is fine, no tie needed
  • Men: Get leather shoes, all black sneakers won't cut it
  • Women: slacks & blouse are fine, no heels needed
  • If they say don't wear a suit...

Don't wear a suit

5. Seal the Deal

Walk the Walk

  • Arrive 10 minutes early
  • Accept a water if they ask you if you want something
  • Go over your interview questions
  • DO NOT TAKE OUT YOUR PHONE
  • Sit/stand up straight
  • Bring a tissue or handkerchief to wipe your hands

Bring a leather portfolio with:

  • 10+ copies of your resume
  • A pen
  • A blank pad of paper
  • A sheet of questions to ask them

Talk the talk

Interviews are a two way street

  • Questions from the updated Joel Test
  • How long have the senior devs been at this company?
  • Is there a mentor system in place?
  • What would your ideal candidate look like 6 months from now?
  • YOU MUST ASK THEM QUESTIONS

Seal the Deal

  • Speak as if you're a strong candidate
  • Ask what the next steps are
  • Thank them: thankyouletter.ws
  • Remember the 4 day rule

Ask for More Money

  • Job offers won’t be rescinded if you ask for too much money
  • Ask for more vacation if they're greedy and won't pay more
  • Start interviewing with your least desirable company first.
    • Consider them practice
    • After your interview at your favored company, you’ll have multiple offers and can use them as leverage.

Secret Step 6

Connections are Everything

  • I've found 4 jobs through meetups
  • Go to one at least once a week
  • Vary them, don't always go to the same ones
  • Make sure you talk to at least 4-5 people

Ask Me Some Questions