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Starting a career as a new software engineer is no small feat.
As a fresh-faced techie, you have to rummage through job portals, hand in zillions of resumes, and shoot off thousands of emails, hoping to land the opportunity.
While this thorny path is certainly rewarding, there is a shortcut to get noticed. And it’s your good name.
Have you ever visited an event full of unknown faces to introduce yourself to them with just your name and hear, “Oh, you are the (insert your name). Wow!”.
Here’s how you can pull this off:
- Show up in your underwear
- Steal a code
- Disable the company’s system through an insider attack
Just kidding.
Code Repository (Github, Bitbucket, etc)
These are public repository accounts that act as a storage location for a variety of code.
As a newly-minted software engineer, it’s the best tool to showcase capabilities in technical craft, attract recruiters, and demonstrate what kind of tinkering you do as your hobby projects.
From a professional standpoint, it’s a no-brainer for effective collaboration and backup.
Blog
It’s old news that blogging is an authoritative source to share your ideas.
Yet, most of the developers shun this wonderful opportunity. A technical blog can become your big-ticket into the career and serve as a billboard with your name on it.
Even more, it can turn into a generator of leads, a marketplace for indie developers, or simply the place where you connect with the community.
Online Communities
If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." – African Proverb
The uninitiated often share the common erroneous perception of developers as loners.
In reality, not that many bright tech minds prefer the company of computer screens to people.
Online communities like Stack Overflow, Reddit, and open-source resources have become a venue for coders to chat, improve, share code or help with that problem-solving mode. It’s also a nice way to boost your career and get noticed.
Along with getting yourself out there, you can find answers to your toughest coding questions, lap up some coding, and find your next dream job.
Events & Conferences
Since the pandemic hit, most events have been shifted online. So it’s even easier for introverted people to participate in one.
Just like online communities, events, and meet-ups provide four major boons for new kids on the block: Learning, Sharing, Networking, and Collaborating.
Pro tip: as a freshener, you’re better off looking for events that target a narrow topic, like a particular coding language or a technology. It’s less difficult and more feasible to raise awareness there than at generic conferences.
In Toto
You cannot build a successful and meaningful career overnight. But if you want to take your developer path forward, you have to be strategic and set career goals to get there.
Have you established a visible personal brand? If so, great. Keep doing it. If you haven’t explored that direction yet, we hope you now know where to begin your journey. The road is made by walking, isn’t it?