Finally my first job
Wednesday, 4th March, 2009 // 8:14 p.m.Well my 6 months old job hunt finally ended. There is a lot I learned throughout this journey. Quite a lot of experiences varying from pleasant to frustrating. In the end it's all fair.
A few lessons I learned in this period of time.
Never confine yourself to a technology Yup this is a blunder mistake I did. I was so madly in search of a django gig that I completely lost all my confidence after a while. Never get yourself tied to a piece of technology. You can prefer one but never confine yourself to it.
Experience Yup this is the most primary factor that decides your fate. Being a fresher from school I had bitter experiences everywhere. How can I have experience when I 'm in school. Never mind I just tried real hard to showcase my skills and put my work online as much as possible. Most people did n't bother to have a glance but I had good feedback few times.
Open source projects Believe it or not when there are a couple of open source projects in your resume it really changes the impression. Open source projects are something born out of your self-interest & motivation which creates a good impression. Having one/two really fetches.
Communicate I admit the fact that I have a pretty crappy communication skills. I'm kind of shy but I try hard not show that. One should be really open and make good communication with the employer.
Open for anything At first I was looking for opportunities in big companies only but soon enough I changed to apply all sorts of companies. Especially when it is your first opportunity you should be looking in all directions.
Expect anything Sometimes you may be given a word that you got the job or something very positive ("you are the man"). Never get too much into it unless & until there is real a strong form of evidence. This quite happened a lot to me that I could n't even believe a real offer.
I had attended about 25-30 interviews in about 6 months which is pretty small success ratio. I had experienced both pleasant & worst experiences. One of the worst experience was an interview with a company called zimbio. It was about 2 hours of humiliation rather than interviewing. I was given a marker and made to write all kinds of python, javascript code. Even though I admit the fact that I don't know they really pushed me to write code and they kept on evaluating every line and kept on cross-questioning. I should have walked off rather than stand and take their st. I always felt like saying you s*ck.
Anyway I did n't get carried away too much. Rather I just started to identify the areas I was weak and started to work hard on it. Now I am able to write decent javascript and do all sorts of common tasks.
At times I was promised jobs but I never heard back from the company. This really piss you off. But believe me it happens. Situations change pretty quickly. One such funny incident was I found a job and they said they were going to contact me after they check my references. They did check all my references but never got back. I wondered why and checked their website, the company itself disappeared with the failure of housing market. What a weird luck???
Another incident was a startup company which interviewed me and confirmed me the position. They said I could start the next week. I was happy enough. The next week I got a call saying that the requirements changed completely and they need to judge what positions are available. How about this situation? I completely stopped thinking about jobs. All I could do is apply, apply & apply.
Finally I was able to get my first job. Web developer @symantec. Quite satisfactory to enter a good company in my first shot. I was given a fair chance at interview to show my skills. I was given a practical project where I had to build a web app in few hours.
When I looking for jobs on craigslist, I found a listing for web developer with no company information or any details. The listing had only the skills required. I applied to the gig and completely forgot about it. After a while I got a call from symantec.
Finally it's luck all that matters.
Don't loose your confidence. Just hold it.
It's all about being at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing...
Comment Form
9 comments:
001// kioopi// Thursday, 5th March, 2009, 1:15 a.m.
Congratulations!
Thanks for the summary of the search.
I hope you'll enjoy your new job.
002// Nuno Mariz// Thursday, 5th March, 2009, 1:57 a.m.
Congrats, Yashh! Good luck for the job, I'm sure will be ok.
003// Martin Geber// Thursday, 5th March, 2009, 11:30 p.m.
Nice summary. But first: CONGRATULATIONS! symantec, that's a name!
I want to add one thing: These interviews are not only for the company to get to know you, but also for you to get to know the company. And if they "torture" you like zimbio did. Be happy they did it during the interview and not after you entered! (But don't quit the interview early, it's an experience, so you learn -- take it!)
Have fun at symantec!
Martin
004// Kshitij// Monday, 30th March, 2009, 1:48 p.m.
Congratulations Yash. Well Done. Doesn't matter how hard the journey was.....the destination is Good.
005// PiterKokoniz// Wednesday, 8th April, 2009, 12:34 a.m.
Hi ! ;) I am Piter Kokoniz. oOnly want to tell, that your blog is really cool And want to ask you: is this blog your hobby? Sorry for my bad english:) Thank you:) Piter.
006// nikhil badwe// Thursday, 14th May, 2009, 6:56 p.m.
Congrats Yash
007// sunofbarcelona// Monday, 27th July, 2009, 10:30 a.m.
i dont have words to express about u r work.Keep going and good luck...i will follow you :-)
008// Eddie// Saturday, 3rd October, 2009, 7:22 a.m.
Good job on the job. So come to my house for cocktails and women!
009// e-sushi// Sunday, 29th November, 2009, 5:26 p.m.
Looking for a job myself since a few months and guess what: your words motivate me not to give up.
I've blamed recession, I've blamed the several open source projects I managed and got hooked on a few years ago, I've even blamed the country I live in for being so "unflexible" to discover the fact that I'm not "one of those bozos" but my knowledge and experience is really genuine.
Hmmm... I guess you're right. In a market where thousands of people cause havoc, all you can do is "speak out loud enough so they'll hear you"... and repeat that over and over again; they might have missed your words because they were out for a coffee.
Anyway, two thumbs up for your job at Symantec!
Erm, and in case you hear they're looking for another designer/developer with more than just school knowledge and who's willing to more to any place on this planet if the offer fits... give me a smoking-sing! Ok? ;)