How to move forward on the job hiring process even if you have no prior experience.
Wow! I've been slacking off big-time.
It's been 2 weeks since I wrote something huh... Oops...
Sorry Everyone It has been a crazy 2 weeks.
I'm currently in a job hiring process and 2 weeks ago I had a tech challenge where I had to create a REST API that was to be developed using Java, Spring Boot, and JPA/Hibernate using a Postgres database.
I also had to host this app on a cloud platform. I chose Heroku on this one.
It's currently live but it's a backend app so there are no screenshots to share 😅
The things that I find funny about all of this are the ff.
- I only started my web dev journey last September
- I have no idea what an API is let alone what REST is.
- I have never created a SpringBoot project before.
- I don't know what JPA means... even now... /note to self what does JPA stands for/
- I have no experience using PostgreSQL.
- I have no idea how to host an app to Heroku.
I listed these things because these are also the skills needed for the job.
And clearly, I have none of those. But I still managed to move forward to the secondary/ team interview.
So how did I do it?
Nepotism... 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Kidding aside, these are what I think I did that made them and kept them interested in me.
Set your expectations
First set your expectations. Claim your win from the universe but also set your expectations.
"Don't be demanding and entitled thinking you deserve the job when clearly you have no experience."
I had to tell this to myself after every step. 😅 It helps calm the heart and mind and also helps if ever the heartbreak comes.
Be Enthused
(Is Enthused even a word...🤔😅) /Edit: it is... 🤣🤣/
Be excited. Be exciting.
No one wants to hire someone who is not excited about what they are about to embark upon.
I know... Nerves right? You're going to talk to people with years of experience in development. and it's scary.
I get it. That's why you should pump yourself up! Get excited. Shake those nerves away.
Before the interview, I was so scared that before the interview I got my guitar and sang songs for around an hour. Just to hype me up and keep the nerves away.
Being Brutally Honest
From the very beginning of the process, I was honest about my experience.
From the recruiting agent to the team lead I told everyone that the only experience I have is with using Java as a language.
Other than that, I have no experience with the other technology.
And me being brutally honest about my inexperience set the interviewers' expectations about me.
Because if you say you have experience in these technologies they will ask you about it. And if you can't answer, well that's not a good thing for you.
My suggestion is even if you had experience with a technology or framework, But you can't explain it well.
Just leave it out of your resume and if they ask if you have any experience, just tell them you had but not enough that you fully grasp the concept. But then go on and tell them the next topic
Note your wins and losses
◉Wins
I've been hearing this in tech Twitter for a while now. And it's sound advice.
Take account of your wins and losses on each project.
I use wins rather than achievement. Because achievement sounds grand and seems like it has to be something big. While wins can be as small as a bug fix.
So note your wins and the struggles you went through to achieve your wins.
"Why? It's just a bug fix you say? It's not important?"
For you, it may not be important. But for the hiring team, it shows your problem-solving skills.
"But I just found the answer in google."
And that shows your resourcefulness and ability to research.
See! Those small wins actually tell them more about you than you think.
◉Losses
For the losses, these are your failures. This may be a feature you didn't implement. or a problem that you couldn't solve.
Note these failures down and then create possible solutions for them.
Examples would be:
- What could you have done that would give a better result?
- What would you do now, that would resolve the matter?
Then take note of these solutions. By providing solutions to your previous problems, it shows that you want to improve on yourself and your work.
Have Fun
Lastly, have fun but still be professional.
Remember you are being hired as a part of a team. So relax. Smile. Have fun.
Just treat them as friends. Remember you will be working with these people in the future. If you and the team don't mesh it's highly unlikely they'll take you in.
Make some banter but always remember to be professional about it. Don't make inappropriate jokes.
Conclusion
So that's what I did.
But guys remember this is not a surefire guidebook that will grant you success.
These are steps that I made that helped me move forward in the hiring process. I just finished the second interview together with the dev team.
I think it was a nice interview and that I did well enough. But is it enough to land me the job?
Only time can tell.
And no matter the result I am grateful to be given the opportunity. And will note whatever wins or losses I get from this experience.
Thank You Corner
Thank you to (Hashnode)[hashnode.com). Without your Bootcamp, I wouldn't be able to find inspiration to start.
Thank you to Amigoscode for your wonderful Springboot tutorial.
Thank you to Quincy Larson and FreeCodeCamp.org for the free tutorials and courses.
And lastly to you dear reader for reading this article! Thank you!
If you want to reach out or maybe just say hi, you can contact me via Twitter