I dont really have true develper experience. Those projects were more extra curricular.
Then build some. Keep building projects. You will improve your skills, improve your portfolio, and will impress upon them that you are enthusiastic about coding.
Ive spoken to around 15 recruiters or HR people so far, they ask the same questions. dont get an interview with the actual company/engineering team.
Yup, we all know that song.
You are applying to positions well above your skills/experience.
Possibly the case for some of the applications I sent out, …
Yeah, I don’t think there is anything wrong with applying for things that are a little above you, just don’t depend on that.
I have an old friend - he has a friend named Steve. Steve is a bit of a loser. He’s never had a job. He makes a little bread by trying to fix broken things he finds and trying to sell them at swap meets. He was constantly in debt and crashing on people’s couches. My friend convinced him to look for a real job. Steve spent a couple weeks looking through want ads before telling my friend that there weren’t any jobs that he wanted. He, a man whose never had a job and barely has a GED without the slightest sense of irony, he proudly said the words, “I think I should hold out for something in management.” Yeah, we shouldn’t be that guy.
But if you’re applying for lower jobs too, you’re probably fine.
Why must I speak to the recruiter repeating the same stuff thats on the resume, then reapply again so im again in their system, then I have to schedule with a hiring manager.
That’s just the game. They have the prize, they make the rules. Yes, it is *EXTREMELY frustrating. Yes, I often sent in my resume, had to repeat everything at every interview, and often had to re-enter everything into their system. Yup. They don’t make it easy, especially for your first job. If you want that prize, you’re going to have to bark like a seal and do their tricks. And you have to smile while doing it.
Yeah, your email from a recruiter. Yeah, there are a lot of recruiters that aren’t affiliated directly with the companies but try to make commission by scraping linkedin, etc, for keywords and sending out a gazillion emails. I never had much luck with those people. To me those are the bottom of the barrel recruiters. There are decent recruiters out there, but my email got spammed with a gazillion emails from people that hadn’t even looked at my resume. Yup.
This is just the game. Unless you know someone, I don’t know a way around it.
I would also reiterate my advice - every time you get a rejection, send a little note.
Hello, thank your for taking the time to consider my for your position. I’m sorry to hear that it won’t work out. I am still learning this process - Is there any advice you can give me? Was there something specific where I could improve?
You won’t get an answer every time. But the few times I did get an answer, it was very helpful.
Just keep at it. Keep working on your resume, portfolio, github, linkedin, etc. If you can find meetups in your area, go and talk to other developers. Have them take a look at what you have. Do a practice interview, etc. My experience is that most people are worse at interviewing than they realize.
Just as a quick observation, I don’t know if KravMaguy is a great professional name. I was a jazz guitar player for decades. I had an email that reflected that. I got a new email and “brand” when I got into coding. I don’t know - I realize it seems like a small thing, but some people might be put off by someone that is so into martial arts that he’s named himself after one. I know, it’s silly, but you need every chance you can get. Just a thought.
