How to get an interview as a software developer – Blog

While living our modern lives, it's hard not to see how nearly every facet of life has become digitized. For example, industries traditionally involving manual labor and work welcome digitization and automation for improved efficiencies. Similarly, government agencies have begun using technology for better governance.

What makes our lives modern is that we are surrounded by software technology that makes life easier. As the need for robust software has increased massively over the past decades, so has the demand for developers. As a result, companies actively look for talent that can create good software and collaborate productively.

However, the market has gotten increasingly competitive. Hence, developers must do much more than learn how to code if they want to land sought-after developer interviews. In this article, I'll go through the developer job landscape in 2022, what background companies expect, and how to strategize the developer job hunt.

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Developer job hunt in 2022

The developer job hunt looks radically different now than it was a few years ago. For example, the pandemic and global shift in workspace mindset have led to developers seeking flexibility in their jobs. It is a radical shift in preference and shows how the world thinks differently about developer job opportunities each year.

Regardless, there has been a boom in developer job opportunities globally. Within these opportunities, we can get a chance to work with multiple technologies and in different niches. Opportunities can be based on the medium of the software (web development, app development, desktop software development, etc.) or specific technologies (Python development, ASP .NET development, C# development, etc.).

However, the developer job hunt can become challenging too. There are many different platforms on which companies advertise openings, and keeping track of all of them can be hard. Additionally, while some companies follow more personalized developer hiring processes, some are more standardized. Both require different strategies and focusing on different aspects while practicing for the developer interviews.

Education and skills requirements for developers

Developer interviews especially stress the educational and technical background of applicants. After all, that demonstrates the nature of their training and gives an idea about their development habits.

A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field had been a minimum requirement for a developer job opportunity for the longest time. However, industries have moved on after the rise of online courses and degrees. Regardless, here are some common requirements companies associate with developer jobs:

Educational background: A Bachelor's degree in IT/Computer Science/Software Engineering or any other relevant field. A Master's degree in such fields can radically improve chances of getting a more senior and higher-paying role.
Certifications: It has become common to pursue online certifications in whatever tech area we are interested in. After all, the right certifications and courses positively impact a developer's profile since it shows their self-learning ability and interest. Hence, companies appreciate it if applicants have certifications in their specialized areas.
Skills & past projects: Past projects are an excellent way for developers to showcase their coding practices, design skills, and development strategies. A strong portfolio of projects gives recruiters more confidence about the developer's abilities and a higher chance of success.

Strategy to find a programming job

Since developer job opportunities have become more competitive, strategizing is crucial. After all, we want to ensure all our efforts materialize as achieving the ideal developer job. Otherwise, we are always at the risk of losing great developer jobs to our competitors.

Here are some tips and strategies that help with our developer job hunt:

Prepare your resume & portfolio: We have to prepare a solid resume that gives a quick overview of our experience and skills. We should also prepare a portfolio of projects to showcase our practical development skills and increase our chances of landing a developer interview. Both should complement each other so recruiters can consider us a strong candidate.
Polish your social media accounts: Many developers don't realise how they can smartly use social media for networking. We can connect with senior developers through social media platforms and gain crucial mentorship. Hence, we should be active on platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn and publish relevant blogs on Medium and Dev.io, etc.
Keep improving your developer profile: Our developer profile is our greatest asset during the job hunt. Hence, we must continue working on it and adding more to it. As we gain a better sense of what companies look for in developers, we can learn any technologies or concepts missing from our profile. We can also gain this knowledge from developer interviews, so that our subsequent interviews improve.
Shortlist companies and understand their hiring processes: There has been a massive increase in the software development industry. More companies and startups require developers with the passing day. While this means more opportunities for developers, it can also make the job hunting overwhelming. Hence, we must shortlist the companies we want to break into and understand how they hire developers.
Look at job sites: A huge part of the developer job hunting process involves constantly eyeing job opportunities. It also helps us stay updated with the companies' requirements for certain roles. Hence, we must keep track of all popular job websites to apply to the right ones. We should keep looking on the popular platforms for developer job opportunities like LinkedIn, Dev.to, and Indeed.
Get visible to employers & recruiters: Increasing our visibility is crucial. After all, we cannot apply to every single opportunity out there. Hence, we must make ourselves and our profiles more prominent to recruiters. There are many ways to accomplish this: visit job fairs, maintain an active presence on professional networking sites, routinely contribute to open-source projects, etc.
Get referrals: We should focus on making new connections on professional networking sites. These new connections can help quicken the job application process by directly referring us to recruiters. However, we must ensure a solid social media presence and a ready portfolio to convince other developers to refer us.

These tips help ensure that our job hunt shows concrete results and gets us the best developer job opportunities. Without such strategies, the job hunt process can become tedious and confusing.

Choosing the right developer job

With so many developer job opportunities currently out there and more coming through every day, it can get hard to select the right one. Individuals often find a certain job description interesting and even get selected once they apply for the role, only to realize they should've looked around more. It could be that the company doesn't deliver what it promised in the developer interview, or it just isn't the right fit.

With so many aspects to consider, even a seasoned developer can get confused while looking for the best opportunity for them. Hence, any individual looking for a developer job in 2022 needs to be clear on what the right developer job opportunity should have.

Here are some aspects to look for in a developer job opportunity in 2022:

Provides Opportunities For Technical Growth: Many developer jobs have fixed responsibilities and tools associated with a role. Such roles don't allow developers to learn new technologies or suggest new tools. Hence, developers in such roles end up feeling wasted since such a rigid role has little room for technical growth.
Hence, we must ensure that the developer job opportunity we aim for allows us to expand our horizons and explore different technologies. After all, many technologies become obsolete over the years. Therefore, as developers, we have to stay updated and keep our skill set relevant.
Provides Opportunities For Professional Growth: Many companies fail to provide their developers with adequate mentorship and the chance for professional advancement. In the end, developers in such companies don't progress to more serious roles at the right time. Such a culture can seriously damage a developer's career and stop them from utilizing their experience to take on bigger responsibilities.
The ideal developer job opportunity recognizes the right time a developer can advance further. It provides the individual with appropriate mentorship to grow their leadership and communication skills. With such support, the developer's career can flourish, and they can progress professionally.
Full Of Challenges (To A Healthy Level): Overworking and resulting burnout is a widespread issue in the global developer community. Many companies burden their developers with too much work and exhaust them by pushing them beyond their limits. This leads to developers facing long-term physical and psychological issues.
While every developer job opportunity has its fair share of challenges, they shouldn't consistently overwhelm the developer. Hence, the job must enable the developer to have a healthy work-life balance. However, it should also allow the developer to engage in healthy amounts of creative challenges necessary for technical and professional growth.
Values Talent And Hard Work: It is highly important that while giving developer interviews, we also research the company's background. Many companies undervalue their developers and don't provide the deserved compensation and perks. Hence, we must ensure that our skillset is not going unnoticed.
The developer job opportunity must provide us with a competitive salary and benefits. It should also have realistic performance expectations to recognize our work

Now that we understand aspects of the ideal developer job, we can strategize our job hunt accordingly. By keeping these qualities in mind, we can ensure that we aim for and achieve only the best developer job opportunities.

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Questions to employers during a job interview

Interviewers in a developer interview often ask if we have any queries for them about the company or the role. This often comes at the end but can they ask at any point during the interview. Regardless, we can use this as a golden opportunity to better understand the developer job opportunity.

The insight we gain from the answers can help us make a better choice if we have to choose between multiple job opportunities. However, it is all dependent on asking the right questions. Unfortunately, not all developers use this opportunity the right way. Many pass it up and ask irrelevant questions that aren't helpful. Here are some aspects you should consider asking about in a developer interview:

Work Environment

The company's work environment will play a crucial role in your success on the job. A conducive and collaborative environment will encourage you to grow in all directions. However, a rigid and limiting environment will hinder our progress.

Hence, we should ask about the company's work environment through questions like:

How does your company ensure its employees are satisfied with the work environment?
What amenities are provided in the office space?
What are the remote work policies of the company, and how flexible are they?
What is the work/life balance like at the company?

Performance Metrics and Mentorship

The perspective and requirements for a certain job role can differ radically between companies. For example, some companies want their developer to focus solely on development while others want them also to perform quality assurance. Hence, every company will gauge our performance in a certain role differently, and we should be clear on that.

Here are some questions you should ask to see how the company will keep track of your progress in the role:

How does your company conduct performance reviews?
What support do your teams offer to individuals lacking in certain aspects?
Does the company lookout for employees who need mentorship to progress technically and professionally?

Future Plans

It is important to ensure that the company we aim for a job opportunity at a company that has a future direction that aligns with ours. Then, we can ensure that we would be working with and under like-minded individuals. Otherwise, the job opportunity won't be the right fit, and we may feel the need to leave the role eventually.

Here are some questions you can ask the interviewers about the planned direction of the company's future:

What new technologies is the company/team looking to invest in soon?
What growth does the company envision for itself in the next five years?
What are the expectations of the company with this role regards to its contribution to achieving the intended future?

While these are only some aspects we can ask interviewers about, they can provide significant insight into the role and our potential employers. Apart from these questions, we should use the opportunity to ask any query that can help resolve any confusion we may have.

Job hunting tips for developers

Since there are different levels of developers based on experience and expertise, the job hunting process looks different for both. While junior developers must ensure more basic details, more senior ones must understand how to leverage their knowledge.

Here are some quick tips for junior and senior developers regarding job hunting

Tips for junior developers

Since these individuals are either starting or have 1-2 years of experience with them, they are constantly adapting their job hunting process. Here are some tips for them:

Schedule some time daily just to visit job boards and platforms and apply to opportunities.
Constantly look to make new connections on professional networking platforms and gain referrals.
Attend webinars to understand the work at companies we wish to work in and gain any missing skills.

Tips for senior developers

These individuals have been in the industry for more than four years, and some may even have leadership experience. Here are some tips for their job hunting:

Actively learn system design concepts and practice challenges.
Reach out to old colleagues working at different companies and ask them to refer you to open vacancies.
Write articles and blogs detailing your experience and the work you have done at different companies.

Wrapping up

In this article, I discussed what the developer job hunt looks like nowadays and how we must prepare to achieve an interview at a company. However, simply following the above tips and strategies are not enough. We must be consistent with our practice and job hunting. Many opportunities we pursue may not pan out, but that should be a learning point and not a reason to stop aspiring for the ideal developer job.