Background story
My journey started when I was in college. In our college, it was compulsory to do three internships as part of the curriculum. So before landing my first full-time job as a software engineer, I did one internship as a content writer and two internships as a full-stack developer. The learnings which I got from all three internships helped me very much to get my first job. The e-commerce website modules, mail templates, dashboards, and Q&As related to various programming languages developed during these internships helped me to implement my skill set in a real-world scenario.
My first full-time job offer interview story
As my sixth semester was coming to an end, I started preparing for the interviews. I updated my LinkedIn profile and start looking for job descriptions for fresher software engineer roles. I picked up 2-3 topics each day based on the job descriptions and prepared interview questions on them for 1 month. After that, I developed one small front-end project using Angular and one full-stack project using Node JS, MongoDB, and React JS while participating in Smart India Hackathon. We made a group of 5 for mock interview practice. Till the start of the eighth semester, I was having a good portfolio on GitHub. Meanwhile, I also started guest blogging on some websites.
I applied to a prestigious MNC as a Software Engineer I in our town. They scheduled my interview for the next week after I applied. The interview process had 4 stages: Online test, GD, Technical interview, and behavioral interview. In the online test, MCQs and programming questions related to Java, SQL, OS, and Networking were asked. I was good at all the above topics except Networking so I managed to pass the test.
In GD, some random topic was given which I am not able to remember now 😅
In the technical interview, the interviewer discussed my internship projects and the technology stack used for the projects. In the behavioral interview, questions about team bonding, tasks management, relocation, and career goals were asked. That's how the entire interview process got completed in 3 days.
After one week, I got the mail that I am selected for the applied role. That's how I got my first job as a software engineer🤗
What advice would I give to new developers?
My advice for the new developers is pretty simple: develop, connect and share, keep on learning and sharpen your soft skills.
Develop: Whenever you are revising or learning any technical skill such as Angular, Node JS, etc. always develop a project using those technologies by considering some sample scenario. This will help to boost your skills and you can use those projects in your portfolio to showcase your skills when applying for jobs.
Connect and share: Keep on connecting with people having the same technical interests on LinkedIn or any platform of your choice. This will help you to gain knowledge and develop connections in different organizations. Write a blog on any website showcasing your projects and share them on any platform of your choice to get reach a wider audience.
Keep on learning: As technology keeps on evolving, make sure to learn new skills as per current market demand.
Sharpen your soft skills: Last but not least, sharpen your soft skills like adaptability, team player attitude, etc. as it will help you a lot in a long run 👏.
Strengthen your portfolio to showcase your skill set
As most job applications have thousands of applicants, having a good portfolio helps you to stand out from the crowd. You can strengthen your portfolio in the below ways:
Develop projects for real-world scenarios. If you have trouble in finding good scenarios, you can find out some good hackathon pages and start developing projects on the problem statements given by them.
Try to use the latest version of the technology in your project. This will help you to get a good grasp of the technology.
Develop at least one project in a team of 4 or greater than that consisting of multiple modules. This will help you to develop a team-player attitude and understand the modules integration process in a project.
Lastly, keep the awesome UI for your projects and portfolio 😋. Choose your innovative and coolest projects and showcase them in your portfolio.
Conclusion
I hope that you loved my article and got good interviews and portfolio tips. 😎