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1/ Here is a thread with typical advice I give to students just entering the job market. Do you agree/disagree? And what additional advice would you give?
Warning: Some(much?) of this advice is specific to India and engineering/MBA students interested in the software industry.
Warning: Some(much?) of this advice is specific to India and engineering/MBA students interested in the software industry.
2/ Indian software industry has the strange situation where 80% of fresh engineering graduates are considered unemployable, and yet the industry is facing a shortage of maybe 1 to 2 lakh employable freshers.
In other words, there are lots of jobs if only you become "employable"
In other words, there are lots of jobs if only you become "employable"
3/ Why are our graduates not employable?
Because College Exams ≠ Learning. Our colleges are failing our students.
Students need to focus more on doing + creating, instead of memorization and copying. Do projects. Write programs. Learn to communicate what you're doing, and why
Because College Exams ≠ Learning. Our colleges are failing our students.
Students need to focus more on doing + creating, instead of memorization and copying. Do projects. Write programs. Learn to communicate what you're doing, and why
4/ For example, take the BE project: most students to a terrible BE project. Either it is something really trivial ("Library Management System") or the whole thing is done by one student in the group, or the whole project is outsourced to someone else.
This is a mistake.
This is a mistake.
5/ Students should do a good project. Pick something that is fun to do, but also showcases your existing skills (or helps you learn new skills). And be able to clearly talk about why you did what you did, what decisions you took, what alternatives were rejected and why.
6/ In addition, students should do other projects which are not part of their curriculum. Just for fun. A really good project can easily make the interview irrelevant because a company is likely to hire you purely on the basis of the project (even if your academics are terrible)
7/ How to get a good job? Students are terrible at job searching.
It is good to remember one thing about the person who gets hired: it's not the best person for the job; it is the person who knows best how to get hired.
So learn to do a good job search.
It is good to remember one thing about the person who gets hired: it's not the best person for the job; it is the person who knows best how to get hired.
So learn to do a good job search.
8/ Students remember: just posting your resume to naukri/monster, or emailing it to HR or the careers email listed on the company website does not work. Sending your resume to hiring managers, or other decision makers in the company also doesn't work if your email is bad!
9/ Remember, any day, a company prefers hiring people recommended by existing employees, or by recommended by someone they know.
So, as far as possible, approach a company via contacts. Either via existing employees, or common contacts. Use Linkedin to find common contacts.
So, as far as possible, approach a company via contacts. Either via existing employees, or common contacts. Use Linkedin to find common contacts.
10/ Also, customize your resume for the company you're approaching. Highlight the parts that the company is likely to be interested in. And don't lie! The interviewers aren't stupid, they'll catch your lie and you'll get rejected.
11/ And write a good email ("cover letter") to go with your email. A good email has a good subject line, and a short, but specific body customized for this company: 1 sentence on why you're writing, 1-2 sentences on your background, 1-2 sentences on why you would be a good fit
12/ About the email subject line. Bad subject lines are: <no subject>, or "Resume", or "Looking for job." These emails will get deleted without even being opened.
An example of a better subject line might be "Looking for a job: BE (CS) from VIT, 58%, Java+Android Dev"
An example of a better subject line might be "Looking for a job: BE (CS) from VIT, 58%, Java+Android Dev"
13/ And please, as @neeran points out, find out what the company does, and what kind of people it hires. It's as easy as reading the company's website, and checking out the careers page. But even better is to talk to some existing employees.
@neeran 14/ Most important: don't get discouraged if you get ignored, rejected. The accompanying screenshot is what a typical successful job search looks like, even for very accomplished people.
And use each rejection/failure to learn what to improve
And use each rejection/failure to learn what to improve
@neeran 15/ Some of you are pretty bad at interviews, in spite of being technically good. Either because you get anxious or stressed, or you're simply shy.
This is a fixable problem.
Use the "3-types of practice interviews" technique from amazon.in/What-Color-You…
This is a fixable problem.
Use the "3-types of practice interviews" technique from amazon.in/What-Color-You…
@neeran 16/ 1st type of interview: Do practice interviews, with your friends, or friendly seniors from industry. Just going through the most typical questions in a friendly but realistic setting helps with the interview jitters.
@neeran 17/ 2nd type of interview: Informational interview. _You_ interview ("meet") people from the industry and ask them questions about the industry, their company, and what they look for in candidates.
@neeran 18/ If you send a clear request giving your background and saying, "I'd like to buy you a coffee and ask you questions about your company and industry. I will not take more than 30 minutes of your time," you'll be surprised at how many people say yes.
@neeran 19/ 3rd type of practice interview: Actual interviews with potential employers. As I said about, you will get rejected many times by many companies. Think of all of those interviews as practice for the one interview that you're going to succeed at.
@neeran 20/ Note: if you have interview anxiety, you can do the first 2 types of practice interviews on topics unrelated to your job search. They're to help you get comfortable and increase confidence at having a conversation. e.g. have a friend interview you about your hobby.
@neeran 20/ Improve interview success by doing online courses from top universities in the world (e.g. via Coursera). Two benefits: the increased knowledge increases your confidence, but also, the online courses are so well explained that your explanations during interviews will improve
@neeran 21/ The ideal way to get a job is to do a good project (with the help of an industry senior if necessary), put it on github, create a project report also on github, and send a link to potential employers
Make the interview irrelevant
A real life example: ashm8206.github.io
Make the interview irrelevant
A real life example: ashm8206.github.io
@neeran 22/ If you have multiple job prospects, don't focus too much on the salary. Your career will be 50-years long. Starting salary has very low significance. Optimize for learning+responsibility.
If you plot salary on y-axis vs time on x, slope is far more important than y-intercept
If you plot salary on y-axis vs time on x, slope is far more important than y-intercept
@neeran 22/ After getting a job, many assume that further skills upgrades are the responsibility of the company. Serious mistake. This has worked for a few decades in the Indian software industry, but the world is changing too fast, and those not continuously learning will be left behind
@neeran 23/ How to pick the right industry, right company, so that your future is secure?
Nobody knows
Anyone who answers this with confidence is either deluded, or a liar.
The only defense is to have broad tranferable skills, and be good at reacting to changes and pivoting fast
Nobody knows
Anyone who answers this with confidence is either deluded, or a liar.
The only defense is to have broad tranferable skills, and be good at reacting to changes and pivoting fast
@neeran 24/ Which skills should you strive to acquire?
Keep in mind the Hedgehog Principle: Try to find the intersection of what you're good at, what you like to do, and what someone is willing to pay you to do
jimcollins.com/concepts/the-h…
Keep in mind the Hedgehog Principle: Try to find the intersection of what you're good at, what you like to do, and what someone is willing to pay you to do
jimcollins.com/concepts/the-h…
@neeran 25/ @vgr and others point out that Ikigai is better than the Hedgehog Principle: Try to find the intersection of what you're good at, what you like to do, and what the world is willing to pay you to do, and what the world needs.
medium.com/thrive-global/…
medium.com/thrive-global/…
30/ Mini-thread from @r_ganesh on why talking to experienced people from the industry is important (doesn't have to be anything as heavy, or ongoing as "mentorship")
31/ Should you add your hobbies to the resume?
If you have any serious hobby that you've put non-trivial effort/time into, or have a highlight-able achievement, definitely put it.
But don't put "Traveling, Reading" That adds no value.
(cc: @askEvertonian08 @turtlemayank)
If you have any serious hobby that you've put non-trivial effort/time into, or have a highlight-able achievement, definitely put it.
But don't put "Traveling, Reading" That adds no value.
(cc: @askEvertonian08 @turtlemayank)
