In this asrticle, we discuss one of the most topical issues – job hunting.
How do I find a job as a QA? What do I need to do?
When is the best time to start looking for a job?
The job search process is best started when you are still learning: when you are not yet 100% ready for the job (you are unlikely to be 100% ready whenever).
What to do if you feel you're not ready yet?
It's in vain to try to learn everything, you'll never learn all aspects of QA, as well as you can't learn all technologies.
In all areas, the best option is to concentrate and choose one direction and become an expert in it. Then you will be found by companies that need exactly this kind of narrowly focused expert, then you will feel absolutely competent.
The first step in your job search
- Create a profile on LinkedIn
As soon as you enter the job market, you have to make yourself known.
In the USA, it's a good idea to sign up on LinkedIn right away. Even if you won't be looking for a job anytime soon, sign up on LinkedIn now and put together a little resume about yourself, even if you're not ready.
Just be careful, make a profile, but you don't need to write there all the jobs where you've worked. Limit yourself to describing the technology you work with. Add a little presentation about yourself.
LinkedIn is a professional platform where companies look for employees and where candidates write to companies.
Even if you don't work or aren't looking for work, you can still go there to exchange knowledge or just scroll the feed.
Keep your profile and CV neat and updated
Keep in mind a very important thing: your resume and your LinkedIn profile are not your autobiography, and you don't need to write in chronological order where you started, where you went to school, what family you were born, what your dreams were when you were a child.
You need to put information about yourself, focusing on the position you are looking for.
Everything you write about yourself should be aimed at promoting you as a specialist in testing and programming.
Most importantly, you should never be modest, because all of your understatements do not play into your hands. In the United States, on LinkedIn, sticking your head out is the right strategy; you have to flaunt all your advantages and all your achievements because if you don't talk about it, no one will even know about it.
Maybe you are a jack of all trades, and no one will recognize you. Publish all useful information about yourself for future employers, write about your accomplishments.
Writing "worked at AAA, did 123" is not a profitable strategy, it's not necessary.
You need to stand out, you don't have a lot of time to write the most important information so you can read all about yourself very quickly.
Write about yourself in five sentences, all the most important things, just your accomplishments, listing responsibilities is not interesting.
Show off.
Show yourself off, companies want to see people on their team who can do something on their own, or be responsible for some part of the work. You have to write on your resume and LinkedIn profile, not just how responsible you are, but also confirm it with an example.
If you just write "responsible, proactive, punctual, responsive" - these are general words that do not characterize you in any way simply.
Prove it with examples.
What other validation options are there?
Think about how you can give an example that you really are a punctual person. Let's say you come in half an hour early to get your workplace ready, to check for bugs.
You need to write what accomplishment you brought, what value you brought to a previous company you worked for, how you helped the company make more money.
The company is hiring you to come in there and help its organization make more money. When you write about your accomplishments, take that fact into account, give examples.
Don't underestimate your accomplishments.
If you have no experience, you need to get that experience, participate in a project, contribute to some project, actively participate in it for a few months to get the necessary insight.
Sell yourself.
You have to sell yourself as a product, others want to buy because you are paid for your time and knowledge.
If you have worked as a streetcar driver and are applying for a job as a tester, this item should not be on your resume.
You have to be visible and you have to work very hard to find a job. The first thing is that you have trained for a job, where you have gained knowledge. The second thing you need is to learn about job hunting.
They often communicate with new candidates to see if they are a good fit. Listening and talking is also the right thing to do. When you communicate with recruiters, when you build up this process, you will understand the basic patterns of how these conversations happen.
When you have a working profile, you need to do a lot of work every day. You need to do it very intensely.
If you don't have daily inbound calls, that means you haven't finished the first part, which means you're underperforming there. Counting on one or two calls a week with the hope to get results is silly.
Take the initiative.
It's okay, it's what you CAN and SHOULD do.
YOU should call, YOU should post on LinkedIn information about yourself, send a resume during the day. These actions will lead to several technical interviews a week.
A technical interview means not just a conversation, but a technical representative from the company contacts you and discusses cases, algorithmic problems with you.
Take the initiative.
It's okay, it's what you CAN and SHOULD do.
YOU should call, YOU should post on LinkedIn information about yourself, send a resume during the day. These actions will lead to several technical interviews a week.
A technical interview means not just a conversation, but a technical representative from the company contacts you and discusses cases, algorithmic problems with you.
The questions can be different, you can't be prepared for all of them, and you can't learn everything in a lifetime. It is important to experiment!
At all stages of the interview, you need to keep a smile on your face, keep a positive attitude, and not be rude. No religious or racial questions.
Think of the interview process as practice.
If you think, "I'm going to this company, this is my dream company, what if it doesn't work out?
Chase those thoughts away. Go to this interview knowing that you have already been rejected, this will help you feel at ease, and you will answer there normally calmly and correctly.
If you have several technical interviews a week, after a while you will start to understand the scenario too.
You'll have to go through a certain number of technical interviews before you understand, unravel that scenario.
Major Mistakes
Don't turn off your phone.
Even if you get a job, even if you get a good offer. Don't turn off your profile, keep answering, keep communicating, keep interviewing.
The next part is when you get the calls. You need to communicate with them and promote the idea that you are a good specialist.
You read the text on a piece of paper.
Another mistake - preparing a text and reading it out. You don't have to do this. You can prepare the main points about yourself, but during a phone call with a recruiter, you should rely on your memory.
It is seen when people read from a piece of paper, and it demonstrates unprofessionalism.
In numbers.
How many calls should there be per day?
There should be at least 10 incoming calls. In addition to those calls, you need to do some more actions by yourself. You need to email them, maybe even email strangers on LinkedIn, those professionals who work in your field, who work for other companies and ask if they're looking for a professional to join their team.
How many interviews does it take to get a job?
Generally, one or two interviews are enough to get an offer. But if you are applying for some challenging position, you will need to have more.
If you are well-adjusted and have a good understanding of the subject, even theoretically, you have a chance because there are a few flexible people.
You will calm down, you will already answer confidently after a few interviews.
When you go through the interview, you will be rejected. This is normal. Sometimes you don't fit in with the company. Maybe they were looking for someone else.
You have to understand that all the rejections you get are your training just to get your skills boosted.
When can you say that something goes wrong?
When you get 20-30 rejections after technical interviews!
If you're getting 20-30 rejections after technical interviews, you need to think about what you have not worked through.
To make the job search process easier and clearer, you can come to us at PASV - Programming Academy in Silicon Valley. We teach interviews in English, help with CV's and have a Bootcamp.
We wish you the best of luck!