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079 Why Won't Employers Hire Me? · DevQuestions with Tim Corey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Dev Questions Podcast with Tim Corey.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Join us each episode as we tackle the questions you are asking about a career in software development, understanding the industry, and new technology.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're just starting out or you want to grow stronger as a developer, this is the place to get your questions answered.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's your host, expert developer and online educator, Tim Corey.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Why won't employers hire me?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: What do I do if I just keep getting rejected when I apply for jobs?
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: These are great questions, and they're also painful questions because they represent a frustration and a uh being worn down by just trying to get a job, just trying to get employed or get that job that's a little bit better than where you're at.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk through this um situation in today's episode of Dev Questions.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now, getting a job is difficult at times, and part of that has to do with how hard it is to figure out really how good a person is at doing the job.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've talked before the fact that if you look at it from the employer perspective, they're trying to identify can you get the job done?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so all the things they ask for, all the ways they ask for it, really all that stuff that they're trying, they're just trying to simulate what they need to see from you to see if you're gonna get the job done when you work for them.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's tough because it's tough as an employer to figure that out for software developers.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: We're not just uh creating widgets where it's do the same thing over and over again.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: We're doing new stuff all the time.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it is tough, but from a um from a hiree perspective, from a person that's trying to get a job, it's also tough because it feels like there's just thousands of people out there applying for the same position and you just don't get the job.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, what do you do?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: How do you get a job when it feels like you're one of a thousand and no one seems to be hiring you or looking at you?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, as I see it, there's two options.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: One is you can do the same thing over and over again, or two is you can make a change.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk first about doing the same thing because that could be a valid option, is to just keep going.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like I said, employers don't really know how to best hire software developers.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: No one's really cracked that nut well yet, at least not without a lot of expense, and still you're filtering out a lot of people that potentially could get the job.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: What it takes is an investment in time.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we can't invest, you know, dozens of hours per employee for a thousand employees.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's just not possible.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to have a filtering process, and that can sometimes leave good people out of a job.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it may come down to you know better odds.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: It may just mean grinding it out and putting out a hundred, a thousand resumes and trying over and over and over again until someone puts you at the top of the list and you get your opportunity to interview and go through and meet people and say, yes, I can do this job and potentially uh go from there.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it one strategy can be to do the same thing over and over again, but there is a little bit of a caution I want to throw in there, and that is what you're saying as you're doing that is that I can't get any better, and so therefore, employers just have to recognize that.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: And you're probably right that you can be hired at that level, but I do think that you could get better because we all can.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, my personal preference would be for you to make a change to improve your odds, do some different things in order to get different results.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you don't want to just rely on luck or you know, be at the right place at the right time, those kind of things.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's just not that's not a great system.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: So let's see how we can improve our odds for being seen, recognized, and brought for at least an interview, if not given an actual job.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there's, I think, four different things you can think through to improve your situation.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: And the first one is to customize your resume.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Your resume should not be the same resume for all the different jobs you apply for, it just shouldn't, because every job is different, maybe in a little bit, but it's gonna be different.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you're just giving a generic, here's my resume, to a hundred different jobs, you're not really doing a great job of attracting attention.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, let's take this in a marketing perspective.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: What if you want people to buy your cookies and you're gonna sell cookies, and there's hundreds of people selling cookies, and so you just say, buy my cookies and tell a thousand people, buy them, buy them.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Does that really provide enough information to get more than the random person goes, okay, I'll try it?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: That no, it you it you rely at that point on the odds that someone will say yes, just like you might be if you're giving out a generic resume, you maybe rely on the odds of someone saying, Yeah, I'll give it a shot.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: So instead, you want that personalized approach.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: The approach of, hey, I see your, you know, if you're selling cookies, hey, I see you're you're hungry and you like peanut butter, and you know what?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: We've got these peanut butter cookies that taste great, they're low calories, so they're not gonna, you know, you start selling it personalized to them, and they go, ooh, that sounds good.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: And the more you know about that person, the better you could sell them on the cookie because you've got something that they need.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in the same way with your resume, if a job asks you for C sharp experience, HTML experience, CSS experience, and maybe some SQL experience.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if your resume is tailored where you don't lie, you don't exaggerate, you don't put things on there you have not done.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: But if you've got lots of experience in different areas, you take off at that point maybe the JavaScript, maybe the uh Python, maybe the other things that you've done, and you focus in on C Sharp, HTML, CSS, and SQL and what you have accomplished in those areas.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because then that employer goes, Ooh, you're customized to me.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: It looks like you're a great match for what I want.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Not just you are a developer like every other developer.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you don't want that just generic look.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: You want to look like you are customized for that position.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you tell the truth in that, but if you are customized for that position, meaning you can do that well, show that off.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Show off that you can do it.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: So customize your resume, take out the things that aren't as relevant to the position and focus in on the things that are most relevant to the position.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: You should also know your audience there too.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you are focusing for just an automated system first, have those keywords in there repetitively.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're focusing in on just a hiring manager, then focus more on the stories.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, and we'll talk more of that later, but focus that resume.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, target your portfolio.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: When you build portfolio pieces, make sure that your portfolio pieces are as closely related to the jobs you're applying for as possible.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are applying to jobs where you're gonna be the web developer for a small business, well then you should have, if possible, a small business example website in your portfolio.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Not a game site, not a site I just did randomly.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Try and target to the job you want because employers will look at that and go, oh, I can see them doing the job because they've already done the job.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And again, you're trying to show off I am a perfect fit for this position.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: The closer the fit looks on paper, the more likely it is that you'll get an interview and be able to go in front of them and say, Yes, I can do this, and I've already done this and point to that stuff.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then you look more and more like a person custom fit for the position they're looking for.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: So target that portfolio and keep building it up.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Don't just stop when you have something in there.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Once you have about three things in your portfolio, then make a fourth and replace the first because your fourth will be better than your first.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And if it's not, then you need to work on growing your skills more.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where the next point comes in.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Go deeper in your knowledge.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Don't just rest on surface level knowledge of multiple technologies.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: I see this mistake a lot with newer developers, especially where saying, hey, you know what?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I want to customize myself for the role, which is great.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: And they say, so I'm gonna learn React.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: And they say, well, now I'm gonna learn Angular.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, wait, have you learned React yet?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I made a couple hello world apps.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's not good enough.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I wouldn't count that at all as knowledge of React.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: So when you say, Yeah, I've learned C sharp, I I I did a couple apps and then I moved on to.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Don't do that.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Go deeper in whatever you're gonna be most focused on for your resume and then what you're gonna most show off in your portfolio.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Go deeper in that knowledge because businesses don't want to see surface level knowledge, they want to see depth.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Anybody can have surface level knowledge.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: If you're saying, yeah, I learned that in three months, in one month, whatever, that's surface level knowledge.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I tell you what, yes, there are a thousand people that could say that in your area that are gonna apply for that position.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: When I opened up an entry-level web developer position, I had hundreds of resumes come across my desk within two days because the barrier to entry is so low that really anybody that has surface level knowledge could apply.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: So you want to go deeper than that.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: So you can say, hey, yeah, I fit that entry-level position, but really I've gone deeper than that and I know these things.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so you show off that yes, I can do a job you're asking for, but I also can go a lot deeper than you expect from that position.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Just show off that depth.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: So go deeper in your knowledge and then bring that right back to your portfolio and show it off.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: And the fourth thing, so the first three things are customize your resume, target your portfolio, go deeper in your knowledge.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: The fourth thing is build relationships.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now I know this is tough for some people.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Some people just feel like, hey, I'm an introvert, I don't want to talk to anybody.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that could be okay.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: But here's the deal: getting to know people will introduce you to new opportunities you never would have had otherwise.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: I have had so many offers, so many opportunities come up because of who I knew rather than because of what I knew.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what I knew is important, but it it came down to I've got this relationship.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: So when a person says, hey, we're gonna be hiring a new C sharp developer, I have people go, Oh, you know what, Tim, be great.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so I get the offer because not because it's some kind of buddy-buddy system, because when you need help, you reach out to the people that you know could help you.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: So therefore, that relationship is there.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now, don't just try and create relationships just for the purpose of getting a job, okay?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because that feels fake and you don't want that.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: But I tell you what, relationships in the development community are amazing because it's not just about getting a new job, it's about hearing how people do things, hearing how situations are in the real world, hearing about maybe what the jobs are like out there, because I've had situations where I'm like, oh man, I think I want to work for that company.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then I talked to somebody who actually did work at that company.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: I go, oh, I didn't realize it was quite like that.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: I saw from the outside perspective, but then I got an insider's perspective as well, and it kind of rounded out my knowledge and made me better informed of do I really want to even apply there?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: So those relationships can grow you as a developer.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: They can improve your ability to even develop.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because when you talk about things, you're gonna come across things you're like, I've never even heard of that.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: And they go, Oh, yeah, this is what you do, and you find out new techniques or new ways of doing things.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, and quite embarrassingly, when I was a newer developer, I'm goodness, I was five plus years into development.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I found out about source control that way.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't even know it existed.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: I lived in a bubble, I was trying to get my head down, get my job done.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: I started to build relationships and started to realize there were things out there I didn't know about.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: And source control was one of those things.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: And through that, I opened up my eyes, it opened up my eyes to a whole new reality that I'm like, oh, I didn't know you could do this.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: It made my job easier, it made me a better developer, it helped me grow, and it really allowed me to open up new opportunities as well because now I filled in a gap that I didn't even know I had.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: So those relationships are important, they will help you.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I would encourage you, even if you're an introvert, work on it.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be in person all the time, but maybe start a small conversation on Twitter where you interact with somebody back and forth, ask questions, encourage them, uh, build them up, and just start being visible in people, people's lives.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then maybe interact on a forum where you're helping people out, or this be the probably one of the best things you could do is go to a user group.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: There's user groups around you, most likely, and so find one, even if you travel a little ways, find one, go there, show up, eat the pizza, drink the coke, and just listen to a presentation and hang out beforehand and afterwards, just a little bit.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to people, get to know people, and just try to be there.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: If you're an introvert, maybe go and try and help.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, where maybe you're not gonna feel like you have to talk, but go set up chairs and or go clean up afterwards because then you're there and you start to build a relationship just by your presence being there, and sometimes that can spark a deeper relationship with people without being uncomfortable and feeling forced.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: But those four things right there are going to change your odds for getting a job, it will change how you are seen by employers, it will improve your odds, it will make you more likely to have an offer and even have a better offer because you've customized your resume to the position, which means it looks like you present the fact that you are a good fit for the position much better.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: You've targeted your portfolio, you've shown I can do the job, you've deepened your knowledge, which means you are a better fit now than you even were three and six months ago.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: And you've built relationships which will have again rounded you out as a developer, and they may even open the doors into positions that aren't just readily available online through Monster or Indeed.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so those are my thoughts on how do you get out of the rut of just applying for jobs and hearing nothing.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Dev Questions.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a question about being a developer, I encourage you to check out the past portfolio, past library of all the episodes.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of episodes by this point.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Check it out.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: I've probably answered your question, but if not, you can always go to I am Tim Corey and go to the podcast page and fill out a um a form to ask your question, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode of DevQuestions.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Have a great day, and as always, I am Tim Corey.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this episode of DevQuestions.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Tim is committed to making it easier for you to become a developer.
• 17:22
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• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can also send your questions to questions at imtimcore.com.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember, you are too smart and your time too valuable to waste it making all the mistakes Tim did.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: When you're ready to learn to think and code like a professional developer, head over to imtimcore.com and enroll in the course.