This is Why You Can’t Get a Software Dev Job
There’s a shortage of software developers. Or so we are told. At the same time, I see great swathes of developers who just can’t get a job (mostly on X).
“Around these parts we have a constant job listing for dev roles. It never goes away.
We don’t take anyone on either so perhaps it’s all a fever dream?”
There seems to be something going on. At the same time, we appear to have too many developers and too few.
“This can’t be correct. Let’s investigate what’s going on.”
So, What gives?
The Demand for Excellence
It is natural that employers look for the best possible employees.
“That is their prerogative and I would argue that is exactly what employers should do.
The effect on software developers is that they need to ‘meet the bar’ for any given job. This is an invisible quality metric as most job descriptions are asking for something like ‘C# developer. 5 years experience`.
Once you get through the phone screen you might be asked those questions about reversing a linked list making job hunting feel rather like a buyer’s market.”
It may be the demand for excellence that sees organizations refuse to give junior developers a chance. The preference is invariably for commercial experience in terms of years.
Overestimation of ability and experience
In a world where LeetCode exists, you should be able to rank your ability. You should be able to match your years of experience to a job opportunity.
”It’s tempting to inflate your resume. You’ll stretch the truth in order to get a job opportunity.
In truth, you’d be able to cram for LeetCode challenges and probably pass those.
In terms of experience, people are faking that, but then coming unstuck on the relevant questions.”
What an employer looks for is:
Ability to deliver value
Time frame to deliver value after being onboarded
Personability
Since it takes 6 months (typically) to fully onboard a member of staff this is a rather large outlay for any potential employer. If the interviewer is in any doubt that a candidate cannot provide value within 6 months they recognize that the candidate is unlikely to provide value at all.
“Just because you might be able to do it, it doesn’t mean that you are a good risk for an employer.
And you probably can’t do it.
The only way to get programming experience is by programming. Your side-projects don’t count as employers want a reliable quality programmer.
In your first year of coding, you’ll be ‘paying your dues’ and ‘learning the ropes’. You probably don’t do that much valuable work (sorry).”
If you can’t get a job because you’re not great enough (yet)
“Some bad news for you here. You’re going to have to get a job. It might not be a great job at first.
You’re going to scrape the bottom of the barrel for job opportunities and it might mean you work in a far-from-ideal environment.
You need to get that first experience.
Even if you’ve been to a (shudder) bootcamp you still need to pay your dues. No excuses.“
Conclusion
There is no shortcut in programming. You’re going to have to…
“Git gud.
That’s it. Run along and code now.”