How did you get your first full-time job as a Junior Developer? - Interviewing myself and people ✨

I'm starting a new series on my YouTube channel titled "How did you get your first full-time job as a Junior Developer?"

In this series, I'll be interviewing Junior/Mid developers and have them share their stories of how they got their first tech job.

The inspiration is for developers to share their stories, and other developers looking to get their first jobs can pick tips from these stories to improve their job application process.

I'll also be sharing a summary and notes on my website for these interviews.

Interview with Dillion Megida

This article summarizes the interview process I had with myself in the introductory video.

1. What work were you doing before getting your first job?

I was a Technical Writer and a web design freelancer. I wrote paid articles for a few organizations and got a few clients for web design projects.

2. What did I do differently in my job application process

Two things: Asking for feedback and persistence.

When I got rejection emails, I'd usually ask for feedback to know what disqualified me and areas I needed to work on. For some companies, they would say it's my years of experience. Some others would say it's my location.

For my first job, after getting the rejection, I persisted. I asked for feedback, and they mentioned my years of experience weren't enough. I asked that they give me a project to assess my skills and see that I knew my craft. They gave me a project, and I did well in it, but I still didn't get the job. Over a month later, the company reached out to me, commended my persistence, and informed me of an available role that would be a good fit for me, and that was how I got in.

3. How was my experience getting my first job?

It was a whole new experience. First, I had poor communication and collaboration skills as it was my first time working with a team. But with time, I got better.

Also, working with new technologies other than React that I was used to was new to me. But in the end, I was exposed to and learned more tools than I knew initially.

I also shared my experience here: What I've learned working as a full-time Software Engineer for 1 year

4. What part of your previous experiences made getting your first job easier?

I believe the fact that I was a Technical Writer helped me "look attractive" in the eyes of recruiters--the fact that I could learn stuff and write about them.

Also, I had a project that I could show recruiters to validate that I know what I say I know.

5. Did you meet all the requirements for the job?

I can't remember all the requirements for the job at the time, but the main requirement was experience in React, which I indeed had a good deal of.

6. How was my approach when applying to Jobs?

When applying for jobs, I'd usually research the company and thoroughly read the job description to tailor my cover letter correctly.

Also, I used a structured cover letter template to outline my skills and experience clearly.

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The story I shared here is a summarized version of how I got my first job. Here's a more detailed version: How I got my first Full-time Software Developer Job

Watch out for more videos on these series.