
Ask HN: I can't find a First job, now what? - notMe888
I have graduated with a Master&#x27;s degree over 6 weeks ago. I have been submitting for job openings for over 3 months now, <i>with no luck</i>.<p>Overall, I have submitted a little under 100 job applications. I started with a selective attitude, but recently I have been submitting to everything that fits the technology stacks I know.<p>I have kept an updated resume, a personal website, another website for my open-source projects (+ Github), a (not very active) blog and created a profile on all major job platforms such as Linkedin.<p>I&#x27;m starting to question if I&#x27;d ever find a fist job, <i>and what to do if not</i>.<p>I thought I was doing everything the right way, and was wondering if someone here has been in this dark place and what did you do to get out of it?
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ggregoire
It's curious because all the companies in France are looking for developers.
Specially in web development. What's your stack?

Since you have studied in France, I assume you have done one or several
internships (usually 6 months) or even one or several years of apprenticeship
(really common here in IT)?

If yes, did you try to get a job in the same company? Did you ask for
references to your manager, your product owner, your team members, your CTO?

If no, you should start with an internship I think. Unfortunately, what your
learn at school is rarely useful in your daily job. I don't know any company
that hire candidates without some real xp.

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notMe888
Thank you for your input, indeed I have interned in an R&D lab of prestigious
European company.

However they are in a hiring hiatus. I was given a very positive
recommendation. However, they didn't offer any position to any intern.

    
    
        >what's your master, your school and the technology stacks you know?
    

\- Masters (IFI) : Computer Fundamentals and Engineering

\- School : Polytech Nice

\- Stacks:

PHP (Native, Laravel, Symfony)

Node (MEAN, Sails.js)

Frontend HTML/CSS/JS/jQuery

.. and some JAVA

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ggregoire
Your stack seems fine to me (PHP & JS are the most used technologies in web
dev).

Did you look for any jobs in Paris (99% of the companies are here)?

Did you try any startups/small companies?

But, as you said, the VISA sponsorship is surely a factor. :(

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laughfactory
Yeah, I'd probably revisit HOW you're marketing yourself. Your hit rate should
be much better than virtually 0 out of 100. Generally, from my 5 years of
experience since college, if I'm not getting responses it's because I need to
refine my resume, punch up my cover letter, or tweak my LinkedIn profile. In
your case it will also be very advantageous to complete some of your open
source projects. Working products is critical. Try to make sure that your repo
is essentially a showcase for your abilities. If your repo is filled with
unfinished stuff, or other crud then you'll want to clean it out and make it
presentable. The other tip I picked up somewhere is to try and exercise your
intelligence by determining who the hiring manager and/or HR representative is
for the company, dig up their email, and email them your resume and cover
letter directly. When you do this make sure you convey poise, and confidence
(without being arrogant), and illustrate why you think you're a good fit for
their position (without being overly verbose).

Good luck!

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notMe888
OP here: Just more information, I'm looking for jobs mostly in Europe (Since I
have studied in France) but I require VISA sponsorship.

Which might be a factor in my situation.

~~~
jorgemf
Well, It is hard to know what is happening without more information. It seems
you are applying to a right amount of jobs, it could be that maybe your CV
doesn't stand up among other CVs. First thing I would is to improve the CV
somehow, try to get feedback from recruiters or other people with experience
looking for jobs. It must show you have built something by your own, so you
can work on something related because you have already probe you can. If you
don't have anything, them start spending sometime working in a pet project and
put it open source in GitHub.

Other thing it can happen is that maybe you are not applying to the right
places with the right CV, for example it doesn't make sense for me to apply to
companies in france with a CV in english, but I would keep my LinkedIn in
english. If you are looking for a job in London them you need to now the local
websites the recruiters use for this. The are different per country. Do some
research on this.

About sponsorship I think this could be the key factor too. I think it is
almost impossible for a company justify a VISA for a junior profile. So first
you need experience in your local market in order to not be a junior
developer. If you want to do something abroad you might want to search for
summer interships, summer camps or similar. But don't expect to make money
with them, they barely cover the costs.

~~~
notMe888
Thank you for your input.

I have a Github with a couple dozen projects that I have made over the years,
however none of them are "completed products", most are a few thousands lines
of code that I put together during the weekend.

Do you think that I should be pushing more _finished_ and cleaner projects?

\--

I'm mainly applying in Europe because the local market for
developers/engineers in my Arab country is very poor and under-developed. It
is very rare to find a junior position that would allow me to enrich my CV,
plus with a starting average salary of 400$/month it very hard to make any
long-term economies.

~~~
jorgemf
Applying for a sponsored job in Europe is going to be difficult. You are a
high risk, you do not have any experience and you come from a different
country with a different culture. If I am a recruiter with several candidates,
I would consider someone else before. (Sorry to be honest with this)

So, as I said they are special program from big companies for international
students/recent graduates. Try to find them and apply to them. You will gain
experience and you will probe you can work with people with different culture.
Meanwhile it is not going to hurt you to get a local job in something you
like. You will get some money and experience.

Things are not going to come from one day to another, but if you have more or
less clear what you want, then you can make a plan to accomplish it. It will
take time, but focus in making small steps. Get some local experience in the
things you like, try to get some international experience, then try to find a
better job, probably in a different country, and keep moving. It is going to
take some years, but it pays off. Just remember it is a long trip and you have
to focus in small steps.

UPDATE: I have just read you have a master in another country. That is good.
And also a interview with a company of one of your friends. That is also quite
good. Don't give up! It takes time but it seems you are closer than what I was
picturing in my mind.

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anonymous_iam
Stay in India?

