I'm guilty of giving this but the old head advice that falls short is "use your network". Easy to say when you have one having been in industry for 20+ years. A bit harder to do when that number is zero.
If you're coming straight out of University, there are likely several dozen people who have a reasonable idea of your capabilities -- your classmates and your professors. That's your network.
And the value of that network is often very low in finding a job after university. Your peers are unlikely to be in a position to offer you a job, and your professor may have a connection but realistically this is unavailable to hundreds of grads every semester. When you’re fresh in the career “use your network” feels like the same kinds of job postings that say “junior engineer - must have 3 years professional development experience”.
For the new grads, it should be “build your network”. Learning skills for promoting oneself is imperative in the early career stage. Start a blog. Connect with a community. Find a meetup or user group. It pays off long term. the unfortunate part is that it doesn’t necessarily lead to a job immediately.
If you’re starting in tech right now, and can go back to live with parents after graduation, then do that while building up your presence. Just don’t take your foot off the gas until you have that solid network. The stigma about moving back home doesn’t make sense to me, unless all you do is play WOW (or whatever people are wasting time on these days).
If that doesn’t work, find some roommates. Be willing to slum it a bit while establishing yourself. It might not be glamorous like Instagram or Tiktok says it should be, but the flexibility you have while keeping costs down opens more opportunities. You can take more risks if you don’t have to worry so much about making rent or paying bills.
Also hard to do when you're not a networking person. I'm a programmer for a reason, and part of that reason is that I'm a bit of a misanthrope. A friendly misanthrope, but a misanthrope, nonetheless.
> Easy to say when you have one having been in industry for 20+ years
More like 10+. That is the network sweet spot. At 20+ your network is starting to gray out and mostly useless unless you have someone who has risen up to VP ranks who can influence some downstream director to move your resume to the top. At 30+ you are some younger person’s “network”. At 40 years (where I currently am) your “network” is frankly retired, dead, or just trying to squeeze out those last few years in a no stress role to keep their medical insurance and can be no help to you.
YMMV. At 41, I’ve been in tech for about 25 years, and my network is still hugely beneficial to me. They help me keep an eye on new trends, the overall job market, and potential new positions. I focus on keeping in touch with a lot of people, though, even if it’s not constant contact.
