Unemployment is pretty high globally but if you even spend 15 minutes in the technical forums, you would realize that everyone is better than ever when it comes to coding, programming, designing, and creating web sites. Competition is incredibly tight. Software piracy has made sure that professional software is available to students, who admirably and arduously practice at an early age. Everything from professional Adobe products to expensive CAD software and server operating systems is available for the hard-working undergraduate willing to learn. Even would-be developers with no training are honing their skills designing apps for iOS, Android, and yes, even Windows. Ebooks about programming, security, publishing, and web development are available everywhere and everyone is getting into the game. And don't get me started about Linux (Unsolicited deals mostly with Linux after all). Don't listen to the sour-graping IT professionals who say you have to learn x or y first and "techies" you're going about it the wrong way. Choose an area you're interested and get started there. Most of the best IT professionals I met never took those expensive certifications - they took the even longer route of teaching themselves on areas they wanted to learn.
If Pete had sold his experimental formula and Spidey equipment he'd be as rich as Tony Stark.
Peter tests his new webbing in Amazing Spider-Man #320 (1989)
Sure, career web sites all advise that you should be in the thick of things in the cloud with an immaculate Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook account. Maybe you have your own domain or web site showing off your work courtesy of GoDaddy or A Small Orange. Perhaps you're a regular contributor to Github, Source Forge, or Google Code, or even a respectable tech wiki like Fedora or Ubuntu. You've also chalked up some freelance work at Odesk, collect hundreds of thousands of hits a month, and maybe get fan mail every other day too. You also probably have the most egotistical landing page on the Internet complete with your customized Flash and Java effects and studio quality photo of your mug. Plus, your online footprint is only as large as the Hulk's shoe size and free from drunken photos and sexcapades. All that is well and good but when you're jobhunting, however, it will all still come down to that one-on-one interview either at some chilly room at a company or through Skype.
When you get to that interview, you have to not only tell but show how good you are. You're going to have to prove that you actually made that web site you boasted about or wrote that Linux article that you reprinted on your blog. That Adobe Illustrator or Corel Painter masterpiece you showed off in Behance or Deviant Art? You better have the raw sketches you started off with. As for code or that app you designed, you'd better be darn sure you can prove you wrote it or at least understood it through and through (especially if the base code was open source).
I was regularly present in several hiring sessions with HR professionals a few years back (I was the guy mopping the floor just behind the interviewer and occasionally asking questions). Not all HR interviewers pop in with an odd question such as "What is the hex code for Indigo Blue?" (which actually happened to me) or "Compute how many Duracell batteries were disposed of in 1999 in North Carolina?" Unless you're being interviewed by a smug headhunter with a superiority complex or you're applying for a job you're not suited for, you're more than likely be given a realistic and fair shake. Ideally, the grizzled veteran has as much chance of being shown the door as the fresh graduate who spent most of his college years playing Diablo and World of Warcraft. The bottomline is your body of work, whether it's pro bono or during your horrible years running the rat race. You'd be surprised just how many people are hired based on a few projects they tinkered around with while hunting for work.
Mock up of a fictional ebook by the author.
You don't have to be a Mensa candidate to get started in the IT industry. You just have to pay your dues and get some concrete projects you can call your own. The emphasis here is it's your own - whether it's a simple ebook magazine layout or a .deb application for Debian-based Linux distributions. Here are a few tips and Unsolicited But Offered suggestions for those who do get to that all-important interview:
1. Your portfolio online - The most ideal situation is that you e-mail or provide the hyperlinks to your interviewer before the interview itself. It will give you a chance to talk about specific projects or designs. If you sent the company a digital portfolio in the form of a PDF, follow standardized security and formatting methods (for example, availability of fonts in OSX and Windows). If your job involves web design and technology, consider Internet Explorer despite your utter hatred for it (Personally, I think IE9 isn't so bad in Windows 7). In most cases, if you're invited for an interview the company has already decided to hire you and the interview is more of a formality to check if you really did all those incredible apps or web sites. If the HR guy has all your online portfolio before the interview, it gives him the chance to prepare questions and gauge your ability. A good recruiter will adjust his/her questions to your skill set and level based on the projects you sent (for example, a complex Excel table or Pivot Table). Like a resume, LinkedIn profile, or Facebook account, however, don't provide everything you have - you need to have something new to say if the interview falls apart and goes in the direction of "Is that all?"
Take note of all the projects, wiki articles, and code you've distributed in the cloud or posted on your web site or blog. Have your hyperlinks ready and ask a friend overseas to test if all of them are accessible, whether it's an article in the openSUSE wiki or a project uploaded to Source Forge. Refer to your projects during the interview and provide the HR guy easy to remember sites where it can be accessed. Any apps in Google Play or the Apple iStore are always impressive. If you're allowed to bring a laptop or the interviewer asks you to show your work then make sure you know where you're going. Don't Google or Bing your own work unless you know it's going to come up in the results (or your job objective is related to search engine optimization). Always have alternate sources online in case the company blocks web sites like Blogger or Wordpress. Although storing your projects in Sky Drive, Dropbox, or Ubuntu One may seem like a good idea, downloading them one by one is extremely inconvenient for the impatient interviewer.
2. Your portfolio OFFLINE - You won't always be allowed to bring your laptop or tablet to an interview but if you do, make sure that your device is ready to display your work. Moreover, make sure your device wallpapers are safe for viewing and don't have Maria Ozawa or Alexis Texas on display. I don't recommend handing your laptop to the interviewer unless requested. Request for a projector or handle the navigation yourself. If you have illegal or pirated software installed, don't show off the software. Personally, I'd recommend booting into a Linux distribution - you'll prove to your interviewer that your project looks good in another platform and you'll avoid any unnecessary performance issues or errors that may occur in Windows (such as Acrobat Reader crashing on you) while you're running your demonstration. For aspiring digital artists, it actually makes sense to have high-resolution print outs of your vector or bitmap designs. Although your Canon or Epson inkjet printout on high-resolution glossy paper can never match the experience of looking at a PDF magazine, complex vector or CAD art on a big LCD screen or even a Retina display, it's something substantial the HR staff can refer to without having to open a browser or access your online files. For those who are planning to show off their digital animation or movies (or just want to demo their work visually and with sound), get one of those Pico projectors by Acer, Samsung, or ASUS.
These projectors may not have the highest resolution or the colors of a Sony Bravia, but it will make you look professional and ready at the drop of a hat. Finally, it also goes without saying that handing an iPad loaded with your work to the recruiter can be pretty impressive. I'm not an Apple cult member but an iPad displaying animated CAD designs and interactive digital magazines can wake you up during an interview. Don't discount a 7" budget Android tablet though especially if your code, web design, or art is for distribution - showing off your work on an Android device shows accessibility.
Continued in "Bringing Your Digital Portfolio to an Interview Part 2"
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