No interview invites from hundreds of companies you sent your resume to?

No feedback or negative results received after the interviews?

Seeking the first job is one of the time periods I wouldn't want to go back in my life. It was a dark, foggy and full of uncertainties path that most of us have to go through.

If you are going through it, I hope this article could somewhat light your path and help you see the light at the end of the tunnel.

💎 Quality > Quantity

Your resume is your face and the first impression of you to the recruiters. So keep it concise and structured and straight to the point.

What's most important in your resume are the words. And let's be honest, not everyone is good at them.

My vocabulary is limited and I suck at writing words that sell.

One effective way is to make use of online Resume Builder (I'm not earning any commission by sharing this).

This can help you save a lot of time putting together a resume that is actually read by the recruiters.

It costs but is worth the investment!

Better use your time to improve more relevant skills instead, yeah?

📖True story: One of my friends was struggling to get responses with his old resume. After trying out my resume way, he instantly got a response and got his first job

😎Attitude > Aptitude

It's expensive for a company to recruit and train new employees.

Plus, skills are easy to teach, but attitude is not.

Therefore, whatever you put on your resume or deliver at the interview, show the recruiters that you are the type of person who has the drive to do and learn whatever it takes to get valuable things done.

I got hired to work in a team that uses .NET 90% of the time while I barely knew C#. I was able to demonstrate through my past projects that I'm the type of developer who takes ownership of what I do and sees things to the end.

Fortunately, attitude is something we can learn and develop.

📖 Recommended book:

• Relentless From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim S.Grover
• Magic Of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

🔖 Sell Yourself as A Highly Valuable Asset (Show > Tell)

There are many talented individuals out there who don't have opportunities to shine because they don't know how to sell themselves.

"I don't know to be deemed as overconfident" - Try framing the pitch about what you are capable of as a story. Instead of saying "I'm a great team player", say "I successfully delivered a project with two other developers"

"I don't know if I'm good enough to talk about something" - it's a myth that everyone already knows about what you know. There are always people who don't know about something you know. So just talk about you are currently interested in and learning.

Other simple ways to make yourself hotter🔥 in the market:

• Be resourceful: Sharing is caring, simply share excellent content related to the things you want people to know you for. Over time, people will start to associate you with that technology/skill/topic.
• Be grateful: Read and leave thoughtful comments on others' articles.
• Be contentful: It's so much easier now to have your own blog with Hashnode, Dev.to, Medium. It's a myth that people already know everything you know. Everyone is an expert at something. Just pick something you know and share it.

📖 Recommended book: Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual

Conclusion

Last but not least, you don't lose, you learn. The more you fail the closer you are to your first job.

Take the initiative to seek feedback from recruiters that reject you to fill your gap. And keep in touch with them.

I got my first job from a recruiter that said "unfortunately" to me by staying connected and reaching out to him directly when there was another opportunity.

And, yes I'm happy to help with everything I can. Please feel free to reach out.

All the best 🤞