In this episode, the panel talks amongst themselves about: What is THE dream job? How do you define YOUR dream job? And how do you GET your dream job? Check out today’s episode to find out more!

1:02 – What does a dream job even mean?

1:08 – Nader: It means that you wake-up and you are excited to go to work instead of dreading it.

1:34 – Lucas: Dream jobs I think change depending on your life’s moments. It changes from person-to-person and from time-to-time. After some months there you are feeling like you are always growing as a person and as a professional.

2:24 – Chuck.

2:38 – Justin: My idea is that it has some impact on the people in your world. What is my impact on the world – what is my footprint – what am I doing? My last job was advertisement, and my job was to drive eyeballs to ads. That wasn’t what I wanted to do anymore.

3:49 – Charles: What do I want to do with DevChat? It’s not always fun, and why am I doing this. For me it’s personal freedom and an impact within the world.

What are your big three that will make a big difference to you? There are all sorts of reasons, but once you know that then it’s easier.

When my resume comes across their desk it comes with an endorsement. If you don’t have anything else to sell them, especially if you are a new developer.

The last few jobs you’ve gotten how did you find them?

6:25 – Nader.

6:52 – Panelists: Recruiters. I used that to build myself up. Then I got into: Where DO I want to work? I will check Twitter, GitHub, Hacker News, and I keep my eyes open.

At Artsy we try to build on those relationships. We are hiring!

8:31 – Chuck: I think most companies are like that – they will hire the people that they know. Doing the research, figuring out what company you want

9:10 – Panelists: Don’t be afraid to meet-up with people and ask them questions. You aren’t just trying to leech off of them and figure out what YOU can contribute back.

9:47 – Chuck: Even if you are trying to network with people to get a job – make sure you don’t look like you are trying to leech off of them.

10:20 – Lucas: When I moved to the U.S. about a year ago...

A question I asked myself: Where will I contribute well?

There are some markets that I am not interested in and there are some that I am interested in – that’s where I want to go. I like helping people with their health. Their website (company I am working for) is very eCommerce like. I know I can contribute, and it’s a mission that I am all about.

Where do MY skillsets help?

For junior levels time is on your side – contribute your time. You can help them with

When you are young you have time. Everyone can follow their skillset. Try to find the places where you want and where do you want to contribute.

13:06 – Chuck.

13:20 – Even senior engineers we undervalue ourselves – it’s easy to do. When friends are trying to break into the industry I tell them to track their projects.

14:26 – Chuck: It shows the eagerness to learn and be willing to learn and contribute.

On GitHub – be consistent with your contributions; it shows initiative.

15:33 – Nader, how did you get your job?

15:40 – Nader: Developer Advocate is the job I have now.

The main thing that I would recommend is to learn in public. Even if it’s not that impressive – overtime you will standout. It’s all about standing out, because you don’t want to sell yourself.

17:52 – Advertisement – Fresh Books! 30-day trial.

18:58 – Chuck.

19:20 – Lucas: I am doing a lot of interviews now – a lot of times we want to hire people but we can’t for a certain skillset. One interesting thing is that even though you have an initial “no,” we could use that person later.

20:04 – Chuck: If it comes down to a good relationship then you can make that work to your advantage.

People should be following-up to see if HR is reposting the job.

Give them a lot of reasons to hire you!

22:30 – Panelist: If you aren’t excited to work there then it’s really telling. Searching for any opportunity just to grow is okay but it will be telling to your possible future employers.

23:40 – Chuck: Nader talked about standing out, and here you are talking about the same thing. Nobody goes to this level of effort to get a job at a company.

24:13 – Lucas: Do you think this applies to the big companies like Facebook or Google?

24:28 – Nader: I think these same principles do apply. When you start thinking about these big companies as actual people – then you have a better shot of getting hired. Go through Meetups and finding people who work there. Building relationships is what it’s about.

25:40 – Chuck: Companies are made-up of people – that’s it.

Sometimes the company will go to bat for you and try to convince HR that you could be the right person. Give them reasons to hire you – sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

27:03 – Lucas: Sometimes you THINK you want to work for a company, but how do I gather that this is the correct decision.

In the middle of the interview – I realized that this wasn’t the right place for me. How do I got about that?

27:50 – Chuck: I lay out the TOP Three in my eBook. The best place to find out this information is finding out through past or current employees through X company. A lot of information, too, you can get through GlassDoor.

You can do a people search through LinkedIn. Have that conversation with them over lunch and ask them those questions and find out.

31:48 – Justin: As you are reaching out to these people, keep them in mind as a possible mentor. Someone who you can learn from and that they can possibly mentor you. I think that can be undervalued. Really focus on “is this someone I could build a relationship with to help me with my career.” The relationship is a give and take – you don’t want that to show through. You should be interested in the person and helping them in some way, too.

33:11 – Chuck: I agree.

Chuck talks about mentor / advisor relationship some more.

34:00 – Lucas asks Chuck some questions.

Lucas: Some people have a difficult time reaching out – what are some great tips for this?

34:31 – Chuck: Everyone is different. For me, I have to put out a certain number. You have to be willing to go out and do it. If you can’t work with people, then sorry tough luck. Nowadays you will be working with a team of other programmers.

Relationships are all about give-and-take; like my wife and me.

36:17 – If you aren’t comfortable in social situations there are things to slowly get you comfortable. Maybe send a tweet through Twitter. Being visible and contribute to slowly put yourself out there. Do whatever you feel comfortable with and challenge yourself just to TRY. Most people aren’t trying.

37:45 – Chuck: Sometimes that direct approach is or isn’t there. You can strike up a conversation about code and then it can go from there. It can happen in stages. 

38:37 – If our experiences don’t align then that’s okay. Really try. Make sure you put in more effort than the people that are applying just via their website. Do more than just the

39:17 – Chuck: The more personal you can make it the better chance you have of getting hired.

40:00 – Picks!

40:04 – Advertisement – Get A Coder Job!

Charles

Nader

Lucas

Justin