Technical Job Prep

Finishing a bootcamp (or equivalent self-study) is a HUGE feat, congratulations!

As you've probably seen in your bootcamp there is still a lot to continue learning. In addition to prep that is more specific to applying to jobs, there are also some topics to study up on that typically aren't covered in bootcamps. But don't worry, we got you covered!

Join our weekly technical Job Prep series!

How to Prepare for the Job Search

1. LinkedIn/Resume
   First and foremost, make sure you update your resume and LinkedIn profile. Highlight the tech stack you learned, any projects that you're proud of, and a personal mission statement. What differentiates you? (Feel free to pull in transferrable knowledge from former jobs).

2. Coding Challenges
   Get into a regular habit of practicing coding challenges. In some cases, these are used as a screen before getting a technical interview. Even if you don't need to do one explicitly as part of an application, it's still worth building confidence in these as they are they same types of problems given to you in a technical interview. 

Here are some platforms to start with:
HackerRank, Code Wars, CoderByte, LeetCode.

3. Technical Interviewing
   The most you can practice these, the better. And practice with other people, whenever possible. One of the hardest parts of technical interviewing is the stress of needing to perform in front of other people, so doing it more often just gets you more comfortable with that scenario. 

Here are some sites that pair you up with others to practice:
Pramp, Interview Cake

  4. Projects

Continue working on a project that you built in your bootcamp, or get started on a new one. We recommend building something that can show off a new tech stack or give you the opportunity to learn a new language, framework, etc... If you're interested in a job with a company that has an open API, leverage that! 

  5. Open Source

Working on an open source project is a great way to learn how to read and contribute to other people's code. This is a skill that feels pretty different from working on your own hobby-level projects during bootcamp and is crucial for success in the workplace.

Topics to Study Up On... 

You've probably been told a lot now that you should be focusing on data structures and algorithms. It's true these topics are super important as they are a subject that students who come from a Computer Science background get a lot more training in than their bootcamp peers. However, balance the time you spend on this topic with time spent on other practical subjects. Data structures and algorithms are important to pass the interview, but just getting practice learning new technologies, building things, and debugging code is going to help you when you actually start the job. 

We'd recommend reviewing the following list of some of the most in-demand languages and frameworks out there right now. We'd recommend spending time hitting each of these bullet points (that does not mean doing, for example, all three backend frameworks, just one is fine!).

• A frontend framework (ReactJS is by far the most popular here)

• A backend framework (Express, Rails, or Django are popular choices)

• GraphQL (an up and coming alternative to REST APIs)

• An SQL database (e.g., Postgres, MySQL)

• A cloud platform (e.g., AWS, GCP)

• A typed language (e.g., TypeScript, Java)

• Microservices or service-oriented architecture (SOA)