If you are starting a blog I would suggest writing technical posts which solve problems you have had. One of my early posts was UIPickerView which explained how to do a very specific task in the iPhone.
The perfect topics are the ones which you couldn’t find answers to on the internet. You search and search and then solve it yourself. Once you do, write it up!
Once you start getting your baseline traffic you’ll get a real buzz!
Some of you will now find yourself with a degree and an economy which you would think can’t support you.
If you accept that statement then I would seriously consider going straight back into university until you think otherwise.
There are jobs out there you just have to look harder. Business owners are very busy and they don’t have time to look for new employees. They could be desperately requiring some more workers but just can’t find the time to commit to the ordeal of hiring someone.
Advertising a job is a difficult thing. Especially for small businesses (I would recommend getting a job at a small/startup business, you will learn so much more). The cost to advertise is huge, it sucks time and effort from other activities which are required to keep the business going. It has a huge change of failure, either nobody good enough applies for the job or the best person for the job is useless. Nobody wants to hire a C, we all want A’s!
How do you become an A?
This is not a reflection of your grades. Grades are cool and gave you the motivation to learn but that won’t get your very far in life. A study found that emotional intelligence was a bigger indicator to success than SAT’s (American Study). Emotional intelligence is not reflected in your exam or assignments. It’s who you are as a person and how you deal with the world.
High emotional intelligence is self motivation, it is self-focus. It is perseverance and endurance. It is communication and the ability to read people.
If you choose a profession that lines up with your passion then you are pretty much set. Get passionate about what you do. With or without a job, get out there are start using your skills. Find a business in your industry and volunteer your work. WORK FOR FREE. The country needs it and it will beat any interview you can get.
If you are in the IT world then start making something! Build a web app. Don’t do web apps? Then BUILD A WEB APP. Unfortunately (as I found out) the world wants more web apps. Software is going to the cloud and at the moment that means HTML, CSS, Javascript. Get an idea, signup to github and start cutting code. No ideas then come talk to me over coffee. I have a few I can share, I also have a couple of half cut projects that need some attention.
What do you get out of it? When you create or help create an application you tell the market your capable of doing so. Your not just a student anymore, you are a practitioner. You know your stuff and you use it.
If you are passionate about what you do and you show people you are passionate (by working in front of them for free) you will get a job. Simple as that.
Summer of Code initial interviews are over. Now is time for all the companies to consider the applicants, possible 2nd interviews then ranking!
The process of matching students with companies is as follows Continue Reading »
[business:Summer of Code] is under way and companies are in the process of reviewing student profiles. Mean while the students are sizing up the companies and selecting their preferences as well! The students have sat tests, companies have reviewed them. There was a meet and greet for all but unfortunately I was unable to attend due to an overdue holiday I was on. From what I heard it went off without a hitch and everyone talked themselves dry all night. (I heard there was a limit on the beverage consumption, not many happy about it..) Continue Reading »
The summer of code site is up! Head over there now and have a look. As an IT student you need a job over summer and you need to get your job through Summer of Code. Students Sign-up Here.
If you are a company in Wellington and need some cheap labour (don’t worry Students, you are paid very well. Government helps out here) over the summer on some R&D then get involved in Summer of Code. Check out some information here.
Why Summer of Code?
Head over to Summer of Code and sign up! Why are you still reading? Students Sign-up Here. Continue Reading »
If you check out my personal blog over at Jordan Carter you will see that I quickly jumped to the front page of Google in the .co.nz index. You could easily do the same if you use the widget described in that post. Now if a potential employer is looking for me before an interview they won’t have to look for long and I can control what they do find, making it all positive stuff and stopping them looking for too long which could lead to finding stuff I would rather not have on the Internet. I don’t think there is anything out there that shouldn’t be found but you never know. Increasing more and more of what we do ends up on the net, this is good, and bad.
We are becoming our own Big Brother, always watching.
Create yourself a blog. There is no reason you shouldn’t create one. There is a lifetime worth of reasons to create one.
The biggest reason for creating a blog is simple, you get found. If you are looking for a job in IT, I will put money on your name going into Google before that interview. It has happened to me and everyone I know. Especially if you are going in the summer of code programme. What will they find? Continue Reading »
I was lucky. I had an obscene obsession with computers since I have been little. This lead me to programming at an early age and set me up for my career. You are probably not as lucky. Maybe only just starting your programming skills at University. Not much time to do anything but party and study, the washing a couple times in the weekend, repeat.
Well if you want to succeed, and you do, and you want to succeed quickly, you also want that, then you are going to have to do more than everyone else. I suggest first on focusing on something outside of your University studies. Get a taste and some experience in a technology that they aren’t teaching you at Uni. Learn something that the industry isn’t saturated with. One that I learnt from an early age is Flash and Actionscript. Continue Reading »
If you are studying in Wellington and need a job over summer I suggest quickly signing up to Summer of Code ([business:Summer of Code]). I have been in the programme twice now with my final envolvement landing me a job with [business:Made From New Zealand]. [person:John Clegg] is a great guy, very compassionate and extremly willing to help (don’t be afraid of his large stature). I have had many chats with him regarding my career and I can not stress enough how valuable it was. He has been hiring in the IT industry for a while and knows what to look for and how to look like it. Go sign up for the programme, you will get a job, a chance to meet John and some get work experience.