Novice IT specialist or how not to start your career in IT

Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think that they cannot lose. - Bill Gates

Hello% habrauser%!
I thought for a long time how to get an invite , how I can be useful for the IT community, and now, finally, I found something to share. Experience! It is he who distinguishes me from my peers, and not only, since at 23 I have 4 years of experience in the field of IT. Was he helpful? Yes, it’s an experience. What was he like? Everything is under the cut.

This publication will be interesting, first of all, for beginning IT-specialists (I do not divide into narrower specializations, I want to generalize) and, I hope, it will serve as a kind of motivation to understand the essence of being of our true goals and the way to achieve them (in terms of career, of course) .

In the publication I will try to highlight the stages at the beginning of the IT career and the golden rules that I learned from them.

I ask everyone who knows how to learn not only from their mistakes, under cat.

Stage 0. Preparation

First of all, I’ll tell you a little about myself for a more complete understanding of the big picture. After graduating from a technical school (specialty “Maintenance of computer systems and networks”), a choice arose for the future path: full-time at the institute or “correspondence” and work. Due to the fact that I was pretty tired of wiping my pants in pairs (not all objects are of interest) and I wanted some freedom and adulthood, the choice fell on the second option. Therefore, when my fellow students enjoyed the spring and long periods for graduation work, I "day and night" pored over the diploma. This yielded the following results:
a) I got invaluable experience (since I took not the first topic I got from the list of the graduate supervisor, I offered my own and did it not for a tick, but practically implemented it on the prototype);
b) I won time for a job search because I started this process at a time when most of the graduates sensed the deadline soon and sat down for their diplomas. It's easier to get an interview before a wave of graduates has yet to begin to storm employers.

Get ahead and learn
Why is this important before first employment? Yes, because it will be a huge plus in the competition for work. And in the event that competitors are graduates like you, this could be a factor in making a decision in your favor. Compare yourself: a graduate with good grades, but without practice and any practical skills (even for yourself, try) or you are the one who tried a lot of things, stumbled, but studied (and that means a lot). I think even a comparison table is not needed to make a choice. And the employer does not have to choose only on the basis of the prestige of the university or trust in it. He already sees who studied, like everyone else, and who knew what he needed and moved in that direction.

Stage 1. Job Search.

Devil in the details

This stage will have to be divided into 3 sub-stages in an attempt to cover these issues in full.

Stage 1.1. Summary

There are a bunch of sites with examples, descriptions and recommendations. They are given by psychologists, and HR managers, and all who are not lazy. But how to write a resume when you have nothing to write in your work experience? Many of my friends there began to sculpt everything that could somehow fill the resume. Used Photoshop to remove red-eye? Add ownership information for this tool. Did you make drawings for coursework in AutoCAD? Him here too.

Show in the resume, first of all, those parties that are necessary for a particular vacancy.

It’s not very convenient to edit the resume every time before sending it, but look at it from the point of view of the employer: among the excess information, he may not notice the traits he needs or not read at all.

Also in the resume you need to reflect ALL your experience for this vacancy (let it be some project that did not work out or you abandoned halfway, but it was). You can discuss it, tell about the work done, difficulties and the employer will understand better the level of your knowledge and train of thought.

There is another controversial issue, the opinion of which I know from both sides: both the applicant and the employer. Should you send a resume if you are not fully qualified? The employer says no. I say yes! And here's why:
a) HR managers sometimes write requirements. And when they are looking for a specialist they can copy from another vacancy, not understanding what this means;
b) Some requirements may be indirect. Those. mismatching them does not hurt to take you to work;
c) There are situations when the applicant needs an employee “for yesterday” (and this happens). Then they can take you to perform some basic tasks, and the missing skills are already "pumped" in the work process;
d) The great and mighty “What if” (c)! (True, there may be an unpleasant situation during the interview, but then, “What if” (c) doesn’t arise?).

Stage 1.2. Job selection

The main thing is to choose what you like. No need to choose according to prestige, the advice of friends and others that are not relevant to your desires criteria. Work should be fun (ideally, a good income, but for the start - pleasure is also important). She will form your idea of ​​work, because she is the first.

It is also worth paying attention to the direction of work. It should expand your professional skills, and not narrow down to any routine. With the right choice of direction, you will become a more experienced specialist, but not an expert with skills that no one needs.

Stage 1.3. Job interviews

I studied a lot of articles on this subject (and I advise you to do it) and even conducted interviews myself, so I can bring some kind of “squeeze” of rules that will help to pass it more efficiently:
a) Do not worry. Many have now thought, “Yeah, they also say in the exam they don’t worry, but it doesn’t work out!” But it is necessary. Coherent and consistent speech always appeals to the applicant;
b) Get ready for an interview. And this applies not only to appearance. You should "rehearse" the story of what you already know and know how to talk about in detail. Better even with a description of the problems that had to be encountered during implementation. So you can start a dialogue and feel more confident, telling about what you understand. If the employer is interested in something else, he will direct the conversation in the right direction;
c) Learn more about the company where you are going for an interview. The employer must understand that you are not going at random, but purposefully towards them. It also has;
d) Read and UNDERSTAND the theory in the directions indicated in the requirements. I myself often “scored” on the theory, thinking that the main thing is to quickly figure out if there is a problem. The employer often does not think so. And in some situations he is right. If you do not have work experience - you can only know the theory. And you must know her.

Stage 2. Work

If the stars are in a good position and the previous steps are completed correctly, you got a job. But this is not a reason to relax. I will not give advice on how to behave in a team and in the performance of work duties, because it varies greatly depending on the team / management.

But there are “reinforced concrete” tips on how NOT to be done, working everywhere:
a) Do not drive away from work. Nobody likes such people. Work must be regarded as an experience that you do not currently have;
b) Do your job efficiently.It would seem commonplace, but no. There are people who, out of ignorance or because of laziness, instead of solving the problem correctly, “sculpt crutches”. Do not so (s). No one likes to redo others. Just as no one likes when they solve a banal problem for a long time by redoing their own “crutches”;
c) If you still have free time - do not waste it on social networks, games and listening to music. No matter how rude it sounds: you are still nobody. And it depends only on you whether you will become someone or will you be a specialist of the "middle management". Learn constantly, be it some kind of information about the internal services of the company that relate to your job responsibilities or some more general information about what you will need in the future for development (since you have reached Zen in your work). And do not postpone training. “Then” may not come. As it happened for me: I worked, I didn’t blow a whisker and played in my free time, rejoicing that everything works, everyone is trained to perform a routine. And here - bam! Liquidation of the company, bankrupt. What are we going to look for work with? With game experience in recent months instead of useful knowledge. Not the best luggage.
d) Take the initiative.This can contribute to both expanding your experience and career advancement. Study the work of other services, suddenly in the process you will find a more suitable and interesting place for yourself. Remember that you have not yet formed as a specialist and can try to find yourself in a different, kindred direction. But this in no way means that you need to "rush around" and give up at the first difficulties. They will be everywhere.

For the first article and for understanding how to start your career in IT, I think that's enough. If anyone has questions, I will be happy to answer them in the comments and in personal correspondence.

Well, in order to prevent the question “What have you achieved to give advice here”, I will briefly describe my work experience. First job: first, a leading specialist in the software and hardware department of the regional branch of the bank, after a few months - already the head of this department. A year later, he became the head of the department supporting the IT infrastructure of the entire bank - and so for 3 years. And this is not communication and dating, but what I said is an understanding of the work of other services. They notice young and initiative people who can and want to develop and work.

Due to insurmountable circumstances, I had to change my job and now I’ve been working in the system integrator for half a year, where, in fact, I learned that experience is also useless, a theory is needed, but this is a completely different story (c).

UPD: I advise all beginnersSimulator for a system administrator or how to beat your former classmates in an interview