Today is the first day that we are allowed to apply for jobs. The idea that I could be sitting down to discuss with a stranger what I know about programmer is nerve-wracking to some degree, but not so much. After the prep interviews, both behavioral and technical, I feel fairly confident in speaking with a hiring manager.
I don’t feel terribly confident about taking coding tests online. This weekend I took the coding test for Dick’s Sporting Goods and it did not go too well. Although I would have said the opposite just a few days ago, I think I would prefer the white board to a link in an email. At least on the white board, if I’m struggling I can explain to the interviewer what my thought process is and why I’m running into a road block. Alone, with nothing but a web page in front of me, a missed answer is nothing more than a missed answer. I have no opportunity to spin it.
All that aside, Caitie had an interesting stat. They crunch a lot of numbers on Tech Elevator grads and have come to some conclusions as to who gets jobs and why. They know who is more likely to get a job and when by gender, education level, skill as a student, and age. However, the variable that factors in the most is how often you apply for jobs. Students who applied for 1.5 jobs a week took more than 2 months to find a job. Students who applied to 3.1 jobs a week found one within 1-2 months. 4 applications a week? 1 month. And those who applied to 4.4 jobs a week or more were employed before TE graduation.
I’ll be applying to 50,000 jobs this evening.
Well, maybe not.
The issue is that applying takes time. Not only filling out applications, but the results of doing it. If you apply to 10 jobs in a day and then three of them send you a coding test or try to schedule interviews, you could hit a real time crunch. So you have to plan this thing just right.
I’m thinking about hitting up 6 or 7 a week. That should work. I think.
From Retail to Programming 