in a corporate blog, I remembered my experience in finding and hiring. After thinking it over carefully, I decided it was time to share it, because. By now, he has worked in the company for a year and a half, learned a lot, understood and realized a lot. But the university was graduated relatively recently - six months ago. Therefore, I am still at the time when they periodically call from the university and ask me to come to the Open House Day as a specialist who has received a diploma, found a job, such a “smart guy and a good fellow”.
This article will not help you solve a technical problem, it is not a practical guide to finding a job, with the help of which you will be 100% employed after graduation. It is rather a presentation of life experience with a deeper understanding of current events. At the same time, I believe that each of the readers of this article will either recognize himself if he has already passed this path, or will find something for himself if he is only at the beginning of this path.
Starting level
So, I'll start from the very beginning. In 2013 I graduated from high school with good grades, solid knowledge and a desire to learn. According to the results of the exam, the indicator was slightly above the average for that year. Having decided on the choice, I decided to enter the budget for the specialty of electronic engineering. Yes, this is not exactly what I wanted: I originally planned to go to computer security or communication technology systems, but, alas, (as usual) a couple of points were not enough. It was easy to enter a bachelor with a similar specialty - but doubts about the military department “loomed” there: they say, then there may be nuances with obtaining a military ID. “Well, okay, the specialty is good, the knowledge will be, and then everything depends on me' I thought at the time.
Studying at the University
The first academic year has begun, new acquaintances, new subjects and knowledge. Programming items were a big surprise. As it turned out, my specialty involved training in this direction, but there were few hours, the tasks were for children (well, just the basics that you could learn on any video on the Internet in a few hours). At that moment, I realized: if I want to master this path, then I need to do it on my own, on my own, here and now. I was lucky and got teachers who encouraged the use of programming in their subjects, which increased the number of tasks completed and, thereby, the appearance of any kind of experience. The desire to go to work in this direction, and to work in general, appeared already in the 4th year. But, due to the tight schedule and the fact that the teachers were strict about absenteeism, this venture had to be postponed for a year so as not to spoil their diploma in the end.
And here it is - the 5th year, there are few classes, teachers have become more loyal to passes, military training was successful (consider a military ID in your pocket). After weighing all the pros and cons, I decided to act actively.
There were prospects for working strictly according to the profession, and with a decent salary, career growth. But deep in my soul there was a dream, there was a passion that haunted me. And this phrase: “Happiness is when you like what you do” - rang in my head. While at the institute - you could take a chance and get where you want.
I had enough knowledge, but one thing was missing - experience. With these thoughts, I started monitoring sites and aggregators with vacancies. At first I watched everything, everything that was without experience. I just looked closely, didn’t call anywhere, didn’t write, didn’t even create my resume. In general, I immediately made a bunch of typical mistakes, lost a couple of months. But then came the realization of the next stage that you can not sit back and "wait for the weather by the sea."
First ever interview
I decided to try myself in 1C, I came for an interview. We talked, we talked. As an introductory task, they gave me to complete the entire workshop on the 1C book of some author. I flew home, it was something new. It became interesting to me, I began to perform excitedly. But, on the third day, the realization came that technologies in this area are limited. Having quickly studied everything, I realized that there would be no further development. Yes, the tasks will be different, but the tools are the same - NOT ME.
Further, I liked the vacancy of a technical support engineer in the well-known Euroset company. He responded and was invited for an interview. The schedule, of course, is not as flexible as the vacancy said, but you can live. Successfully passed the introductory test, verification of documents with an employee of the security department. According to the results of the interview with the employer, everything suited and I liked everything. We agreed that I would leave in a week, but life decreed otherwise. Due to family circumstances, I could not start - I called and warned. This was just the time when I sat down again and comprehended what was happening - again NOT MINE.
The search continued. New Year passed, winter session - still no work. I already created a resume, employers looked at it - but I still couldn’t find my dream job, or it couldn’t find me. At this stage of life, there was an idea that we should already find at least something. Classmates began to interview at Nokia Corporation for a cell tower maintenance engineer and one of them invited me. Decent earnings at the start, an office in the city center, the schedule, of course, I really didn’t like at all - these are not the usual 5/2, but 2/2! Yes, even with night shifts. But, I've almost given up. Passed the first stage of the interview. And here…
Dream work
And then I stumble upon a vacancy at Inobitek, an intern position, flexible schedule. It just warmed up in my heart. Felt like what I was looking for. At that time, the second stage of the interview at Nokia was completed, but I decided that it could wait. The vacancy at Inobitek was a lifeline for me, which I gladly jumped into. A couple of days later I received an invitation for an interview. Happiness knew no bounds! Despite the fact that this was not the first interview in general, but, it was the first for the specialty that I wanted.
And now, that day has come. As I remember now, it was a sunny March day, the office was warm, spacious and comfortable. The excitement was present, but in this situation the main thing is not to become isolated, to prove yourself, to answer everything honestly, not to talk a lot, but also not to play the question-answer “yes / no”, but somehow conduct a dialogue. Of course, maybe my candidacy did not even qualify for the role of a probationary trainee. I had superficial knowledge of the profession, poor English, but I showed one important quality - the desire to learn, develop, move forward. Being engaged in related topics at the institute according to my diploma and participating in competitions, I was able to connect a few words on the topics discussed. They wanted to take me to the department for the development of software for devices and systems for their implementation in the medical information system. It remained for me, by and large, to finish my studies for a year, but in fact it was four months of classes with a visit to the university, then the summer session and the last six months - this is diploma design (there are no classes, you can visit the university by agreement with the head of the diploma). So I was offered:Come to the part-time and with a trial period, and then we'll see". And I agreed!
Combine work and study? Easily!
Next will be the most important part of the article, which will dispel the myth: “Combining work and study? Easily!". Only those who have not tried or chose one thing as a priority will say so: either study or work. If you want to study well and at the same time not be “stupid” at work, then you will have to work hard and make an effort. You make a schedule for yourself: when you should be at school, when at work, because not all teachers will appreciate the fact that you have already got a job and do not have the opportunity to attend their classes. Balance is important here, classes should be skipped, provided that you are sure that the problems will not be critical. There were times when he didn’t miss a single class during the week, but he stayed up late at work to work off his hours. This is the best motivation so much that consciousness changes.
But it also happened the other way around: the teachers, having learned that you were working, respected it. They gave additional tasks, allowed me not to attend all classes, and even warned me when to show up. I was in this rhythm for six months.
Then the last stage began - graduation design. Everything was much simpler here: you agree with the head of the diploma that you will go to him, for example, on Saturdays. At work, at that moment, I had already switched to a full-time position. And you actually get six days. But, this is a loud statement, on Saturday you just need to come and talk about successes and failures, and not sit and puff for 8 hours. Although it also happened that they sat and puffed there, but this is closer to passing the diploma, when the deadlines are burning. A diploma, by the way, if you are already working, writing is even more convenient - there is someone to ask for advice, because I chose a topic close to what I did at work, so as not to waste time.
And now a year has passed since the diploma was received. The life stage was passed on “Excellent”, and this is the mark I received on the defense. In the next article, I want to talk about my first technical task, which started my career at Inobitek!
Source: habr.com