Beginner 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 could be useful for the IT community, and finally I found something to share. Experience! It is he who distinguishes me from my same year and not only, because in my 23 I have 4 years of experience in the field of IT. Was it helpful? Yes, it is an experience. What was he like? Everything is under the cut.

This publication will be interesting, first of all, for novice IT specialists (I do not divide into narrower specializations, I want to summarize) and, I hope, will serve as some kind of motivation to realize the essence of being your true goals and how 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.

Anyone who knows how to learn not only from their mistakes, I ask for cat.

Stage 0. Preparation

First of all I will tell a little about myself for a more complete understanding of the overall picture. After graduating from the technical school (specialty “Service of computer systems and networks”), there was a choice of a further way: full-time at the institute or “zaochka” and work. Due to the fact that I was pretty tired to wipe my pants on pairs (not all objects are of interest) and I wanted some kind of freedom and maturity, the choice fell on the second option. Therefore, when my fellow students enjoyed the spring and long terms for a thesis, I “pored over the diploma”. This yielded the following fruits:
a) I got invaluable experience (because I took not the first topic I got from the list of the diploma supervisor, but offered my own and made it not for a “tick”, but practically implemented it on the prototype);
b) I won the time to find a job because I started this process at a time when most graduates smelled the fast deadline and sat down for their diplomas. It's easier to get an interview, while a wave of graduates has not yet begun to storm employers.
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Go ahead and learn
Why is this important before the first employment? Yes, because it will be a huge plus in the competitive struggle for work. And if the competitors are the same graduates as you, this can be a factor in deciding in your favor. Compare yourself: a graduate with good grades, but without practice and any practical skills (even for yourself, to try) or you are the one who tried a lot, stumbled, but studied (and that means a lot). I think even a comparative 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 has studied like everyone else, and who knew what he needed and moved in that direction.

Stage 1. Job search.

The devil in the little things

This stage will have to be divided into 3 sub-steps in an attempt to fully address these issues.

Stage 1.1. Summary

There are a lot of sites with examples, descriptions and recommendations. They give and psychologists, and HR-managers, and all and sundry. But how to write a resume when you have nothing to write in work experience? Many of my friends began to sculpt there everything that could somehow fill the resume. Did you use Photoshop to remove red eye? Add information about the ownership of this tool. Did the blueprints for coursework in AutoCAD? His here.

Show in the resume in the first place those parties that are necessary for a particular job.

It is not very convenient to edit each time a resume before sending it, but take a look at it from the point of view of the employer: he may not notice the necessary features among the extra information or not read it at all.

Also in the resume you need to reflect ALL your experience for this job (let it be some project that did not work or you abandoned halfway, but it was). You will be able to discuss it, talk about the work done, the 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: the applicant and the employer. Will you send a resume if you are not fully compliant with the requirements? The employer says no. I say yes! And that's why:
a) Requirements are sometimes written by HR managers. And when they are looking for a specialist, they can copy from another vacancy, not understanding what it means;
b) Some requirements may be indirect. Those. a mismatch does not hurt them to hire you;
c) There are situations when the applicant needs an employee “for yesterday” (and it happens). Then you can take 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 at the interview, but then "What if" (c) does not occur?).

Stage 1.2. Job selection

The main thing - choose what you like for you. No need to choose according to prestige, the advice of friends and other criteria that are not relevant to your desires. 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. She 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 a specialist with skills that are not needed by anyone.

Stage 1.3. Job interviews

I have studied many articles on this subject (and I advise you to do this) and even conducted interviews myself, so I can cite some “squeeze” of rules that will help pass it more effectively:
a) Do not worry. Many now thought, “Aha, they also say not to worry at the exam, but it doesn’t work!” A need. Coherent and consistent speech always has to the applicant;
b) Get ready for an interview. And this applies not only to appearance. You should “rehearse” the story about what you already know and know how to tell about it in detail. Better even with the description of the problems encountered during the 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 go 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 “hammered” on the theory, thinking that the main thing is to quickly understand if there is a problem. The employer often does not think so. And in some situations he is right. If you have no experience - you can only know the theory. And you should know her.

Stage 2. Work

With the happy position of the stars the correct implementation of the previous stages, 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 job duties, because this varies greatly by team / management.

But there are "reinforced concrete" advice how NOT to do, working everywhere:
a) Do not shirk from work. Nobody likes such people. The work must be regarded as an experience you do not have at the moment;
b) Do your job well. It would seem commonplace, but no. There are people who, because of ignorance or because of laziness, instead of the correct solution of the problem, “mold crutches”. Do not be so (c). Nobody likes to redo others. Just as no one likes it, when a banal problem is solved for a long time by reworking its own “crutches”;
c) If you still have free time - do not waste it on social networks, games and listening to music. It may sound rude: you are nobody. And it depends only on you whether you will become someone or will be a specialist of the “most middle managers”. Study constantly , whether it is some information about the company's internal services that relate to your job duties 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 put off learning. "Then" may not come. As it happened with me: he worked, he didn’t blow and played in his spare time, glad that everything worked, everyone was trained to perform a routine. And then - bam! Liquidation of the company, bankrupt. What are we going to look for work with? With the experience of the game in recent months instead of useful knowledge. Not the best baggage.
d) Take the initiative. This can contribute to both expanding your experience and moving up the career ladder. Study the work of other services, all of a sudden you will find a more suitable and interesting place for yourself in the process. Remember that you have not yet formed as a specialist and can try to find yourself in a different, related direction. But this in no way means that you need to "rush" 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 is enough. If someone has any 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 in order to give advice here,” I will briefly describe my work experience. First job: first, a leading specialist of 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, the head of the department supporting the IT infrastructure of the entire bank - and so for 3 years. And these are not connections and acquaintances, 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 insuperable circumstances, I had to change jobs and now for half a year I have been working in a system integrator, where, in fact, I learned that experience can be useless, a theory is needed, but this is a completely different story (s).

UPD: I advise all beginners to Simulator for a system administrator or how to surpass their former fellow students at an interview