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Ask HN: What are effective ways to apply for coding jobs with a STEM degree?
1 point by Karsteski on Jan 28, 2021 | hide | past | favorite | 2 comments
For example, I'm currently a Chemist and I've learnt a decent amount of C++, Python and SQL, certainly enough to apply my knowledge. I have a few projects under my belt in C++ and Python, and an application that improved my current workplace's efficiency.

There seems to be very few Junior Developer Jobs in Ontario, Canada... Currently I'm trying to email/PM people involved at the places I'm applying. Is this enough?

Has anyone else gone through this process, and are there ways to improve this kind of job search?



No. Your skill set as described is not even 'junior' level. Doing a project and doing production code are vastly different eg. "I know my way around my highschool's chem lab." vs "I did a year product development with 3M"

Pro-tip: join a start-up for two years

Why: Higher odds you can get in the door with your current CV. You will learn to code in _production_ under pressure with rapidly changing goals and timelines. Furthermore out of necessity the start-up you will have you working at things that in a large company are reserved for more experienced devs. The pay-off is that your CV will be much more attractive and your skills will ramp up much faster. Downside: you might have to settle for a slightly below market salary. Poss. upside: if you're lucky your an early hire in an amazingly successful company.

How do I know: Been there, done that in ... Ontario.


Thanks for the reality check, that's a good point about project vs production level coding... I will focus my attention more on startups :)




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