Tiaras and Tech

How to Get Your First Job in Tech

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In this of the Tiaras and Tech podcast, Shelley Benhoff talks about how to get your first job in tech. Shelley is a Business Owner, Author, and Professional Speaker. She is also a Sitecore Technology MVP with experience as a Lead Developer for many years.  

Intro  

Hello Gems! My name is Shelley Benhoff and welcome to another episode of Tiaras and Tech. Today’s topic is How to get your first job in tech. I thought I would share some stories of how I got started but since that was 20 years ago, I’ll give you an updated list of how you can find your first job.  

Tiaras and Tech 04 How To Get Your First Job in Tech 

  • Have references - I used my professors since I didn’t have anyone else or relevant job history 
  • Doesn’t matter if you don’t have all the qualifications - Managers get maybe 30-50% of the skills they ask for 
  • Shouldn’t matter if you do not have a degree 
  • Use job boards: indeed.com, Dice.com 
  • Go to companies websites in your industry/skillset and look at what jobs are available 
  • Job fairs 
  • Connect with a good recruiter - not salesy, cares about your job satisfaction, doesn't urge you to lower your price 
  • Find your target salary using http://salary.com  or similar website 
  • Never go into interviews not knowing what salary you want to target 
  • Have a GitHub and/or portfolio site. The portfolio site could include a blog 
  • Use Social Media - I got a job from Twitter! 
  • Build your professional network when you do get a job so you don't have to rely on recruiters 
  • Communities for the technology you’re pursuing (i.e. Docker and Kubernetes have slack channels you can find on their websites) 
  • User groups or communities  

    • #100daysofcode  

    @GirlsWhoCode          

    @WomenWhoCode          

    #MomsWhoCode 

    #WomenInTech         

    @BlackGirlsCode       

    #BlackTechTwitter   

    r/girlsgonewired          

      

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    Tiaras and Tech is dedicated to providing inspiration for women & marginalized groups in tech. We aim to provide support, celebrate successes, & discuss how we're treated.  

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    Tiaras and Tech is a HoffsTech production. Thank you to Jason Benhoff for producing this episode!  

    Theme music by Nobuo Uematsu and Juan Medrano https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03610

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