After 2 years of applying for jobs and not getting any, I'm beyond tired of hearing employers complain to me and ask: "You have a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, you should be able to find a job without breaking a sweat".

Excuse me? In what world do you live in? Are you not aware that we have been living in an academically oversaturated market for more than two decades now? Nowadays you need a degree, plus a heavy portfolio plus crazy interest in the field (to an obsessive degree) because the competition is fierce.

It's not my fault I don't get jobs. It's always some "no fit", "not enough experience" bullshit.

Sigh.. seriously.

It could be location. I’m sure you got the skills, but location makes a big difference

@TeachMeCode Yet another factor in the array of factors.. lol. I'm also 'too introverted' apparently.

Out of curiosity, which country is it

Maybe you should consider freelance

Country?

Learn some ancient shit, that old companies in your area still need but nobody is interested in today.

Whether that is Cobol or something else depends on where you are and whether you want to move.

The country would be really interesting

@Oktokolo this!!!! Learn powerbuilder, Fox networks will hirer you ahah

Honestly if it’s been 2 years abd you’ve been legitimately trying you need to:

• increase your portfolio
And/or
• interview better.

No offense, but after 2 years if you can’t get a job in programming which is very high demand tbh. The problem is you not the market.

I can help if you want. How’s your resume look? What langaugars are you going for? Any portfolio?

@champion01 yeah lacking a good github can hurt big time, even if you are good bc people need to know what you can do

@TeachMeCode I agree. Tbh my GitHub is pretty empty, I keep all my code on private repos. I have a TON of code on private repos and just host the code on my own servers then provide a link to the servers.

The key is to provider enough code or a cool project to get the conversation started. That’s how you get the first interview.

Lots of developers can code. Show the hiring manager why your “the best” and valuable

@champion01 exactly. Where it’s hosted isn’t relevant, it’s the actual code itself that counts. There’s no better way to show off your skills than this

@TeachMeCode 100% agree. It could even be “boiler plate clean architecture” code where you show off clean design patterns.

You just have to give the hiring manager confidence that your not going to drag down the team and be an asset rather than a liability.

Even making a simple website like Angular Hero’s or something shows value. Or write a few blog posts with corresponding code examples. Anything really

As others have said, massively depends on location. In London there's a whole bunch of grad programs and entry level jobs up for grabs pretty constantly. If you're not getting anywhere there, something's very wrong. London's not alone in that either - that's the case for a whole bunch of places. While a portfolio of stuff to show yourself off a bit is nice, it's far from essential. Most places won't even look at it.

That being said, where I *have* seen this is grads applying with a terrible CV that just goes in the bin, applying for jobs way above their station, *really* sucking at the interview process, etc. - and because most companies deliberately give vague, unhelpful feedback it can be a *long* time before some people realise the issue is with something they're doing. If you've got a couple of more experienced people you know then show them your CV, get them to give you practice interviews etc. - it all helps tremendously.

After 2 years of hitting on chicks and not getting any...

Sounds like you need to up your game.

My biggest issue throughout my entire career when it comes to getting a job was always those fucking recruiters rejecting me due to lacking years of work experience in something modern, when in reality this modern crap is easy enough to learn and doesn’t take years of experience unless you’re a slow learner (and I’m sure most devs have a high enough iq to learn things quickly). Usually once I get past them it’s a much easier time, at least for me.

But do you know kubernetes? Lol

@Devnergy kubernetes? Is this a forgotten Greek god?

I mean, I don't have a degree and I've been doing fine for 6+ years...

Sorry but with current job market if you can't find a job in 2 weeks, it is your fault.

@WildOrangutan Not skilled enough for that yet.

@Oktokolo I've been suggested that route and that's definitely not the route I want to go to. I wish to work with bleeding-edge technology.

@champion01 (reply part 1) My resume is a bunch of short-duration engagements that make me look unstable (not really because I got fired everywhere for unfair reasons and toxic corporate, as well as for being honest, speaking my mind and appointing the truth where need be). Mostly back-end, a tiny bit front-end, though my dream is to work in front-end, for which I don't have enough experience.

I'm going for:
- ReactJS / Vue.js / insert-modern-front-end-framework-here

Portfolio:
- A dead github account I haven't had the time to develop in. Last project finished was 6 years ago.

My latest interviewers told me that my problem is selling myself. They said that I present myself in this intensely negative way, that I don't highlight any of my valuable talents and I just make myself look like my career is one big depressive disappointment (which it is, but..).

@champion01 (reply part 2) I was told employers don't care about the negative so much, as they care much about the positive.
When I get asked about my reasons for leaving said companies, I always start to ramble and I don't give employers a clear image of my experience and abilities, so they just end up ditching me.

@TeachMeCode On the upside, my GitHub portfolio got me a job a few years ago.

@champion01 That's the problem, I'm not 'the best'. I haven't had time to develop myself as 'the best'. I'm currently a jack of all trades.

My traits are: being the Sherlock Holmes of seeking details (which pretty much the majority of people aren't), patient, disciplined, inquisitive..

@TeachMeCode Hahah.. that has been my problem too.

@Devnergy No, lol. I have heard of it.

@korengali And I have two degrees. The irony.

@PAKA What kind of logic is that? Most employers take 1-2 weeks to give feedback..

@CaptainRant 24h to respond to application, HR interview and automated test/coding challenge in 3 days, interview with manager in a week and you either get offer in 2-3 days or never hear from them again.

I get on average 1 offer for every 5 applications, longest it ever took was 3 weeks, from sending application to signing contract. I swap jobs on 1-1.5 year basis, on my 6th right now.

@PAKA I never get past the test/coding challenge because I'm not good at coding.

Do not know what is going on in your specific situation/location, but where I am at "not a good fit" and "not enough experience" are just placeholders.

They are most commonly applied when the candidate failed for some specific reason. This reason is sometimes, albeit rarely, proficiency in their field and most commonly social shortcomings. Often the candidate didn't want to open up, seemed rude, didn't show interest, etc. etc.

This is likely to depend highly on culture at your location though, but since selling yourself is almost in a 100% of cases more important in an interview than some impressive tech portfolio it is still worth mentioning.

@Maer Well put.

Hm.. I wasn't immediately aware that those were placeholders but lately I see those excuses being used more and more.

I find myself often lacking in social skills (though not always), I rarely open up, I often seem rude and arrogant (even if I don't mean to be) and when I do have interest, they don't want me.

People have remarked that I am very poor at selling myself indeed. I focus on the negative parts and I barely say a word about the positive, while it has to be the other way around.
I always thought: this is what I studied for, they want an expert.. but yeah, often, the social aspect is also important - not that I didn't learn social skills in college, I did - in fact, it was one of the courses I got a high grade in (an A).

I still have to perfect my interview process.

@CaptainRant

For what it's worth - you can train these things. It's not crazy arcane knowledge only available to the chosen few, it's only that some people are naturally really good at it. You probably won't be a prodigy at socializing, but convincing people of yourself can be learned - view it as a skill to be acquired, just as with learning a programming language or framework.

With regard to those phrases - I got this info myself not that long ago from acquaintances in HR and have since seen confirmation on SE:Workplace too. The idea is, there is nothing more to gain, because a decision was made - explaining it to you is of no value to the company and providing individualized reasons may open up to legal liability if any of those reasons happens to be problematic.

I missed a third option though in my last post. These phrases are also common when you were good, but another candidate was better. Again, default statements to avoid legal issues.

@Maer I'll work on it.

I also found that recruiters nowadays take FBI lie-detection courses to screen candidates off their lying. It can feel really attacking when an HR person is attacking you and is accusing you of lying.

Many other tricks up the HR sleeves these days..