There are few staples in getting a job in the IT sector. I will try to generalize to anyone who will be looking for employment in IT, regardless of the course they follow, whether it is in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or something of both, and whether they're from a state or private institute, looking for permanent employment or internship etc.
Rule #1 : Know what you want!
A lot of people, I have known, including myself at one point, are looking 'for a place to work'. At the end of the day, this is of course what it boils down to. But it is important to know what you want to do, at least to some extent. For instance, if you say 'I want to be a software engineer, I'll settle for anything in that area', it is the same as saying 'I want to be a sportsman, I'll take any sport that will take me into a team'.
IT has a very broad spectrum, all of which are more or less equally important. There is software development and process management aspects involved, pure and theoretical computer science thingies involved, management, academics, research and development and a whole lot of other things... So it helps to narrow down where you want to go in this.
The next thing is, to narrow down to a specific area. There is networking, there is the web, there is data analytics and there is project management, quality assurance, human computer interaction, mechatronics, hardware stuff etc. At least, have an idea what all of these are to some extent, and obtain the ability to know which is which.
So before you apply to an organization, you must be able to understand which of these interests you, and drives you, and makes you 'want' to work there.
Rule #2 : Research research research!!!
A very popular, and often confusing question, as I have experienced and heard from others, in selection interviews is "so, why do you want to work with us?". To answer this, you must know at least something that the company is doing. Basic things to look for are ;
- The products / services delivered by the company
- The technologies they use
- Clients of that company and why they prefer this company's products/services
- Bonus points for : the corporate culture of the organization...
You don't need a full understanding, and I don't think it's fair if the selectors expect you to fully understand all of the company before hiring you, but you must have the good sense to know what you're getting into.
Rule #3 : Practice for interviews !
This is a very straightforward thing that we all seem to miss. We try to walk into an interview and hope for the best. But you must know that there is a million of sample interview questions and collections of them out there, and the chances are, the questions are coming out of a pretty limited lot of them. There is a collection of about 100-200 questions out of which about 20 will be asked from you in an interview (the longest ones, that I have faced...).
One word for those trying to find these questions. GOOGLE!
Rule #4 : Communicate, properly!
The conception in Sri Lanka is that to be able to face an interview well, you must know English well. What I know, to be true, is that having a good command of English does not ensure your answers are good, and broken English doesn't mean the answers are bad! The only thing you may need to work on, is the phrasing. There may be questions out there, that are quite simple, but you cannot put to words. Which causes you to panic in an interview. To avoid this, following Rule #3 is a pretty good approach!
Practice with a friend. I did this with multiple friends and helped out multiple friends by asking sample questions from them. Work on your answers later. For the sake of your employment, practice!
Rule #5 : Get your shit straight!
This is one point that I messed up, big time! And hence I know the importance of this. Please have a good understanding of what you're saying, or don't say it at all.
For instance, always have an in-depth understanding of any project that you are referring to in your applications. And if you think that the question they ask is not something you encountered in that project, don't give an half-assed answer for the sake of completeness.
Rule #6 : Don't panic!
Interviews, are not trying to measure all of your capabilities in that limited time. One of the interviewers, I faced told me that "You've been an intern here, and you've gone through four years of college, so I'm going to assume you know how to write a simple piece of code...". Likewise, the interviews are not the only thing that go into your selection. In some companies that I applied for, they took some serious referrals from referees in the CV and some looked into previous project and work. So the chances are, if you do not completely mess up the interview, you will get what's coming to you.
Rule #7 : " Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you... "
Rejection is natural, and dealing with it is one of the biggest ego-busters I've faced, and I am thankful for that. What is important is you give your maximum in the selection process, and not back down mid way. What will happen, will happen.
