Thinking of changing it up? Make sure to use our handy checklist and kickstart 2019 by learning to engineer your career.
It may well be cold and January, but that doesn’t mean that you aren’t entitled to a fresh start. Perhaps you’ve been in your current role for a year or even longer, and you’re now feeling ready to fix up, look sharp and find something new. It’s time to engineer your career, and we’re going to show you how to do it.
As someone who falls into the ‘technical talent’ category, you’re well aware that you’re high in demand. Let’s face it. You probably get messaged via LinkedIn at least fifty times a week, with recruitment agencies trying to lead you a merry dance not dissimilar to that of the pied piper. These folklore messages are filled with promises, little twinkling gems that describe the ‘perfect’ role for you. Unfortunately, these messages have become tainted. Just like the pied piper, you can’t trust them, nevermind the people who send them through. It’s always the same kind of thing, the whole, ‘oh you know JavaScript? Great, I’ve got a fantastic Java engineer role that sounds right for you’… sigh.
But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t switch roles. January is a time for positive change and your focus should be more about doing what you love and less about staying still because it’s easier. Don’t fret, help is at hand and in the form of our checklist. Here are some useful tips to help you engineer your career:
Make sure your CV is up-to-date
Although we believe in skills, not CVs, it’s really important to have all of your career documentation up-to-date. Keep your accomplishments clear and concise, taking time to ensure that they are easy to read. First impressions are everything and it’s vital to make yourself shine. Alternatively, why not sign up to hackajob? We look at more than you just your CV and help you to showcase your skills via our platform. Plus, we’re trusted by over 1,000 companies including Apple, Argos and Skyscanner.
Past projects will help you in the present
As long as they are updated. Be sure to comb through your Github, Gitlab and any other repositories you have and if anything needs to be tidied up, just do it. Preparation is key and by going back over your past projects, you’ll also be more familiar with them in the present, which will only help you in the long run. When creating a hackajob profile, you can add in any past projects and will then be able to try our custom-built challenges in order to showcase your best attributes and engineering skills.
Prepare an ‘about you’
It’s always worth having a bio about your experience and learning it by heart. Whether you call it a personal mission statement or an umbrella pitch, your bio is your USP. It should feature on your CV and LinkedIn and must also be included as part of your cover letter.
Practise makes perfect
It’s key to practice for interviews. We’re not talking about chatting to yourself in the mirror, but instead doing your research about the company you’re interviewing for and memorising a few key facts. Look out for interesting tidbits about what the company has been doing recently, and make sure to pepper these into your interview itself.
At hackajob, we do technical recruitment differently. There are no recruiters and instead, our dedicated talent team will guide you through the process. If you’re not sure where to start, why not take a look at our salary calculator? It’ll show you exactly the range your next salary should be, dependant on your skillset and how many years of experience you have under your belt.
So why not go for it, reach for the career that you’ve always wanted and finally feel pushed and energised in a role that suits you. Forget about your background, forget about your grades and forget about your CV. If you’ve got the skills to pay the bills then we’ll help you get there andengineer your future career. After all, you deserve to get a job that truly ‘gets’ you.
