A couple of months ago, I was looking for a job as a PHP developer. I mentioned this earlier in the pre-employment skills assessment test task article. While looking for a job this time and last time, I studied articles on this topic. I worked out for myself several steps that will help you find a job faster, considering as many options as possible and considering all the necessary points.
This article will consist of 5 steps on how a PHP developer finds a remote job (in fact, it will also be helpful to other developers).
Write a great Resume
Before you start looking for a job, you must write your resume competently. There are many articles on the Internet about how to write your resume better, so I will not write about it in detail. I will only note 2 main things that I consider the most important:
- The resume should not be too extensive and not too small (1-2 sheets will be great);
- It should contain all the main sections that employers are usually interested in: your name, contacts, education, work experience, technical skills, and personal qualities.
When your resume is ready, you can proceed to the next step and start sending it to employers.
Adding a resume to services and sending it to employers
After writing a resume, your next goal is to establish the maximum number of contacts with companies of interest to you. Therefore, at this stage, it is best to proceed as follows:
- Make a list of the companies you are most interested in, go to their website, and if they are looking for a specialist in your profile, then send them a resume. If they do not have open vacancies in your specialization, you can still send your resume to their recruiter, and in case the vacancy appears later, they will be able to contact you.
- Register in job search services and start responding to vacancies you are interested in. The largest such service is, perhaps, LinkedIn, where you can apply to both local and vacancies from other countries. Also, each country has its own local services (you probably know about services in your country better than me).
An important point is to respond to the most exciting vacancies first and then to less interesting ones.
For every company you want to go to work for, it is best first to search the Glassdoor website. There are collected reviews from employees of various companies, and sometimes, after reading them, you can even change your mind about going to work in some company.
Thus, the result of this step should be a stream of interested employers who write to you by email or call you and are ready to schedule an interview for you.
Scheduling interviews
Once you start getting your first calls from employers, it's time to create an interview schedule. You can start doing it in a regular notebook or use Excel.
You will need to break down all interviews by day and write down the time of the interview, the company, and the place where you wrote off with its representative (for example, email or WhatsApp; this is necessary to find their messages quickly). Since now 99% of programmers' interviews take place online, the place where you wrote off with recruiters is also needed to find a link to enter Zoom or Skype quickly.
Tips for scheduling interviews:
- Leave at least 2 hours between interviews, so you will have time to prepare for each interview and rest a little, even if some of the interviews drag on;
- Do not appoint more than 4 interviews per day. Even 4 already takes away enough strength and energy, and a more significant amount can generally can lead to burnout and fatigue.
Passing interviews
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, almost 100% of interviews for PHP developers (and others) are online. This allows you to go through a relatively large number of interviews quickly.
Interview Tips for Developers:
- If you are a good specialist with extensive experience, then you can quickly answer any practical question, but the theory often does not hurt to repeat, even in this case;
- If you cannot answer a question at the interview, make a note to yourself. After the interview, sort it out, and then at the subsequent interviews, you will have already answered it;
- At the interview, try to answer only strictly on the topic of the question, without leaving the topic;
- If you don't know the answer to a question, try to speculate, not just keep silent. Sometimes, even your train of thought can make it clear to the interviewer that you understand the topic and will definitely find the answer if you come across a similar question at work;
- Before passing the interview, be sure to prepare questions about the company, working conditions, team, technologies used, and others. Ask these questions in the allotted time (best at the end of the interview or when the recruiter asks about them).
After completing each interview, be sure to make a short note of how you felt about the interview and mark the recruiter's responses to your questions. These notes will help you in the future when choosing a job offer.
Choosing the right job offer
When you start getting job offers from different companies, do not rush to accept the first one.
Tips for choosing job offers:
- Ask the employer for a couple of days to make a decision. This will give you time to think over the offer well and, possibly, during this time, get a more attractive offer from another company;
- Review your post-interview notes for each company. On their basis, choose the most exciting job offer for you;
- In case of refusal, be sure to write about it so as not to leave the offer unanswered. It's just cultural and might also allow you to return to it if you change your mind.
After reading this article, I hope you will be responsibly approaching your remote job search, and any developer will find the remote job you deserve. Next, be ready to develop good boss-employee relationship in your new job.