Recorded Video for Career Mindset:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJKSY1I-7Dw

This 25 min video provides a brief summary of this week's content. For more examples and detailed explanations, please read the written content below.

Where to Start (Part 1): Understanding Yourself

Learning about your strengths, passions, and drives is an empowering journey that helps lay the foundation for a successful job search. You'll be better able to identify roles that align with your interests and skills, feel more confident during interviews, and be more likely to find a job that you genuinely enjoy.

What's with the hedgehog in this picture?? In Isaiah Berlin's essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” the world is divided into hedgehogs and foxes based upon an ancient Greek parable: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Mimic a hedgehog's nature to drive toward a Hedgehog Concept - one central, focused statement describing you — comprised of what fuels your economic success, what you are passionate about, and what you could be the best in the world at - instead of being a scattered, diffused, and inconsistent fox.

Try to figure out the intersection of what you like, what you can be good at, and that the world values. You are most likely to get hired, be valued, and love your work when you find the company(ies) that aligns most closely to those three things.

That’s why we’re spending most of this week focusing on self-reflection and getting into the right career mindset.

Why Should I Take Time to Self-Reflect Before My Job Search?

Here’s why self-reflection is a game changer:

1. Ace Interviews: Imagine going to an interview and being asked, “What are you great at?” When you know your strengths, this question won’t catch you off guard, and you can confidently speak about how you’ll bring value to the role.

2. Stand Out in Your Application: This reflection gives you the edge when writing your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile—you’ll be able to highlight what makes you stand out from the crowd!

3. Gain Clarity in Your Job Search: Do you prioritize growth opportunities, work-life balance, or being part of a team with a mission that aligns with your values? When you’re clear about what you want, you can focus your job search on roles and organizations that truly align with your vision, avoiding frustration and burnout.

4. Connect with Likeminded People: Understanding your own wants and needs better can help you connect with employers and colleagues who appreciate your passion and drive.

5. Stay Motivated: Job searching can be tough. There are rejections, interviews that don’t pan out, and long periods of waiting. Taking time to reflect on your past achievements and strengths reminds you of how far you’ve already come. It gives you the confidence to push forward, knowing you’re capable and valuable, even when the job market is competitive.

6. Save Time: Taking a little time to self-reflect before is like having a GPS for your career: you’ll know exactly where you’re going, how to get there, and what makes you the best person for the job once you arrive.

So grab a notebook, sit down, and start reflecting—your future self will thank you!

How to start reflecting? Talk!

The obvious problem with most "self-reflection" advice is that you often aren't fully aware of what you like or what you are good at. So: Talk.

Talk to your practicum team and mentors. Talk to friends. Talk to family. Talk with the people who know you best and ask them:

• What do you think my strengths are?
• What types of problems do you think I’m good at solving?
• What aspect of practicum did you feel like I was best at?

Ask yourself questions too! Things like:

• What do I enjoy doing most?
• What types of problems do I love solving?
• What non-technical aspects of my current or previous jobs did I value most?
• What aspect of practicum made me feel the most positive? Was it helping others? Solving a technical problem? Learning something new? Seeing my team grow?

After talking to people you know, talk (or listen) to people you don’t know! You can:

• Listen to podcasts (here is a list of awesome dev podcasts).
• Chat on Reddit, Twitter, or in tech Slack or Discord groups.
• Ask for your friends or family to introduce you to someone they know who’s working in tech.
• Talk to the friends of your friends.
• Talk to people at meetups and conferences; you might run into someone who can give you a referral or even hiring managers who specifically go to these events to find people like you!
• Put the fact that you are looking on your site, LinkedIn, and Twitter bio, and ask people for advice.

This isn’t only important for your own self-reflection journey – this is also the beginning of a critical skill known as networking.

Why should you network?

Have you ever heard someone say something like, “oh, I just got really lucky because my old roommate’s parent’s neighbor happened to work here, so I got an interview through them!” That’s not luck – that’s networking!

According to research, 85% of vacancies are filled via referrals. And you don’t have to be an outgoing extrovert in order to network – it’s as easy as asking your friends and family to connect you with someone that they know.

How do I network?

First, ask your friends and family members to connect you with someone working in the field you want to work with. Second, reach out to that person and ask for a casual chat about what they do, what they think of the industry, what their career path looked like, etc. These are called informational interviews (sometimes called just coffee chats).

People like to talk about themselves! Don’t ask for a job or a referral (unless they bring it up) – no one likes to feel used! If you are genuinely curious, they’ll bring it up themselves, and it will be their idea.

Once your friend or family member connects you with someone you want to do an informational interview with, you can send them an email, text, or message on LinkedIn like this:

Hi [Their Name], I'm working on pivoting into the tech field and am currently researching how to become a junior developer. [Name of the person you both know] shared that you're doing work about ___ at ___ Company, and I'm very interested in learning more. Would you be willing to have a brief conversation with me in the next couple of weeks? I'd love to ask you a few questions about your work and how you got to where you are now. If you're open to a 20-minute chat, here's a link into my calendar. I'd be very grateful for your insight: Thanks for your time, [Your Name]

Make sure you come prepared with questions and have done some research about the person and their organization! You can learn more about how to conduct a successful informational interview here.

Where to Start (Part II): Understanding Your Options

Now that you have a better understanding of your own strengths and interests, it's time to shift our focus from internal to external. What career options are out there? What are the jobs and organizations available? Is your dream job realistic or would you need to consider more education, skill-building, or experience before that can happen?

The best way to answer these questions is to job search! At this point in time, treat job searching casually - there's no need for you to apply for anything right now. You are job searching for the purpose of just seeing what's out there.

How do I start researching jobs and employers?

1. Start a LinkedIn AND Indeed account: These are two of the most popular job boards, and it will increase your exposure to different job postings. (Optional: You may also use other popular job platforms as well like Glassdoor or industry-specific websites or newsletters that post job openings.)

2. Search for roles you're interested in using different search terms. For example: "frontend developer," "fullstack associate," "React engineer," etc. Experiment with different keywords. Try making the filters more specific or less specific and see what comes up. (Tip: I personally like to start with a very vague keyword like "Javascript" and then slowly add more filters to narrow the results to <50 jobs before I start to look through them)

3. Note what job titles are coming up: Are the jobs you're most interested in using the word "developer" instead of "engineer?" Or maybe you've realized that jobs that include "entry-level" or "early career" in the title are the ones you're the best fit for.

4. Keep track of what recurring requirements come up: What skills, tools, and experiences are in high demand? Do your favorite job postings ask for you to know Python? Are almost all of the jobs asking for you to be an expert with GitHub? If you have the required skills, take note that these words should be emphasized on your resume; if you don't have these skills, start making a plan to learn them (either through YouTube, online courses, or other resources).

5. Track your findings: Use a spreadsheet or app to track your favorite job roles or companies. This will help you identify patterns, make comparisons, and stay organized.

Imposter Syndrome

There's nothing like looking at job postings to make you feel like you know absolutely nothing, don't have nearly enough experience, and may never get a job. This is completely normal, and even brilliant, experienced, talented job seekers will feel the exact same way during their job search. So if this happens to you, look back at Step 1, and remember your strengths, your perseverance, and how far you've come! And also remember that these job postings are employers searching for their "dream" candidate - they don't expect to hire someone with everything listed, and they're a LOT more flexible than you might think. You won't know unless you try!

What's Next? Putting It All Together In A Resume

At this point, you should now have completed research about yourself AND research about what jobs are out there. The last step is about connecting these two things together. Specifically, we'll discuss how to put them together in your resume first.

Move on to Step 2 to learn how to create and/or polish up your resume!