How a junior developer gets a first job

Summary

Episode 21 of DevCast is about how a junior developer finds a job. The guests are Ines Ivanova, a Python developer and trainer at SoftUni and Software Academy who runs the YouTube channel Code with Finesse, and Ivaylo Kenov of SoftUni; the hosts are Georgi Ivanov, Boris Simandov and Rossen Genchev. Genchev started the conversation: at least five people he did not know had called him through Dev.bg, saying they knew everything and nobody called them back. The academies sell their graduates as ready specialists, he says, and companies give too little feedback.

His sad truth, to be written in capital letters: the industry does not need juniors. A junior takes at least six months of a mid-level or senior engineer's time and can leave at any moment; a company needs a senior who earns his salary after a week. He has always argued for investing in juniors anyway, and wants the academies to lower expectations: the hard part starts after the diploma. His advice is extra effort: given the task “make a chat”, do not stop at npm install Socket.IO; style it, dockerize it. He worries about an addiction to ready-made solutions: people who talk about microservices and do not know what a mutex is.

On interviews: work on soft skills, because people are often hired not for being better but because the team feels they fit; be on time, not in muddy shoes; and when you do not know something, say so. The only interview he ever failed was the one where he claimed to know what a smart pointer was. When you submit a task, add a text file with the time each part took. Once hired, going to other interviews is a red flag: hiring is a commitment in both directions. The others add that side projects are work experience and belong on the CV, that juniors are hard to onboard remotely, and that it comes down to proactivity.

Key moments

1. 08:39Why he started the conversation: at least five strangers called him through Dev.bg, rejected with no feedback.
2. 09:48The sad truth, in capital letters: the industry does not need juniors.
3. 12:33Extra effort: given “make a chat”, style it and dockerize it instead of stopping at Socket.IO.
4. 21:04A candidate rejected without feedback, whose CV left out the projects he had built.
5. 36:12Still going to interviews after being hired is a red flag: hiring is a commitment in both directions.
6. 49:10An addiction to ready-made solutions: microservices, and no idea what a mutex is.
7. 1:19:12Boris Simandov: juniors are hard to onboard when everyone is remote.
8. 1:30:49Soft skills: people are often hired because the team feels they fit.
9. 1:32:32Say “I don't know”: the only interview he failed was over a smart pointer.
10. 1:48:57With a test task, send a text file with the time each part took.