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In this talk, Abbey Perini enthusiastically shares her tips for showcasing your strengths for the job search as a software developer.

How to Promote Yourself to Potential Employers – Abbey Perini – Virtual Coffee Brownbag

How to Practice Confidence

  • collect wins
  • set goals (beware the productivity trap)
  • mantras
  • building things (no coding)
  • vision boards
  • find a support network (helpful: other people that are also going through a similar experience)
  • rest & recuperate

How to Apply Your New Confidence

  • practice “self-promotion”: it feels icky at first!
  • what are your top 3 skills? practice telling others about them!
  • no one ever matches the job description 100%!
  • requirements: if you meet at least one of them, you are normally qualified enough to apply
  • search for keywords that you meet: tech stack, job description, etc.
  • use those keywords for the cover letter/resume
  • for prior job experience in a non-tech role: your experience applies, especially soft skills
  • previous job experience shows that you are reliable, you are employable
  • if you are stay-at-home-parent or have other gaps in your resume, come up with your story about the gap and practice it (note: watch this part of the YouTube video for great tips!)

Interview Questions

  • “Tell us a little about yourself”
  • “Tell us about a difficult project you worked on and how you handled it.”
  • “Tell me about [X] project from your resume.”
  • for career transitioners: practice to describe your learning process
  • re-frame your doubts: you can always find reasons to discount your experience, but is that true? You have skills!

Other Tips

  • networking
  • online presence
  • share your learnings, share that you’re on a job search, share the cool thing that you made (loose the caveats)
  • references