3 steps to landing your dream job in tech

The path to my new dream tech role and how can you use my tips and takeaways

Earlier this month I started my new job at one of the biggest and best technology consulting  companies on the planet. Coming from a much smaller company of about 50 people to go into an organisation of almost 700k employees was always going to be a bit of a change, but I was never one to shy away from challenge. 

In just a couple of weeks, I’ve met hundreds of new colleagues - some in a VR conference in Avatar form (!) - others at welcome work drinks, helped out on a bid for new business, visited the office (and got lost on the wrong floor!) and will be joining my first project.

I’d aspired to work at a company like this since I started my career, but back then had no idea how to get there or what I needed to do to make it happen. I could hardly believe my luck when I got the offer, however I quickly reminded myself that it takes a lot more than luck to land the job of your dreams…

As part of the ‘How to land your dream job in tech’ blog series, this post follows my own journey throughout the recruitment process and job transition, and how you can take what I learned and apply it to your own situation to ensure you can land your own dream job in tech, no matter what company you are applying for.

Ever wondered what I look like in avatar form (or with no arms)? Here you are!

Step 1: A foot in the door

Remember me saying to continue to network throughout your career even when you’re not actively job-hunting, or to never dismiss anyone, even that newbie to tech with no experience? (if you don’t, you really need to read last week’s post on how to nail networking) 

Well, mine is a perfect example of this playing out. Less than three years ago I was that newbie, wandering around a tech conference and collecting business cards like a 90’s schoolkid collecting Pokemon cards. One of the many people I met at that conference (in addition to the CEO and COO of my first employer in the tech industry) was a solution engineer that, like me, had a non-technical background and recognised the value of my transferable skills from working in sales. Although I didn’t end up working at his company, we kept in touch and he became a kind of mentor I could sporadically ask for impartial career advice.

It was after a catchup with him almost three years later - during which I’d begun to feel I’d hit my peak in my current role, and he had left his previous employer to go onto what is now my new employer - that he offered to refer me.

When I looked at roles on the company website, there didn’t seem to be anything still open that matched my skill set, but I knew better than to let that put me off. In the current tech job market, there is a constant demand for skilled talent whether the company in question is actively recruiting or not, and from my personal experience, a solid referral supporting a speculative application trumps an unaccompanied ‘cold’ CV responding to a job posting.

So don’t let the lack of advertisements put you off: if you don’t see the role for you, it’s still worth applying, especially if you have that all-important referral to back you.

Step 2: Never fear the follow up

Through the referral, he sent me a link to a role with a close skills match and the correct career level so that I was able to submit my profile. We’ll be covering how to write a killer CV in an upcoming blog post but suffice to say I made sure that it was tailored to the role description and responsibilities, kept concise whilst providing important detail, and was thoroughly checked for spelling, grammar and formatting.

Then…nothing. Weeks went by, and I began to doubt myself. Given, it was over the Christmas break and a lot of people were taking leave, but maybe I wasn’t what they were looking for after all. Maybe they wanted more experience or a more relevant degree. Had I been too over confident? Had I made an embarrassingly bad grammatical mistake on my CV?

I stayed up at night cringing at myself. 

But when I got up the next morning, I followed up. After all, I had nothing to lose.

My mentor’s nudge to HR proved to turn things around. Within a few days I had the HR interview, and within a week, the remaining stages (which were combined to expedite the hiring process and make up for lost time). 

Had I been too consumed with self-doubt, or too scared of facing rejection, my application could have been lost at the bottom of the pile and forgotten about. 

Having the determination to follow up regarding the role you applied for not only shows how much you want the job, but can also simply bring you back to the forefront of a probably extremely busy hiring manager’s mind - who has, in all likelihood, merely not had the chance to respond to your CV yet. 

Step 3: The Interview

Again, there’ll be a dedicated blog post on interview tips next month, but research beforehand is key. For the initial HR interview, the questions can be fairly predictable if you’ve done enough Googling. By the time I’d reached interviews, I had researched the company values, mission and culture and prepared answers to every potential question I could think of, including competency, situational and technical questions. 

This should be a no-brainer ahead of every interview and frankly, if you haven’t done your research and prep ahead of the interview you’re setting yourself up to fail - however, there is a trick I use which can help…

One of the best things about remote interviews is that it is possible to have your key points in a document on screen. As soon as I could sense the question being asked, a subtle ‘Ctrl +F’ would find the keyword from that question, and I had my prompts and bullet points on screen.

However, my trump card when it comes to approaching interviews is to create a presentation about yourself. If you really want something in life, make a slide deck. It may seem like a lot of extra effort - and it is - but it’s the most surefire way to prove to the interviewer that:

An example of a slide from my interview presentation back when I was transitioning into tech 3 years ago

1.  You want and you care about the job 

2.  You get to tell your story the way you want to convey yourself, including all of your best points

3. You take control of the interview, avoiding the risk of unexpected questions 

4. You will undoubtedly stand out amongst any other candidates

5. Your presentation skills, attitude and approach will be naturally demonstrated to the interviewer

Here are a few examples of slides I included in my interview presentation:

• My journey into Tech

• V2MOM (if you don’t know what this is don’t worry, we’ll cover this soon, and in the meantime here’s a introduction to it here)

• Career highlights and achievements

• Case studies of project successes and challenges

• Testimonials

Yours may vary depending on your situation, for example, if you’re new to tech, you may want to include a slide about what you expect the role to look like and how this maps with your current skills offering, or about your goals for the first 30, 60 and 90 days in the role.

Make sure you practise with a friend - you don’t want the first time presenting to be when you’re in a high stress interview situation - and time it to ensure you keep it to a length where the interviewer has time to ask their own questions. 

Admittedly, I didn’t have a chance to do this because of the quick turnaround, so ended up being cut off before I reached the end. Saying that, this was for them to tell me they were making me an offer, which is the best reason for the presentation being cut short!

Over the finish line

My new employer sent me a lovely (and sustainable) new welcome pack the week after I joined!

Now I have started in my new role, I can reflect back on important points during the process and what worked well vs. what I know for the future. However, each step has something in common - proactivity. Your dream job isn’t going to fall into your lap, especially if you don’t have a tech skills background, or if you don’t have any prior experience in a tech role . You will need to take control of the situation and your future. It will take hard work, networking, following up, research and finessing, but if I can do it, there’s no reason why you can’t.

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