Zachary Lopez

Job Hunt is Over / What I learned

And just like that, the job hunt is over. I am excited to announce that I’ve accepted a software engineering position with Fivestars. I am absolutely thrilled and think it will be a great match for both the company and myself.

Here are the things that I have learned through the job hunt process. Hopefully, this is helpful for those of your going through it or heading into it.

It takes effort

The job search requires effort. You have to put in the work to get the results. Jobs don’t apply for themselves. In some ways, the whole process is about numbers. The more jobs you apply for, the more phone screens you will get, which leads to more on-sites, which hopefully leads to offers.

Ulitmately, you want options so that you can be selective and choose a company or role that is the best fit.

The people and culture matter

I have always cared about who I work with and what the culture is like. I have explained it to others as the following:

We spend most of our waking life at work, let’s make sure our work environment is as enjoyable as possible.

In the context of a job search, this means finding a great group of people to work with. Every time you go on a job search, you have the ability to find people that you want to work with. This goes back to my first point about giving yourself options.

Interviews go both ways

Interviews are about companies finding out about you. More importantly, however, interviews are a chance for you to interview the company. I generally think this is the more important aspect of the interview.

This mindset also alleviates some nerves as I have a goal and I am focused on trying to get answers to my questions. Interview guides will tell you to ask questions to show that you are interested in the company. While this is true, I think this isn’t about showing interest, you should genuinely be interested in getting informtion to answer this question for yourself:

Do I see myself working here?

How does this fit with my career path?

When considering different companies, think about how it fits into your career path. Where is it that you want to ultimately go? What are you goals for learning? Will this company help you get there?

These are the tips and questions that I have used to guide my job hunts over the years. Feel free to ask questions or leave your own tips below.

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