How to make sure you have enough experience for that dream job
Many times, candidates have years of experience in the industry, and on paper, they look like a good fit, but after drilling down it becomes obvious it’s simply not enough. There are a few ways to be in that place:
- They had a “bad school” first position in the industry. In my professional circle, we call workplaces that don’t have particularly high standards bad schools because they teach you to aim low and care little about personal growth. When you “graduate” from those, you exit the same person you entered, and your knowledge and expertise don’t fit the number of years on your resumé.
- They knew their place of work was not good for their growth and career but weren’t quick enough to leave. Quitting is scary, I get it.
- They mostly worked without anyone more experienced to learn from.
- They mostly worked without having their code reviewed or getting feedback.
- Legitimately being a bad fit for this position. That doesn’t mean they can’t do well in other positions, or in other companies.
The third option is not something you can “fix”, the job you’re interviewing for has to match your current skill set and the path you took.
But how do you recover from these so-called bad schools or from staying too long in a place that didn’t advance your path?
Glad you asked. I’ve heard candidates say, after a disappointing technical interview, they now realize they “learned it the wrong way” because they lacked a deep understanding of why things were this way or that way. That is not a terminal illness, and its cure is learning yourself what your previous jobs didn’t teach you. Find the things that interest you — it’s OK if some areas are less interesting to you than others. No one knows everything.
Keep learning and evolving. Seek knowledge. Make your own projects just for the sake of learning something new. The context here is engineering but it applies to most industries: what matters most for you to evolve is what you’ve learned.
If it sounds obvious, it’s only because it is. And yet some obvious things need to be said. To companies, you are a combination of your natural qualities and the things you accomplished, and they compare it against a wishlist of qualities and accomplishments. One company’s wishlist doesn’t have to be the same as another’s.
Keep pushing for that dream job. If you’re not there yet, it’s only because there’s some distance to walk until you do.
