An extremely detailed and well written article about exactly what the title says. My biggest take-aways:
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“Only make a decision when you have at least three offers in hand.” Don’t put yourself in a position where you’re desperate for any job that comes up. Waiting until you have multiple offers can also allow for some negotiation of the offer.
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Use a system, such as CRM software (Highrise is a good option – it’s free for up to 2 users and 250 contacts!), to organize leads and help you follow up as you progress in the application process.
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Use rejection as an opportunity to learn how to improve your future applications.
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Be honest with the technical skills that you highlight in your covering letter and cv. Don’t pad your list with libraries and frameworks that you used once a while ago. This will just hurt you.
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Technical challenges can be, well, challenging. Not being able to complete one may not mean the end of the line in the interview, and how you handle not being able to complete one definitely matters. Even if you blow it, technical challenges are a good learning experiences for the future in removing unknown unknowns.
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Getting work gets easier the longer you have had work.