Семинар "Стартиране на ИТ кариера" - http://academy.telerik.com/seminars/it-career Процесът на търсене на работа в ИТ индустрията: формиране на цели, проучване на пазара, намиране на оферти, подготовка на мотивационно писмо и CV (професионална автобиография), подготовка за интервю и явяване на интервю. Лектор: Светлин Наков, софтуерна академия на Телерик.

1. Finding a Job
in the IT Industry
Good and Bad Practices for Job Seekers
Svetlin Nakov
Technical Trainer
www.nakov.com
Telerik Software Academy
academy.telerik.com

2. Table of Contents
1. Where to Search for a Job?
 Define Your Goals
 Prepare for Starting a Job
 Search Channels: Job Sites, Career Centers, …
2. The Job Application Process
 Research the Employer
 Prepare CV, Cover Letter, Endorsements, …
 Preparation for an Interview
 Go to an Interview
2

3. The Job Search &
Application Process
Typical Steps

4. Steps in the Job Search Process
 The job search process follows these steps:
 Define your goals – what kind of job you want?
 Prepare for starting a job – increase your skills
 Research the job market
 Research the employers and offered positions
 Apply for a job
 Prepare and send your CV and cover letter
 Prepare for the interview
 Go to the Interview
4

5. Define Your Goals
 What kind of job you want?
 What position?
 In Bulgaria or abroad?
 What are the requirements for this position?
 Who are the potential employers?
 For software engineers / IT specialists:
 What technologies I want to use at work (e.g.
PHP / Java / .NET / front-end / QA / mobile / …)?
 Are my goals achievable / realistic?
5

6. The First Job is Hardest to Get!
 Starting your first job is very hard
 Start with lower goals and expectations
 Once you get experience you could easily move
to a better job / position / employer
 Companies need experienced people
 Be unpretentious!
 You don’t need a big salary at your first working
day – it will come later
 Just start working somewhere, later you could
move to a better position or company
6

7. Job Preparation
Gather Enough Skills to Match the Requirements!

8. Prepare for Starting a Job
 Once you know what position you
want, prepare yourself for it
 Do you have the required skills?
 Your university education is not enough!
 How you could increase your knowledge / skills?
 Self-study (books, tutorials, video-tutorials, …)
 Training courses (e.g. Telerik Academy)
 Practical projects – very, very important!
 What non-technical skills you need?
8

9. Prepare for Starting a Job (2)
 The everyday development of your IT skills during
your life is your preparation for finding a job
 At school – trainings, courses, practical projects
 At the university – courses, practice and projects
 Alternative education: courses, training centers, …
 Telerik Academy / School Academy, elective courses
at FMI, programming schools, training companies
 Self-education – study at home by books / videos
 Internships / real-world experience / trial jobs
 Practical projects – learn by doing and practicing
9

10. Prepare for Starting a Job (3)
 Ask yourself:
how am I different than the other
50 candidates for the same job position?
 Do I have better skills than them?
 If not, how could I improve my skills?
 Do I have any experience?
 If not, how could I gain some?
 Can I start some project to gain experience?
 Have I prepared my job application carefully?
 Do I have awards, certificates, endorsements?
10

11. Prepare for Starting a Job (4)
 Create your own developer profile
 E.g. in GitHub / CodePlex / Google Code
 Upload your projects online
 Ensure your projects look well (code quality)
 Start your own web site and blog
 Show your expertise to the world
 Ensure your site looks well
 Examples: totaloff.com, pavelkolev.com,
todormitev.wordpress.com, itgeorge.net,
veselinaraykova.wordpress.com
11

12. Where and How to
Search for a Job?
Guidelines for Job Seekers

13. Research the Job Market
 Researching the job market is important
 Research the employers
 Review the job offers from the last 3 months
 Who are the most active employers?
 Research these employers – what skills thy need?
 Research the job positions
 What are the most searched job positions?
 Did you find job offers for the position you want?
 E.g. you may want to become game developer but
does the industry need game developers?
13

14. Good Employers
 What is a good employer and how to identify it?
 The best reference are insiders in the company!
 Several insiders are even better
 Generally companies from West Europe, USA
and Canada are more reliable
 Best employers demonstrate professionalism in
all possible respects
 Carefully written job description, emails, positive
attitude in phone calls, clear expectations, etc.
 Have good reputation – positive comments in
public sites, forums, and message boards
14

15. Bad Employers
 What is a bad employer and how to identify it?
 Beware of amateur / garage companies
 "Garage company" is not a "small company"
 Beware of high employee turnover
 Beware of state / government companies and
companies working on government projects
 Beware of Greeks and Israeli employers
 Beware of companies managed by incompetent
people – you could notice this at the interview
 Beware of organizational anarchy
15

16. Employers Rankings
 Use carefully sites like www.bgrabotodatel.com
and www.karieri.bg/forum
 Traditionally most comments come from haters
 These sites can be easily tricked / manipulated!
 Employees fired due to incompetence, always put
negative comments against their former employer
 Trust more to established consulting companies
 E.g. Hewitt does a "Best Employer" ranking by
industries, every year, worldwide
 JOBS.BG's employer ranking may be a bit tricky
16

17. Top Employers in Bulgaria (2010)
Source: http://dariknews.bg/view_article.php?article_id=618009
17

18. Job Search Channels
 Job searching
in the software / IT industry runs
through many channels
 Public job Web sites
 Network of friends / colleagues
 University career centers
 Career events (job fairs)
 Recruitment agencies
 Direct contact with the employer
18

19. Public Job Sites
 Jobs sites (targeting the Bulgarian IT industry)
 www.jobs.bg
 www.jobtiger.bg  The list is not complete
and not exhaustive
 www.itjobs.bg
 Job sites constantly
 www.rabota.bg
change
 www.jobspace.bg
 Search in Google
 www.bestjobs.bg  E.g. try "работа Java
 www.orjo.com developer"
 www.buljobs.bg
19

20. You Friends Network
 Ask your friends / colleagues / fellows
 Many job offers are offered privately only
 Send email to all your friends / colleagues
 Use your contacts in Facebook
 Use all your acquaintances by any channel
 Explain them what kind of job you need and
what skills you have
 Send them your CV, portfolio, etc.
 They will spend just one click to forward it
20

21. University Career Centers
 The career centers at the universities:
 At some universities there are well-working
career centers  contact them
 Many internship and junior job positions are
offered at the universities
 Some career centers for the IT industry:
 FMI of SU – http://career.fmi.uni-sofia.bg
 TU-Sofia – http://career.tu-sofia.bg
 NBU – http://www.nbu.bg/index.php?l=264
21

22. Career Events (Job Fairs)
 Career events (job fairs)
are great place to
learn about the employers and find job offers
 How to learn about upcoming career events?
 Career centers put invitations at their Web sites
 The student's councils at each University
 NBU – www.studentskisavet.com
 TU-Sofia – www.studsavet.com
 FMI of SU – fss.fmi.uni-sofia.bg
 Largest job portals put invitations in Facebook
22

23. Recruitment Agencies
 Generally in Bulgaria
the IT recruitment
agencies (HR agencies) do not work well
 Most of them consider you as a commodity
 They want to sell you to earn money
 Your interests are usually ignored
 They will ask you start a job which you do not
want (e.g. an operator in a call center)
 Some employers use only HR agencies to hire
new employees
 This is mostly for executive positions
23

24. Recruitment Agencies in Bulgaria
 Generally the recruitment agencies are
incompetent in the IT industry
 However you can still post them a CV
 Bulwork – http://www.bulwork.net
 The most popular, but has bad reputation + unfair
attitude to applicants and employers
 Adecco Bulgaria – http://www.adeccobulgaria.com
 Manpower Bulgaria – http://wwwmanpower.bg
 Talent Hunter – http://www.talenthunter-bg.com
 ITJobs.bg (HRCR) – http://www.hrcr.bg
24

25. Directly Contact the Employers
 Sometimes best employers do not post public job
offers
 Candidates scramble to apply for them
 Usually companies with very strong reputation (like
Microsoft, Google and Facebook)
 If you want to work in such company, you need to
be the active side
 Make a list of the best employers in your industry
and find their job offers
 Be prepared to show significant achievements
25

26. The Job Application Process
How to Prepare a CV, Cover Letter and Send a Job
Application, How to Prepare and Go to Interview?

27. Job Application Steps
 Recommended steps to follow during the job
application process:
1. Research the employer
2. Research the job offer
3. Prepare CV, cover letter, endorsements,
projects, portfolio, certificates, awards, etc.
4. Carefully send you job application
5. Prepare for an interview
6. Go to interview
27

28. Read the Requirements
 Very important rule:
Read the Requirements!
 Follow the requirements exactly as requested
 If a CV in English is required this means CV in
English, not in Bulgarian
 If a cover letter is required in Bulgarian, this
means a cover letter in Bulgarian
 If the deadline is March 31st, this is not April 2nd
28

29. What Language to Use?
 In the IT industry the official language is
English
 If anyone requests a CV in Bulgarian, this may
be a suspicious garage-like company
 If the job offer does not specify a language
 Use the same language like the in job offer
 You can still use English for the IT positions
 If a cover letter is not requested, still send one
 This will make you more-serious candidate
29

30. Research the Employer
 Obligatory research the employer!
 Explore what is its business
 You should know very well what the company
does, its products, services, customers, etc.
 Research which are the company value
 What is important for the company?
 Read articles / publications about the company
 Read the forums and discussions
 Beware: forum posts are not trustworthy source
30

31. Research the Job Position
 Research carefully the job position!
 Any unknown words in the job description (e.g.
BPMN, BPEL, ARIS, BPM, SOA)?
 Learn about them, try these technologies!
 Any unknown products in the job description?
 Download the products and play with them!
 Any requirement unmatched by your skills /
competence / experience?
 Improve your skills, take a quick course / tutorial!
31

32. Prepare CV and Cover Letter
 Prepare a CV that matches the job position and
the requirements in the job description
 Start with the most important for this specific job
offer technologies / skills / experience / projects
 Carefully prepare a cover (motivation) letter
 Write it specifically for the offered position
 Never use a template
 Find endorsements from former employers,
professors, colleagues, and so on
 Prepare diplomas, certificates, awards, portfolio
32

33. Sending Your Job Application
 Send carefullyyou job application and
according to the requirements
 The email sender should be polite:
 Ivan Ivanov <ivan.k.ivanov@gmail.com>
 An example of idiotic sender:
 Asd Afds <yaka_ku4ka@abv.bg>
 Email subject should be meaningful:
 Job Application: Junior .NET Developer (Ref #481)
 Bad examples: CV, Re:, rabota, <no subject>
33

34. Sending Your Job Application (2)
 The cover letter and CV should be sent as separate
files (best in PDF format) named meaningfully:
 Ivan-Ivanov-Cover-Letter-Mobiltel.pdf
 Ivan-Ivanov-CV.pdf
 Examples of idiotic file names:
 New Document (2).docx, ivan.doc, mobiltel.doc
 Don’t attach a photo, put it inside your CV
 Don't send 8 MB photo named vankata_pich2.jpg!
 If you need to attach large files (more than 2 MB),
something is wrong  find what
34

35. Sending Your Job Application (3)
 Write a meaningful text in the email body, e.g.
Dear HR Manager,
I would like to apply for the position "Junior .NET Developer" (Ref #481) in
Mobiltel EAD published at Jobs.bg. Attached are my application documents:
CV, cover letter, university diploma and English TOEFL certificate.
Please feel free to contact me at any time by phone or e-mail.
 Obligatory put in the application email:
 The exact name of the position (as in the job offer)
and a reference number (if applicable)
 The company name (not your company)
 How did you learn about this position
35

36. Sending Your Job Application (4)
 Obligatory put a meaningful signature with your
name and contacts at the end of the email:
Kind regards,
Ivan Ivanov
Tel. 0888 12 34 56
Email: ivan.k.ivanov@gmail.com
 Send your entire application in English (CV, cover
letter, endorsements, portfolio, email, signature)
 Exception: if the job offer is in Bulgarian
 Never mix the languages (BG text + EN signature)
36

37. Expect to Get Contacted
 If your job application
is carefully prepared,
expect to be contacted in few days
 Good companies always answer to polite
candidates by phone or by email
 Positive or negative, you will get an answer
 If you have sent CV2.doc in an empty e-mail
without a subject, you will not get an answer!
 Read your e-mail constantly!
 Bring your phone with fully charged battery and
do not reject the incoming calls
37

38. Prepare for an Interview
 Prepare for eventual interview
 Research the company
 The interviewer will obligatory ask you about the
company and "nothing" is catastrophic answer
 Research carefully each of the requirements
 You will be asked about your experience with the
required products / platforms / technologies / etc.
 Be prepared for classical (standard) questions:
 Previous experience, expected salary, etc.
38

39. The Interview
 Half of the effort you put with your job
application is to get invited to an interview
 Most candidates do not know how to apply for a
job and never get invited to an interview
 The other efforts are todemonstrate your
skills and positive personality at the interview
 Prepare for technical questions
 Demonstrate knowledge and skills, positive
attitude, thinking, readiness for teamwork
 Avoid having high demands / pretentions 39

40. Homework
1. Define your goals for your future job
 Is there a demand in the industry for this job?
2. Identify the typical requirements for your
preferred job position
 Identify the technologies you need to know
3. Create a wish-list of potential employers
 Research these employers
4. Increase your skills for your preferred job position
(pass tutorials, read books, take courses, …)
40

41. Finding a Job in the IT Industry
Questions?

42. Thank You!

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