Jared Probst of Palo Alto Staffing
Udacity’s mission is to empower students through free online education to advance their careers in tech. Many Udacity students have no formal programming background and are able to use our courses to kick start their careers in tech. We’re asking tech recruiters to tailor their career advice to online learners, and are excited to share their expertise!
Jared Probst, Manager of Business Development for technical contracting at Palo Alto Staffing, interacts with hiring managers from Bay Area companies daily. Jared’s advice boils down to pursuing projects, developing a portfolio, specializing, and being a team player.
1. Projects
Any candidate without a formal CS degree will want to find and accept work in any way possible. This can include unpaid internships, volunteer work, open source projects and short term paid work. You will want to give yourself as many opportunities as possible to prove yourself as capable and to develop relationships with mentors.
2. Portfolio
The best way that you can demonstrate your abilities to potential employers is to build a solid portfolio using the methods I have mentioned above. When searching for candidates a hiring manager will almost always look past the resume and go straight into a portfolio. Whether this is just projects you completed through Udacity or perhaps projects that you have taken on outside of coursework, a portfolio is the only way to show your abilities without having a formal CS degree. If what you have worked on is relevant to the manager’s needs you are sure to receive at least a phone interview.
3. Specialize
There are really two qualities that stand out to me in my experience. First, the candidates who are in the highest demand and get the largest comp plans are always experts in their field. They don’t attempt to learn a little bit of everything, they focus on specific technologies within a specific area. For example UI/UX for Android or Back-End Core Java.
4. Be a Team Player
Secondly, candidates we see that get hired quickly are always team players. They are confident in their interviews but not presumptuous or aggressive. They know that successfully working in any tech organization requires teamwork and communication. They confidently sell themselves to team members and managers simultaneously.
