Entry Level Position / Internship for CS Graduate

[Bleach999]

Hi there,

I'm a 2017 BsC Computer Science graduate based in Cape Town who decided to start their own business post finishing studies in an unrelated field. After Covid19 however the business model is no longer viable and I've been upskilling to prepare myself for positions in tech.

I'm reaching out through the powers of the internet as after 9 months, and applying for every job within my experience level, I've not had much luck and internships are few and far between.

I'm looking for any opportunity to intern/shadow/interview or even if you have some advice for someone entering a chaotic job market, I'd be so appreciative.

My personal interests are in Web Development but I'm open to any tech stack.

Not sure it's appropriate to put any personals here but happy to PM/email details to anyone.

Thanks for your time.

 

[cguy]

have you tried the usual? LinkedIn, Offerzen?

Also perhaps try DM the recruiters posting in the jobs section.

 

[randomcat]

Hi there,

I'm a 2017 BsC Computer Science graduate based in Cape Town who decided to start their own business post finishing studies in an unrelated field. After Covid19 however the business model is no longer viable and I've been upskilling to prepare myself for positions in tech.

I'm reaching out through the powers of the internet as after 9 months, and applying for every job within my experience level, I've not had much luck and internships are few and far between.

I'm looking for any opportunity to intern/shadow/interview or even if you have some advice for someone entering a chaotic job market, I'd be so appreciative.

My personal interests are in Web Development but I'm open to any tech stack.

Not sure it's appropriate to put any personals here but happy to PM/email details to anyone.

Thanks for your time.

That is odd. Have you had any interviews or technical tests in the 9 months?

 

[Johnatan56]

have you tried the usual? LinkedIn, Offerzen?

Also perhaps try DM the recruiters posting in the jobs section.

Would be unsure that OfferZen would accept someone with pretty much no work experience after 3 years of the degree.

Would also be interested as to the university @Bleach999 graduated from, as usually you can ask the uni you were at if someone approached them in regards to needing an intern/junior.

Getting into web development is really easy as long as you have a basic portfolio, so not sure what you're doing, are you even applying to places that are looking for someone? Have never heard of someone in web dev who was any good with a portfolio not getting a job offer within a few months of searching as long as South African citizen, that's not saying that those wouldn't often be a lot of bad offers (sub R20k).

 

[Bleach999]

@randomcat @cguy

I've had 5 technical tests. Two final interviews.

I've been on Offerzen and regarding LinkedIn/Pnet/CareerJet I kid you not when I say I apply to every internship and junior web dev and junior SWE position available. So it's obvious that something needs to change on my end to give me more of an edge.

@Johnatan56

Sjoe, 'really easy' is a stretch to be honest.

According to my Offerzen tech advisor due to Covid there is a shrinking job market for juniors. My situation is not all that uncommon. Perhaps 10 years ago getting a job with a degree would be an easy fetch, but currently it's hard for companies to work around mentoring a junior through Zoom.

I graduated from UCT, unfortunately the timing of this career change exempts me from access to Career Services.

Currently my options are :

1. Continue to grind Leetcode/Udemy Courses/Work on Projects/Apply for Jobs/Try to stay sharp for interviews
2. Apply for Honours and hold out off savings for the next 18 months
3. Do a 6 month bootcamp/learnership (albeit all are related to fundamentals of coding) and use their connections to hopefully get some opportunities.

Thanks for the insights thus far. They're appreciated.

 

[Cactus]

@randomcat @cguy

I've had 5 technical tests. Two final interviews.

I've been on Offerzen and regarding LinkedIn/Pnet/CareerJet I kid you not when I say I apply to every internship and junior web dev and junior SWE position available. So it's obvious that something needs to change on my end to give me more of an edge.

@Johnatan56

Sjoe, 'really easy' is a stretch to be honest.

According to my Offerzen tech advisor due to Covid there is a shrinking job market for juniors. My situation is not all that uncommon. Perhaps 10 years ago getting a job with a degree would be an easy fetch, but currently it's hard for companies to work around mentoring a junior through Zoom.

I graduated from UCT, unfortunately the timing of this career change exempts me from access to Career Services.

Currently my options are :

1. Continue to grind Leetcode/Udemy Courses/Work on Projects/Apply for Jobs/Try to stay sharp for interviews
2. Apply for Honours and hold out off savings for the next 18 months
3. Do a 6 month bootcamp/learnership (albeit all are related to fundamentals of coding) and use their connections to hopefully get some opportunities.

Thanks for the insights thus far. They're appreciated.

Consider applying to the major dev houses directly. Most of them have grad programs with pretty good intro pay and you need no exp.

BBD, Entelect, Dariel, DVT. Most of them focus on getting grads upskilled so this will allow you to build up the experience you need.

*Disclaimer. I work for one of them.

 

[randomcat]

3. Do a 6 month bootcamp/learnership (albeit all are related to fundamentals of coding) and use their connections to hopefully get some opportunities.

After 3 months of looking for a job, I've decided to take this route. I'm hoping I can network from there and land a decent opportunity. It's free and they give you a tiny stipend, so it's not that bad. I don't have a degree, so this seems like the best option at the moment.

Your situation surprised me because I've seen a lot of grad programs and junior positions that just wanted a CS degree and no experience. Guess it's a tough market.

 

[cguy]

Consider applying to the major dev houses directly. Most of them have grad programs with pretty good intro pay and you need no exp.

BBD, Entelect, Dariel, DVT. Most of them focus on getting grads upskilled so this will allow you to build up the experience you need.

*Disclaimer. I work for one of them.

Also perhaps Amazon. The bigger companies seem to have organized the zoom employee ramp up better than most. For us it’s been business as usual. We’ve hired a lot of juniors since March 2020 which was the last time any of us went into the office.

 

[cguy]

@randomcat @cguy

I've had 5 technical tests. Two final interviews.

I've been on Offerzen and regarding LinkedIn/Pnet/CareerJet I kid you not when I say I apply to every internship and junior web dev and junior SWE position available. So it's obvious that something needs to change on my end to give me more of an edge.

@Johnatan56

Sjoe, 'really easy' is a stretch to be honest.

According to my Offerzen tech advisor due to Covid there is a shrinking job market for juniors. My situation is not all that uncommon. Perhaps 10 years ago getting a job with a degree would be an easy fetch, but currently it's hard for companies to work around mentoring a junior through Zoom.

I graduated from UCT, unfortunately the timing of this career change exempts me from access to Career Services.

Currently my options are :

1. Continue to grind Leetcode/Udemy Courses/Work on Projects/Apply for Jobs/Try to stay sharp for interviews
2. Apply for Honours and hold out off savings for the next 18 months
3. Do a 6 month bootcamp/learnership (albeit all are related to fundamentals of coding) and use their connections to hopefully get some opportunities.

Thanks for the insights thus far. They're appreciated.

Honours may be worth doing. I got my first two jobs through UCT staff connections after doing my honours degree there. It also puts you in a much better position to work internationally.

It does sound like you’re doing something wrong though - you may want to ask someone experienced to review your profile and CV.

 

[Bleach999]

@Toastmaster
Thanks for the recommends. I've received a technical test invitation from one already which is already a positive sign.

@randomcat
Indeed a tough market. Best of luck with the bootcamp, I spoke with Capaciti today who are quite reputable in the space. They don't currently offer the post-graduate/advanced courses the way they did in the past unfortunately, but there are great alternative options that prioritise practical experience over pursuing a degree. In retrospect I think the theoretical nature of a degree is a limitation more than an advantage at times.

@cguy
If it comes down to it I'll be pursuing funding options for this as like you say working internationally is a huge dream of mine and is a requirement.

After reading through everyone's advice, I've reworked my CV and sent it in for a CV review.
Turns out PDF's are cursed and docx. files + a layout rework have already netted me half as many opportunities as I've received in the past 6 months in this short amount of time.

Very grateful for everyone's guidance. Will update if any avenues are succesful. <3