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    3 Ways to Stay Relevant as an Experienced Software Engineer

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    Hint: Learning System Design is key for software engineers

    Software engineers who have been working in the industry for a while can still take steps to staying “fresh,” while leveraging their applied work experience. In this blog, we share three ways an experienced software engineer can stay relevant as a job candidate in a competitive job market. Our partner, Educative, shares the third and crucial key to maintaining that competitive edge.

    1. Highlight the valuable skills you already have

    Most employers would rather hire an expert in the field than spend time and money training someone much less experienced. Companies of all sizes, particularly large corporations like Amazon and Google, are always in need of software engineers who are Java experts. This is actually an area where young college grads are at a disadvantage. Often, these companies would rather hire a candidate with at least 5 years of core Java experience over more junior software engineers who haven’t had exposure to the language in a professional capacity.

    Perhaps you’re positioning yourself as an expert in Java. Make sure you brush up on the basics to show your full breadth of knowledge. Next, make your Java experience stand out on your resume, LinkedIn, or Hired profile in the skills and work experience sections. 

    In the skills sections, list your skills in order of proficiency with Java at the beginning if applicable. List all the languages and tools you’ve used, your workflows, and your achievements in each position in the work experience sections. Companies often use hiring software to detect certain keywords. So, a candidate who mentions the languages they’re looking for more frequently may have better luck advancing to the next stage.

    2. Consider leadership roles

    If you’ve worked as an individual contributor for a while, you may want to consider taking on a leadership role as a team lead or engineering manager. Generally, a team lead reports to an engineering manager and guides the other engineers on the team. An engineering manager has often shown experience leading others, has multiple engineers reporting to them, and can provide technical guidance as needed.

    Related: Engineering Manager or IC? Which Tech Career is Best for Me? (Video) 

    Have an affinity toward leading and managing others? Update your resume and career profiles accordingly and start looking at open roles. If you’ve had several roles at the same company, think about separating and fleshing out each role as a distinct item in your work experience. Hiring managers like to see a candidate’s progression from being a Software Engineer to a Lead Software Engineer or an Engineering Manager, as well as the accompanying responsibilities.

    3. Learn System Design

    Continually learning new languages and skills makes you a more valuable candidate. Experienced software engineers in particular can stay ahead of the curve by developing a working knowledge of System Design. In this section, Educative explains how a solid working knowledge of System Design can help you stand out in interviews and beyond.

    Understanding large-scale system architecture is a necessity. System Design is the discipline underpinning our entire modern software landscape. It’s critical for making any application scalable, fault-tolerant, and more efficient.

    Every app or service we use daily — from YouTube and Instagram to Amazon and Spotify — is a scalable system. These apps must be designed to handle large amounts of traffic and data and to scale with spikes. That’s because the number of people simultaneously accessing these systems is massive.

    What is System Design?

    Coding is about creating individual bricks; System Design is about deciding how those bricks will form a complete structure. It’s the art and science of defining the architecture, components, and data flow for large-scale applications. It sets the groundwork for how a system will operate, ensuring efficiency, scalability, and reliability.

    Essentially, System Design is the blueprint guiding developers in building software that meets specific requirements and constraints.

    Some key considerations in System Design include:

    Architecture: The overall structure of the system and how its components interact with each other

    Components: The individual building blocks of the system. This includes servers, databases, and application servers

    Interfaces: How the system interacts with its users and other systems

    Non-Functional Requirements: This includes things like performance, scalability, reliability, and security

    Role of System Design in modern software

    System Design is indispensable to the modern software landscape — from initial planning to implementation and maintenance. It provides a blueprint that software engineers, TPMs, and engineering and product leaders can refer to throughout a product’s life cycle. Its principles guide decisions about database structure, user interface, networking protocols, and more.

    For experienced software engineers, this offers a leadership opportunity — with an understanding of System Design, you’re not just following instructions, but are instead actively participating in shaping the vision and functionality of a project.

    As software systems become increasingly complex, involving multiple technologies and serving global audiences, the role of System Design has never been more critical. It informs choices that can make or break a software’s performance, user experience, and overall success. For seasoned engineers aiming to stay competitive — it’s a career imperative.Let’s review this summary of System Design fundamentals:

    Horizontal and Vertical Scaling: Horizontal scaling involves adding more machines, while vertical scaling involves adding more RAM, faster processors, or additional storage to a single machine. Both are essential for handling an increased load.

    Microservices: Microservices break down applications into small, independent services that communicate via APIs. This enhances modularity and scalability.

    Proxy Servers: These act as intermediaries, forwarding client requests to servers. They can improve performance and security.

    CAP Theorem: This theorem states that a distributed system can’t simultaneously provide all three of the following: consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. You have to pick two.

    Redundancy and Replication: These ensure that backup resources are available, improving reliability and fault tolerance.

    Storage: It’s crucial to evaluate the data storage methods. Different storage strategies can be employed based on the system’s specific requirements.

    Message Queues: Enable asynchronous communication between different system parts, improving scalability and decoupling components.

    File Systems: File systems oversee data storage and retrieval on disks, handling tasks like file naming, storage allocation, directory structure, and access permissions. With file systems, file identification and access control become easier.

    Why is System Design important to know?

    Due to the growing complexity and scale of web applications, it’s important to know how to handle large-scale challenges. System Design offers both theoretical knowledge and practical skills for real-world applications.

    Investing time in learning System Design can provide both immediate and long-term advantages for your career. It can make you a more versatile and sought-after professional in the tech industry.

    In an interview setting, a strong understanding of System Design can be an important difference-maker. Most developers will be expected to demonstrate at least a working knowledge of System Design in their interviews. Depending on their specialization, software engineers typically receive 1-2 design interview loops as part of the hiring process, of which System Design is the most common focus.

    Ultimately, candidates who perform well in System Design Interviews will boost their chances of being hired, as well as increase their starting level and salary. (At Meta, for example, a strong System Design Interview can mean the difference between starting as an E5 rather than an E4 — an advantage worth tens of thousands of dollars).

    Looking for System Design prep? Here are some helpful resources:

    Stay relevant, stay ahead

    Use these tips to position yourself for better alignment with top job opportunities out there. Showcasing what you already have to offer, advancing to leadership roles, and mastering System Design are some of the best ways to adapt and progress as a software engineer today. 

    Originally published in June 2018 by Brittany Curran. Updated by the Hired Content Team and Educative in December 2023. More

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      Dear Developers: Coding Languages That Will Set You Apart in 2023

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      Any software engineer will tell you: There are a plethora of coding languages out there and varying attitudes toward each at both the company and individual levels. To dive deeper, Hired’s 2023 State of Software Engineers report examines coding languages that set candidates apart from their peers and the preferences of developers.

      Which programming skills were highest in demand by employers? 

      In 2022, engineers skilled in Ruby on Rails received 1.64X more interview requests compared to Hired’s marketplace average. This year, Ruby on Rails moved up one position to take the top slot as the most in-demand engineer skill. Ruby and Scala came in second and third.

      Hired CTO Dave Walters said, “Ruby on Rails is a very mature and easy-to-use framework, which leads to its popularity among engineers and engineering leaders. It allows for faster coding (or increased productivity) which helps engineers deliver minimum viable products and features at a higher pace.”

      In 2021, the leading programming skill was Go. Larger companies such as Slack and Twitch rapidly adopted it last year. Its simplicity and power made it popular among engineers. Dave added, “While a favorite among engineers, Go may be less in demand by employers now due to a temporary shift in hiring needs.”

      Related: Inside the Coding Challenge: A Hiring Manager’s Perspective 

      How the engineers feel about coding skills

      Employer demands aside, developers themselves have their own opinions of the different coding languages. This is often due to how many resources there are for learning and development related to a particular language or how “fun” they are to use.

      In our survey of over 1,300 software engineers, we found engineers ranked Python as their favorite programming language. JavaScript and Java followed as the second and third choices.

      Beyond coding languages

      Knowing which languages will set you apart from the rest can help you make your profile more attractive to prospective employers. However, it’s just one piece of the engineering talent puzzle. 

      Related: Code Your Career: Staying Competitive in the Developer Job Market (VIDEO) 

      In addition to more granularity about coding languages and their competitiveness, the 2023 State of Software Engineers report dives into top roles, market trends, and salaries. The research gives you a better overview of:

      The state of the market

      Where the market is going

      How to best tailor your experiences and skills

      Originally written by Napala Pratini in March 2019. Updated by Hired Content Team in October 2023. More

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      Ready to Start Programming with AI? A Quick Guide for Software Engineers

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      Though we’re still a ways out from building machines that will take over the world with artificial superintelligence, AI is on the rise. To sum up the recent explosion of generative AI, Vijay Pande, a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, tells the Washington Post:

      “There’s a lot of excitement about AI right now. The technology has… gone from being cute and interesting to where actually [people] can see it being deployed.”

      AI has found its way into a myriad of applications (think: innovative approaches to coding reviews, testing, debugging) and is quickly becoming an advantage for staying competitive. Talent will likely be expected to leverage AI tools in their workflows to be more effective and efficient. In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 37% of job descriptions listed AI work and skills in the emerging tech category. 

      This includes building programs to understand and help us humans in our day-to-day lives, like Siri, Alexa, and countless chatbots. It can make operations networks, like Amazon’s, hyper-efficient by predicting who will want what, when and where. It can also focus on research, with programmed learning able to evaluate results against hypotheses, and adjust and retest to advance our understanding of the world.

      Tip: Try some courses on AI and Machine Learning

      If nothing else, having some familiarity with AI could give you some Thanksgiving dinner fodder to blow your grandparents’ minds. But it also could lead to promising new career opportunities.

      Why AI?

      If you’re looking to add to your repertoire to boost your marketability as a software engineer, artificial intelligence is a safe bet. According to Hired’s 2023 State of Software Engineers report, demand for machine learning and data engineers ranks among the hottest software engineering roles.

      Here are a few lucrative roles for which AI programming may get you noticed:

      The other reason for picking this up is pretty simple: it’s cool as hell!

      The field of artificial intelligence is an exercise in replicating the very thing that (most of us would consider) makes us human. The emergent property of our trillions of synapses firing in a symphony gives me the sense that I am “me,” and each of you the sense that you are “you.”

      Though most applications facilitate learning-focused, singular tasks or making predictions based on massive data sets, there is still something special about working to bring machines to recreate biological capabilities. And even in weak AI, the possibilities are endless to help the world become a better place with creative, elegant software. And isn’t that what we all want?

      How to start programming with AI

      When it comes to picking the right language to get your career on an AI track, you need to decide what type of work you want to be doing and evaluate that against the support and pre-built libraries that can assist you along the way.

      Start with a general language that works well with data processing and analysis. The most prominent and in-demand at tech companies are Python, Java (or Scala), or R (if you exclusively want to be a data scientist). Choose just one.

      Learn a language for interacting with a database management system (DBMS) that will help you access and organize the data you’ll use in your algorithms. Knowing SQL and understanding basic NoSQL is highly recommended. If entering a larger company, Hadoop, Spark, or similar will also be helpful.

      Understand the key frameworks and libraries for building AI solutions. Some that are important for common AI problems are:

      TensorFlow (a must!): used for high-volume, complex numerical computations

      Accord.net: used for things like classification, regression, and clustering

      Caffe: used for image recognition

      Scikit-learn: used for common AI problems and data mining

      NLTK: used for natural language processing

      Try online courses for programming with AI

      It’s also helpful to experiment with the growing AI packages provided by online course providers like Coursera.

      Getting started with AI

      Getting deeper into machine learning:

      And some additional resources:

      Like any new skill, it will take discipline to master programming with AI. But from the practical to the theoretical, from the present to the future: programming with AI is a worthy practice to add to your tool belt.

      Originally written by Mike Parker in May 2019. Updated by Hired Content Team and Coursera in October 2023. More

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      Inside the Coding Challenge: A Hiring Manager’s Perspective

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      At Hired, we often have opportunities to share assessment insights with employers who review them to evaluate potential hires. It’s less common that we have the chance to share those with candidates. That’s why we dedicated a full webinar session to offer engineering talent some coding challenge tips from hiring managers.

      Related: Code Your Career: Staying Competitive in the Developer Job Market (VIDEO)

      What is a coding challenge? 

      Coding challenges assess your technical skills as part of the interview process. They are an excellent way to flex your coding muscles and solve a problem similar to one the company may be facing.

      Related: What are the Best Programming Languages to Get a Software Developer Job? (Video)

      Results overview: what hiring managers look for in coding challenges

      In this blog, you’ll hear from: 

      Prakash Patel, Engineering Manager at Hired

      Sumit Pal, former Sr Engineering Manager at Hired

      Related: Ace Your Engineering Manager Interview: A Comprehensive Guide to Prepare 

      Let’s walk through hiring manager expectations for assessments and the interview process.

      Sample Result 1 

      This is an example of a solution a candidate proposed that looks straightforward. They’re running the eval function doing a quick return. While this solution works and passes all the test cases, unfortunately, they didn’t read the directions completely.

      There is a note in the yellow box explaining you are not allowed to use any built-in function that evaluates strings as mathematical expressions, such as eval. The candidate didn’t read the instructions completely and for that reason, we had to pass on them. 

      Sample Result 2 

      What you see here is a little behind-the-scenes. As candidates are going through the interview process, they often run into these kinds of challenges. You might be presented with several test cases but you have to be aware of more test cases behind the scenes. You’ll be presented with a few test cases your code needs to pass through to be accepted but we might be checking for additional items:

      Are we checking for empty strings? 

      Are we evaluating for certain edge cases where we might have incredibly long strings? 

      In this case, we’re building out a basic calculator. The solution here is obviously very thorough. It passed all the test cases here. 

      However, we don’t only look at the percentage or a particular grade or if all the test cases passed. We take a look at the code too. We were able to identify that this code is unfortunately not written by the engineer. This was taken from an online search and brought to our platform. It hits all the benchmarks, but it’s not genuine.

      Sample Result 3 

      This is an example of someone implementing comments. This code is similar to the previous example. The candidate took an online submission and claimed it as their own.

      For that reason, we disqualified them. In this type of solution, engineering managers and hiring managers consider: 

      Have candidates used appropriate variable names? 

      Is there an appropriate structure to the code? 

      Are there functions called appropriately? 

      What does the runtime look like for the code? 

      Obviously, it’s an idealistic solution they copied over, but we will notice aspects like good comments. 

      In this case, you’ll notice that while there are comments, they don’t add value. BC II and BC III, aren’t helping a hiring manager understand your thought process or the code you’ve written. 

      Sample Result 4 

      Here we have several different functions. While it’s not perfect, you’ll notice there are some comments missing. There are some generally good structures with several functions being defined. Many of the edge cases are handled here and overall it is a good solution, despite missing comments.

      Sample Result 5 

      This is really well-structured code going in-depth with the comments. There is a healthy balance of too many comments and not enough. This leans a little bit on the higher side but these comments are more helpful. 

      They guide the hiring manager in understanding the thought process. They also help the candidate keep track of how they handled this scenario. Overall, it has a cleaner and more useful presentation for the hiring manager. 

      SQL-Based Questions

      Sample Result 6 

      This question intends to assess your confidence and comfort with SQL-based questions and data problems. This example presents an easy SQL question. 

      The candidate tried to solve this problem using the “group by” statement and “order by” clause. It worked sufficiently for this problem statement but it would immediately fail once we start getting three or more records for each gender. We encourage candidates to read the problem statement first which is really important in a very simple SQL problem. 

      Also, we encourage candidates to not start writing solutions immediately. Think through the problem and all possible age cases. Consider how your solution might handle null values once you start getting the records. 

      Sample Result 7 

      This SQL problem can be solved with different approaches. In this example, the candidate tried to use the max aggregate function and a subquery. 

      To further improve answering SQL questions, I recommend candidates consider adding human-readable aliases. Additionally, putting your queries in a readable format before you submit them is really important. 

      Data engineering interview process

      Data engineering interview processes are robust. We take a similar approach in sending out an assessment. Once the candidates complete it, we take it back to the team and review it. Then, we provide feedback to the candidates on where they could improve. 

      Related: Want to Ace Technical Interviews? A Guide to Prep Software Engineers

      We evaluate submissions to determine the level. Sometimes we’ll receive candidates who may be on borderline level two or mid-level or borderline senior. We can use those submissions to help gauge what the next steps should be. 

      From there, we’ll have the hiring manager screen to understand what a candidate is looking to do in their next role. What are the interesting things they do on the side? Why do they want to work at this company? What are they looking to achieve in their career? 

      Related: Want to Ace Behavioral Interviews? A Guide to Prep Jobseekers

      Following that step, we continue with the assessment – that original take-home assessment, similar to the coding challenges completed here. We have the candidate build on an additional feature in the original assessment. We walk through the process live with an engineer (or engineers) on the team. 

      Next, we have a systems design portion. Candidates design a system and walk through different edge cases. Candidates will offer insights into why they made design decisions and made certain tradeoffs. 

      Later, we have a cross-functional interview to ensure the candidates have some comfort working with the product or design team.

      Following that, we regroup should we need to have additional discussions. We follow up on those on a case-by-case basis and come to a consensus. 

      I do want to highlight that the interview process may vary from company to company. At Hired, we have a 3-4 round process. 

      Candidates have the take-home assessment, hiring manager screen, and virtual on-site consisting of the cross-functional interview and the systems design portion. The process isn’t necessarily the same at larger organizations. You may do one take-home assessment and have another waiting for you on the other side. You may do a live coding challenge where you get on the phone and speak with the technical recruiter. 

      In those instances, I think you would approach things the same way. Make sure you think of edge cases and are thorough in your approach. It’s easy to get nervous but you have to remember to break things down and take it from there.

      Traditionally, after that first step (whether it’s an assessment or live coding challenge) is some form of an on-site. It could be a virtual or in-person on-site. Some large organizations even bring people on for an entire day. 

      As you’re speaking to the technical recruiters, ask about those processes. Usually, companies are open about informing you.

      Ready to complete your free profile and find your next role in tech? Sign up today! More

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      Code Your Career: Staying Competitive in the Developer Job Market (VIDEO)

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      The world, especially within the tech industry, is changing faster than you realize. Many jobseekers are nervous about what these shifts mean for their future, as layoffs hit an all-time high in 2022 and business investments seem to be in flux. 

      So what do job candidates have to do in order to keep up with the hottest skills, languages, and trends in the industry? 

      Watch this on-demand webinar to hear experts discuss key findings from Hired’s 2023 State of Software Engineers report and share approaches to help you succeed in the developer job market. 

      You’ll hear from:

      Career Expert, TopResume, Amanda Augustine

      CTO, Hired, Dave Walters

      Engineering Manager, Greenhouse, Jeff Surrett

      Sr Software Engineer, Yum! Brands, Erik Andersen

      VP of Growth & Marketing, Educative, Steven Yi

      Read an excerpt of the conversation here and scroll down to access the full webinar. 

      How should software engineers prioritize which skills to learn in 2023? 

      Steven Yi

      There’s such a wide canvas of technologies out there and there’s demand for a lot of those in different scenarios. 

      If we start with enterprise, there’s a lot more interest there in the cloud, especially in regard to Amazon Web Services. The cloud is almost table stakes for most enterprises right now. There is also a lot of emphasis on back-end development specifically around APIs and integrating within existing systems and connecting front-ends to back-ends and things like that. 

      I also think there’s a lot more emphasis on more mature technologies. Examples include programming languages where you see more prevalence of Java and .NET. There are also more expectations around having data skills, specifically how to query and write sequel statements against relational databases (think Oracle and SQL Server). 

      If you’re targeting working at a smaller company or startup, I think the emphasis there is on having a more full stack experience — understanding both the front-end and the back-end. Front-end skills like React are certainly more important for those company sizes. For back-end skills, that transitions a bit more toward Go and Node.js in some of the newer programming languages and stacks out there. 

      And as far as the cloud, I think looking at this data is pretty interesting. Google Cloud Platform and Azure are more popular with smaller companies and startups, particularly because they’re easier to start up with. I think AWS has become a bit more complex over the years. 

      The last thing I would leave with this is to follow your interest and your passion to see what’s interesting to you. There are a variety of different niches out there. 

      Take mobile, for example. If you carved out a specialization on mobile development for Android, that means Kotlin. If you’re exclusively developing for Apple, that means Swift. Or cross platform development using a variety of different frameworks like Dart, Flutter, React Native, or Microsoft’s offerings like .NET, Xamarin, or .NET MAUI. 

      Data science and machine learning are exploding. That means Python or even the newer emerging technologies and programming languages like Rust. Or, go on the other end of the spectrum and go old school. 

      There are still niche offerings out there if you’re a Pascal developer with Delphi. I actually did a Google search this morning and several hundred companies are still hiring for COBOL.

      Related: Want to Ace Your Technical Interview? A Guide to Prepare Software Engineers 

      Watch the full collaborative panel discussion to learn how to: 

      Stand out as a top candidate in a crowded job market

      Efficiently and effectively prepare for behavioral and technical interviews

      Develop career plans to maximize growth and compensation opportunity  More

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      Want to Ace Your Technical Interview? A Guide to Prepare Software Engineers

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      Whether you’re early in your career or a seasoned full stack, back-end, or front-end engineer, technical interviews may be stressful if you feel unprepared. While the most important piece of these interviews is, of course, your technical skills, we have some strategies to help you put your best foot forward. 

      After all, going in with confidence and preparation is the best way to ease those nerves and let your skills shine through. So, what is it you’re getting yourself into? 

      Technical interviews put a (fun?) spin on the typical job search process. In many ways, they let you, as an engineer, do what you do best! Take them as your opportunity to “walk the walk” instead of just “talk the talk.” 

      We’ve collaborated with our partner Educative to bring you tips to level up your technical interview game.

      What this Technical Interview Guide for Full Stack, Front-end, and Back-end Engineers Covers

      1. How to prepare for technical interviews

      Technical interviews take many forms and are known by various names. We break them down. We also give you a multi-week plan to give you plenty of time to work through examples and study up using suggested resources.  

      2. What employers look for in technical interviews 

      We review some of the major concepts and skills interviewers assess specifically for front-end developers, back-end developers, and full stack developers.

      3. Common technical interview mistakes to avoid 

      After spending time reviewing what you should do, we warn you on what to avoid. Find the top three technical interview no-nos in this chapter. 

      4. Helpful resources 

      By this time, you’re well on your way to nailing your next technical interview. Use our compilation of links to more resources to continue studying with a narrower focus.

      5. After the interview

      In this section, we coach you through this post-interview phase, including how to use it to your advantage and other best practices. 

      Ready to download your comprehensive Technical Interview Guide? Here you go! More

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      FAQs from Jobseekers: Approaching the Technical Interview with Confidence (VIDEO)

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      Technical interviewing takes skill and is actually a skill in itself. In this AMA-style discussion (now on-demand!), experts helped jobseekers problem-solve their way to nailing their next technical interview. Keep reading for candid and actionable advice from the experts.

      You’ll hear from:

      Sophia Koehl, Partnerships, Hired

      Omkar Deshpande, Head of Technical Curriculum, Interview Kickstart

      Nate Becker, Candidate Experience, Hired

      Read the beginning of the conversation here and scroll down to access the full webinar. 

      What are the fundamentals of a technical interview? 

      Nate

      I think it’s important to note this is a multi step process. It’s not a one and done situation. I would read and reread the job description, do some research on the company, and review the fundamentals of your own technical specializations. For the more personal side, practice talking about your professional background. I recommend Interview Kickstart’s Technical Interview Checklist. 

      Consider the stages of the interview ahead of time. First, you have a phone screen, a sort of a “tell me about yourself and why are you applying.” Then, there’s usually a take-home assessment, which is preliminary and usually done through a test coding platform or a shared doc. From there, you’d have an on-site or in-person evaluation where your programming skills are assessed in real time by an interviewer. 

      If you are on the Hired platform, you could take advantage of assessments to showcase your skills to employers. A lot of the companies on our platform prioritize candidates who have taken these Hired assessments. Keep in mind that this doesn’t replace a coding interview and is more of a preliminary screen. 

      Omkar

      In an ideal coding interview, you are given a problem, or an unseen question. The interviewer wants to see whether you can design an algorithm or a recipe that correctly solves the given question by relying on fundamental computer science principles and problem solving strategies. Your solution also needs to run fast, take the least possible time, and use very little space.

      Once you have designed a correct and efficient algorithm, you have to implement it in the programming language of your choice with a high probability that the code would run correctly the first time you execute it. They’re testing your problem solving ability and your coding fluency. Both of these depend on knowledge of computer science fundamentals. That’s how I look at the structure of a coding interview. 

      Why is it worthwhile to spend more time on interview prep instead of jumping straight into applying and interviewing?

      Nate

      It would be to your advantage to consider the state of the market. Look at the time we’re in right now. This is a great time to take advantage of the downtime and prep. Take the time now to land an interview you really want. It may benefit your career in the long run to invest time and energy up front. When I say timeliness, I’m talking about the recent layoffs folks have been experiencing and the impact of that. Really consider if you have free time and do the prep work. We have a great eBook on layoffs and how to bounce back better than ever.

      Omkar

      The reality is that competition is high. People share frequently asked questions online on platforms like Leetcode. Everyone knows what questions are likely to be asked and they’re not easy to solve. Prep is necessary, otherwise you’re going to stumble on the spot. 

      There’s a misconception that interview prep is a waste of time because you basically have to memorize the solutions to those frequently asked problems. If you prep the right way, it’s an opportunity to relearn the fundamentals of computer science. Preparing properly increases your chances of getting multiple offers and thereby a significantly higher salary.

      When you start a new job, you have that confidence in yourself because you cracked the interview based on your understanding of computer science principles. You become a better engineer as a result of preparing in the right way.

      Other key topics from the conversation include: 

      Which programming language to use for a technical interview 

      How to create a study plan

      Technical interviews at FAANG companies vs smaller companies

      How to present your tech experience 

      And more!  More

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      How to Get Approved on Hired

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      Hired is a closed, curated marketplace that strives to create the best experience possible for jobseekers and hiring managers alike. In order to achieve this, our machine learning algorithm vets candidates and companies before they receive an invite to go live on Hired. 

      Candidates must have an in-demand skill set (meaning active Hired employers have open roles requiring those skills), ideally 2+ years of relevant experience, and a completed profile with a resume and/or LinkedIn URL included. Candidates must also display an intent to start interviewing right away.

      Companies must have a clear need to hire, and be willing to provide compensation and role details in the offers they make on our platform.

      In which locations can I find a job through Hired?

      Hired works with companies primarily in the US, UK, and Canada. Traditionally, we see our strongest presence both in terms of company and candidate volume in major tech hub cities. However, Hired now offers remote talent around the world. Provided candidates are open to remote work or the possibility of relocation while meeting our other criteria, they can go live to employers whoo source talent from all over the world. 

      What skill sets are companies looking for on Hired?

      Our primary focus is technical roles but we recently added some customer-facing positions, such as account executives and customer experience manager. Currently, open roles favor candidates with 2+ years of full-time experience in software engineering, product management, engineering management, data analytics/science, quality assurance, devops, design, and sales with a wide variety of specialties for each role. That said, we are constantly working with employers to scale their teams, so check this list periodically for additions.

      What type of roles does Hired support?

      Companies on Hired are looking to fill full-time/permanent and contract roles. These roles can be on-site, remote, or hybrid. Currently, we do not support internship, part-time, or C2C roles. 

      I am looking to begin my career in tech or transition into a technical role. Can Hired help me?

      Our companies are typically seeking jobseekers with 2+ years of full-time experience in a relevant role. As a result, Hired isn’t best suited for jobseekers fresh from a career transition or graduation. However, we partner with General Assembly and graduates of their software engineering and data science immersive programs can go live to our companies with less than 2 years of full-time experience. 

      I’m just interested in seeing what I’m worth. Is the Hired platform for me? 

      The Hired platform is meant for candidates who intend to start interviewing right away as the companies we support are looking to hire immediately. If you’re ready to start a new role within 30 days, we encourage you to create and submit your profile (for free!). If not, you are welcome to check out the Hired Salary Calculator to view offer salary data from others with similar skill-sets, specialties, and years of experience.

      Once approved, the platform promotes your profile to employers ‌for at least 2 weeks. When the platform detects a potentially good fit, the employer can request an interview and your job search progresses from there! More

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      in Talent Acquisition

      Tech Candidate Spotlight – Manuel Cheta, Senior Software Engineer in the UK

      by

      Can you start by sharing a bit bit about your educational background? 

      After finishing Aerospace Engineering university courses I decided to go into the web development world instead. I am a self-taught Front-End Developer. I learned about HTML, CSS, Javascript after opening my first WordPress blog and learning how to modify the website and manage my hosting space as a webmaster. 

      Being self-taught, accessing Youtube videos and development blogs helped enormously. The biggest impact on my career was my decision to press on, inspect the websites, and see how they were built. 

      What would you like to learn more about?

      I recently became interested in psychology and how to help people work together to reach a common goal. In addition, I am interested in deepening my Front-End dev knowledge and connected areas like DevOps, Backend, cloud, and even AI.

      Of course, because I work in fintech, I am also interested in learning as much as I can about personal finance and investing.

      What led you to pursue a career in tech?

      I always had an interest in computers, ever since playing Prince of Persia on an Intel 286 PC in the 7th grade. Since then, I spent time learning how to install an operating system, how to debug programs, and how to help people set up their own computer or home network. 

      How has your skillset evolved over the course of your career?

      Each year, I start with the hopes of learning a lot. I do learn quite a lot and at the end of the year I feel more stupid than I felt at the start, so the cycle repeats. From learning regular HTML/CSS to working on full-scale single-page apps in various frameworks, I am always on the lookout for a better understanding of the basics and new stuff to learn.

      If you chose to specialize in one area, what was it and why?

      I specialise in Front-End and web accessibility. I love working in Front-End because it gets me as close to the user as possible. My open nature lends itself to creating code, which can be seen, read, and felt by the end user. I am also keenly interested in promoting web accessibility because I firmly believe that when you make your website accessible, you make everyone’s lives way better.

      Is your new role different from previous ones?

      This year, my focus was on fintech and as such, I worked in fintech. I call myself a nano-investor because I am just learning how to better invest my time and money. That was why I moved away from the e-commerce industry to fintech. 

      What are you most excited about in your new role or company?

      We’re starting a new project and I can have the biggest impact right now since my experience as a senior dev can bring in the most value in setting the direction of development. Having worked on many projects I can identify pain points and offer suggestions.

      What was your job search experience like before you joined Hired?

      When I was a junior dev, a number of years ago when sites like Hired didn’t exist, I would simply push my CVs to different platforms without any hope of actually getting a response. Now, Hired makes my life way easier because I can tailor my profile to the industry I am interested in and I receive interview requests only from the companies I would be genuinely interested in. 

      What’s your best advice for jobseekers on Hired? 

      Make sure to have a 1-2 page CV that’s not too long. Also, create a specific “keywords” section to help the automated system identify your domain of work. When setting your profile to “open for work,” make sure your short bio concisely explains what your interests are.

      Be sure to use the correct asking price for the role and industry you are in. In terms of the asking price, insert a specific number like 65,789 so you attract more inquisitive recruiter minds. 

      Related: Want More Interviews and Better Matches? 5 Key Tips!

      What would you tell someone who’s curious about Hired?

      Just sign up! Spend a bit of time writing the best descriptions you can in each section and make sure you indicate the specific industry you want to work in. 

      Any general advice you’d like to give other tech professionals?

      Spend time learning about the companies your are interviewing for and what their interview process is like. Being a good tech professional matters. However, companies are looking for people who are enthusiastic about their company and like to work with others. Therefore, soft skills are more highly rated than tech skills. Tech can be learned, but culture and caring for your colleagues is not an easily teachable and transferrable skill.

      Congrats on the job, Manuel! Interested in landing a great role in the UK like Manuel did? Complete your free profile on Hired today!

      About Compare The Market

      Compare The Market is a price comparison website and provides customers with an easy way to make the right choice on a wide range of products including motor, home, life and energy. Founded in 2005, Compare the Market has between 501-1,000 employees and is headquartered in London. In 2021, it made Hired’s List of Top Employers Winning Tech Talent.

      Tech Stack

      JavaScript, Node.js, MongoDB, AWS, C#, .NET, iOS, Android, Docker, Git, HTML, CSS, Scala, Java, Kafka, Kubernetes, Python, React, Redux, Big Data

      Benefits

      Life/disability insurance, work-from-home flexibility, volunteer time off, flexible working hours, employee discount programs, and more. More