Tip #1: There’s no such thing as ‘junior’ jobs
Tip #1: There’s no such thing as ‘junior’ jobs
Transform your job search with 20 Job Search Tips in 20 Days
This email is part of a series “20 Job Search Tips in 20 Days”. Every day in December, you’ll receive a job search tip for career changers.
Job Search Tip #1: There’s no such thing as ‘junior’ jobs
As much as it would be amazing to find jobs that clearly describe the level they are looking for, most job listings are wishlists that are open to interpretation.
Although sometimes you may across a job posting with the title of “Junior” or “Associate” in the title, those jobs are rare. If you base your whole job search on only applying to jobs with “Junior” or “Associate” in the title, you are severely limiting your job search to a few companies per month that use those titles.
Also, there are many jobs that are open to career changers that are NOT posted, the so-called ‘hidden job market’, where job titles don’t matter at all.
At the end of the day, the job title is a low context signal in the job search.
What that means is that the job title holds very little information to help you make a decision about the actual job description, thus it’s low context.
Job titles are relative
There is NO standardization across job titles - which means companies use whatever titles they want in job postings, even it doesn’t make sense outside the company culture.
Titles vary across companies. Where one company can use Associate to mean someone with 2 yrs experience, another company can use it to mean 5myrs experience, while another can use it to recruit students who just graduated college.
A better alternative to using job titles as a way to evaluate jobs is to search for specific tools and technologies that are listed inside the job title itself.
Most of the time, job titles will either be the generic job name (Ex. Software Engineer) or the job name with a Senior in front (ex. Senior Software Engineer). Many companies use generic job title for jobs, such as Product Designer, Software Engineer and others. ONLY when a company truly wants someone with many years of experience, will they add ‘Senior’ in the job description.
🎯 Instead of searching for the level of the job, start searching for the job keywords that are in the job description that actually describe the job requirements (ex. Javascript, C#, Figma, Adobe, Git).
Signals to look for in job descriptions
Instead of throwing in the towel because there are few ‘junior’ job titles and feeling like you don’t qualify, start looking at other elements in the job description instead.
Years of experience required (ex. 2 years of work experience in…)
Tools or tech required (Ex. Figma, Javascript, Python, Animation)
Domain knowledge (Ex. Education, Law, Finance)
Niche transferable skills from previous industry
Start to find jobs that are related to the technology you learned, the domain knowledge you have and relate to any other professional knowledge or personal hobbies you have.
Let’s look at one example:
Below is a job description for an entry-level SWE posted by a Staffing agency that is NOT disclosing their client. You’ll notice the description is very broad and generic.
What stands out from this job description are a few elements:
Job title actually includes the words “Entry Level”
There is no requirement in terms of years of work experience, but it mentions a BA degree in CS
Tech languages Java, Phyton and C++ are called out
Knowledge of tools for version control is called out
Previous experience through projects or internships is called out
This ‘junior’ job is potentially a great fit for most bootcamp graduates because it clearly asks for qualifications all graduates have. However, it’s a generic description without any hint of what actual work will be done and in what industry or product. This is because the job is posted by a Staffing agency that is placing engineers into roles at multiple companies. This Staffing agency might also be simply trying to collect candidate information to hold on to when they have an opening.
🛑 Although this LOOKS like a junior job, it’s generic job description leads me to believe there might NOT be an actual job. If you don’t know WHAT the job is about, you are likely not applying to a real job.
Let’s look at a BETTER example:
This job for “Frontend Software Engineer” is very specific and well described. It’s clear who the company is looking for and what skills are most important to the job.
What stands out from this job description are a few elements:
The company is in the niche of mineral exploration, which is a unique industry with specific domain knowledge requirements
Job title describes the work “Frontend Software Engineer” without mention of the level of experience required
There is no requirement in terms of years of work experience, but it mentions knowledge in geo-spatial mapping
Tech languages related to Javacript and Data visualization is called out
Previous experience writing production quality code is called out
Even though the job is not listed as ‘junior’, this job can go to anyone with skills in both Frontend development and geospatial mapping.
🔑 The KEY to looking for what jobs to apply for, is to notice what the company is about, not only what the engineering skills required are. So, if you are a bootcamp grad with skills or knowledge of the mineral mining industry, this role would be a perfect fit!
🎯 The company industry matters more than the job description requirements for technical skills. Lean on your transferable skills and domain knowledge to apply to jobs that are a fit for your UNIQUE set of skills from your previous work experience.
Search for jobs smarter, not harder
When you are looking for jobs that you feel qualified for, instead of focusing on job titles and years of experience, focus on what unique work experience you already possess and are bringing to the table.
In summary:
search for keywords that are related to industry, tools or tech languages
focus on applying to companies that match your transferable skills
most companies hire based on the candidate’s unique set of skills from their previous career, not only based on their direct work experience in tech
don’t think of yourself as a ‘junior’ as it will limit your job search and your opinion of yourself
To everyone job searching during the holidays… you got this, keep going 🌟