So we continue our path on getting that cushy tech job again in a terrible tech market. 4 months of applications and no job offers yet. I appear to have hit my primary stumbling block. I lack any long term job experience and I (of course) don’t have a CS degree.
Employers seem to be more picky these days. Most companies want more than 10 months experience so my last job doesn’t count. Other companies could have over looked that but the lack of degree gets me booted after that. No experience, no bachelors, no job.
So what’s a guy to do? I spent my time feeling sorry for myself but I gotta do something eventually. I’ve been picking the brain of anyone I can get to sit down with me. My most recent advice has been over my cover letter. I’ll be honest, my resume isn’t the most storied out there. I need my cover letter to shine to get any attention.
How I start is I get a skeleton of a cover letter that just talks about the job. The roles, the requirements, the mission etc. After that, I go in and fill in all the details with my own experience. A bit of a call and repeat. This gets a focused letter with my answers for the jobs need. Really focus on the specifics of what they’re looking for. Have a response to the company mission. Have an answer to the job duties and how you can be a success.
What I had been doing in the past was more of a form letter, swapping out names and job titles where needed. This is likely obvious to some, but this was a very ineffective method. The downside is I’m only applying to a handful of jobs this way. Of course 100 form letters are probably worth 1 really good one so this probably isn’t much of a downside anyways. I guess I had to get over the mental hump of spending SO much time on one application, when maybe I’ve been wasting my time already and the slow method is going to pay off. *fingers crossed*
This is a new method I’m trying for the last week so hopefully, I’ll start seeing some fruit soon.
Wish me luck
-Tyler
