When it comes to starting a professional career as a Java programmer, things often seem bleak. For newcomers, breaking into the market may seem like an incredibly daunting task. No matter how much you look at current vacancies, any position requires people with experience, and sometimes it seems that even from a junior Java coder employers expect at least several years of work experience, not to mention sometimes supernatural amounts of theoretical knowledge. But how to get this experience necessary for real employment if no one wants to hire coders without experience? Vicious circle? No, just one of the typical difficulties when starting a career, which is not so difficult to overcome. In this material, we have collected several trouble-free ways to solve the problem of lack of practical experience.
1. Independent projects
Let's start with the simpler and, to a large extent, obvious tips. One of the best ways to gain hands-on experience in Java, or any other programming language, is by working on independent and hobbyist projects. For example, you can join an open project on Github. There is no need to look for complex ones or those that require an original approach and unique knowledge to implement. All that is required of a Java developer with little or no experience is that he provide opportunities for practice: the more the merrier. As basic skills improve, you can move on to more and more complex projects. Although job descriptions often include two to three years of language experience among the requirements, this is not the only criterion. Yes, companies are looking for people who can work with their own and other people’s code and have knowledge of tools. But employers often pay attention to so-called “soft skills”. This is, first of all, common sense, working with people and communications, and emotional intelligence. For all this, you need experience working on real projects with real problems and the same non-illusory deadlines, together with other coders and other specialists. Sometimes the presence of soft skills, learning ability and the desire to progress compensate in the eyes of the employer for the lack of special technical knowledge and a not very rich theoretical base. Moreover, even if the applicant is required to know a certain technology, which Java developers without experience usually do not know, having several projects in the resume, describing the experience of working on them and the lessons learned in the process will give a good chance of increased interest from employers' side.
2. Personal projects
This advice may well be useful not only for beginners in Java, but also for fairly experienced professionals. By “personal” projects we mean those that a Java coder does as a hobby, to develop his professional skills, out of interest and just for fun, and not for the purpose of making money. Many employers, when studying coders’ resumes, pay attention to whether they have their own “pet projects.” Why? If they exist, this indicates that the person really loves his job and strives for professional growth not in words, but in deeds. Here's what Oren Eini, head of Hibernating Rhinos Ltd, which develops software solutions in the field of database infrastructure, says about this: “When we are looking for a new developer to join our team, one of the determining factors for us is passion and interest in the work . We have found that people who are truly interested and interested in what they do tend to engage in their own projects in addition to purely work-related tasks. In other words, they have home projects and projects. This could be a personal website, participation in a friend's startup, or simply some code written in order to better study a certain technology. When I see that the applicant has no third-party projects at all or they are in the distant past, this is a bad sign for us.” Couldn't have said it better.
3. Freelancing is a limitless field for “leveling up” and gaining experience
Let us immediately note that it is very difficult for a novice programmer to break into freelance platforms, but you can try. The transition to working as a freelancer can be an excellent intermediate step on the path from a completely green Java developer to a confident Java junior who has gained experience and “developed” his skills. It would seem that there is little difference between freelancing and working as a full-time Java developer. But in fact, in freelancing you can find many more promising opportunities for an inexperienced Java junior. This is because freelancers are often hired for one-time or short-term work on some projects. For example, they are entrusted with tasks whose volume is too small to require a full-fledged employee for them. In English, the term “gigs” is used to describe such micro-projects. Either the project itself is experimental or the skills required are too specialized. Be that as it may, when hiring freelancers, employers are less demanding and careful, since they bear significantly less financial risk. Accordingly, a Java junior’s chances of getting his first paid job as a freelancer increase. Freelancers are often hired by small businesses that need programming help with relatively simple problems. Or entrepreneurs working on some innovative idea with a limited budget. Or even employees of large IT companies who develop their own experimental projects or concepts in their free time. In short, there are a lot of options, but in most cases it will be a small temporary job with clearly defined goals. And this is what the doctor ordered for a Java junior with no experience who needs to “pump up” his resume.
4. It’s easier to beat the dad with a bunch. Development as part of a group
If individual work on projects, be it pet projects or tasks for freelancers, does not work out for some reason, you can try another option - development as part of a team of developers of approximately the same level. Collaboration and problem solving not only help you learn and progress faster, but also solves the motivation problem that plagues many aspiring developers, especially when working from home. By the way, topics periodically appear on the JavaRush forum where someone collects just such commands. There you can also find small paid projects for one developer. Such as this one , for example .
5. JavaRush Internship
JavaRush helps its students get their first job not only in word (that is, with advice), but also in deed, offering its own internship program, during which you can work on a real project, learn new technologies and immediately “test” practical skills in their application. The JavaRush internship is three months of full-time work on a serious project, coupled with gaining additional theoretical knowledge. Recruitment for internships is carried out four times a year. Announcements are published several weeks before a new set on the website and on JavaRush’s social media pages. However, not just an internship. The main JavaRush course also includes not only small tasks and problems, but also full-fledged projects , the implementation of which brings a lot of experience. In particular, while still a JavaRush student, you can write a full-fledged game, an ATM emulator, or your own file archiver. As you can see, it is possible to solve the problem of lack of practical experience for a Java developer, if only there was a desire. It is the desire to learn and develop, a genuine interest in the profession - this is what employers want to see when studying the resume of an inexperienced specialist. In job descriptions, the popular cliche “burning eyes” is also used for this. This is how he should be, a future Java junior: with a fire in his eyes and a cold determination to master all the intricacies of Java in his heart. At least that's how employers see it.
Here's what Oren Eini, head of Hibernating Rhinos Ltd, which develops software solutions in the field of database infrastructure, says about this: “When we are looking for a new developer to join our team, one of the determining factors for us is passion and interest in the work . We have found that people who are truly interested and interested in what they do tend to engage in their own projects in addition to purely work-related tasks. In other words, they have home projects and projects. This could be a personal website, participation in a friend's startup, or simply some code written in order to better study a certain technology. When I see that the applicant has no third-party projects at all or they are in the distant past, this is a bad sign for us.” Couldn't have said it better.
By the way, topics periodically appear on the JavaRush forum where someone collects just such commands. There you can also find small paid projects for one developer. Such as this one , for example .
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