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Comment by donohoe | Hacker News Reader

Some minor points that I hope are helpful:

- Blog on your work, what you do, problems solved, lessons learned.

- Build a online resume or portfolio. Languages uses, screenshots, code samples

- Get a LinkedIn profile, and get people that you've worked for (or with) to write up a Recommendation.

When job hunting, ignore HR. Research the hell out of the company and find out who the manager/director is who'd have the main say in hiring you or not. Reach out to them directly and introduce yourself. Provide direct links to blog/online resume/portfolio and why you'd be a great fit.

In addition, if you are in a position to do so, offer to intern for free at a known company/design-shop/etc for a few months for experience. Insist on real work and not just making coffee.

Best of luck.

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Don't intern for free. Your time is worth at least minimum wage.

Plus, it's illegal is most places to work on "real work" if you're not getting paid.

Interning for free is usually really hard on people, it became really hard on me. I also understand the whole legal gray area. That being said, the fact that I interned with the company I'm with before taking a job with them was incredibly advantageous to me in the hiring process. If you can do freelance work (maybe 2 or 3 days a week) while interning for a company that you think may hire you (when you're not freelancing), I would recommend it.

"Don't intern for free. Your time is worth at least minimum wage."

I second this. Part of my assignments the final semester of college was to intern in an IT related business. With no previous contact, I was able to get an internship paying a bit more than minimum wage.

It was invaluable experience. Not to mention that once the internship was over I had a great job just waiting for me to say yes. :-)

Actually, I think it's worth considering the other side of the coin. Either work for free or ask for a wage that is comparable to your skillset (i.e. well beyond minimum wage).

Working for free is a great way to build your portfolio of projects and get some "experience" to put on your resume. Go find a startup or small business and basically tell them you can build stuff for them for free for a month. After that period, if they like you then they need to hire you full-time.

However, I do agree there is a fine line between doing this for portfolio/resume building and being used for bitch work.

Plus, it's illegal is most places to work on "real work" if you're not getting paid.

The way this is phrased seems to imply that the person doing the work is doing something illegal. I believe that only the employer is violating the law in this case.

It's an important distinction: if you feel the arrangement is in your interest, the illegality is the employer's problem, not yours. That said, if you can actually produce working code, your time is valuable and you should not work for a for-profit business without appropriate compensation.

My point is to get experience with a solid company then use that. I think working for free is ok, obviously far from ideal, but the ends justify the means if it gets you where you need to go.

I can't say enough great things about blogging.

I earned my new job directly as a result of my new employer discovering me through my blog and I won a lot of contract work to help pay bills in college as a result of the projects I posted on my blog.

Think of it as a way to differentiate yourself from everybody else by showcasing your unique experiences and learnings in a way that's expressly you.

1 & 2) http://crgwbr.com/blog/

3) http://www.linkedin.com/in/crgwbr

Thanks! I'll try going around HR to get to the top. As far as unpaid interning, its not really possible since there is absolutely no work where I live (middle of no-where, western PA). I'm not opposed to relocating, but relocating for unpaid work is tough.

Most internships in Software Engineering are paid these days anyway (I wouldn't ever accept an unpaid one). It's probably a good area in which to look.

If there is no work, then why are you worried about getting a job? It's impossible. You might as well give up now.

Just put yourself up on elance / rent-a-coder, use that to build a portfolio.

I wouldn't do elance or rent-a-coder for a few reasons:

Firstly, you might not be creating stuff that you will want to put on your resume/portfolio (my experience from that world is clients who want hacks and weird specs).

You will also find that going rates are pretty low because you are competing with off-shore labour (this is not a rant against off-shore, just an observation that this is how common markets work)

I have done freelance work through oDesk and the longer projects were quite valuable. Rates are low but not that low. According to oDesk's stats, the average rate for a web developer is about $16/hr.

$16/hr for a developer is super low.

I guess you can't compare remote to local SF, but $100-$125/hr is a good rate for devs here.

It is just as hard anywhere you go. I moved to Silicon Valley 3 years ago with no college degree (I was still in school) and it took me 1 and 1/2 years to find a job.

Obviously being here helps but it is just as hard anywhere you go. Going to college is going to be your best option.

Moving to a major city won't hurt either.

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