If you have the knowledge, then it shouldn’t be a problem. But aside from knowing how to code, companies like to know you are familiar with the processes and tools they use.

Because no one wants to be your babysitter. And if you show you can be productive in very short period of time, your chances of getting a job go through the roof.

So here are some extra tips you can use to show you are a perfect match (especially if this is your first job)

Make A Project

When learning how to code, never try to memorize anything. Just start a project (whatever you want) and code that you use frequently you will naturally remember. Things you don’t use often aren’t worth remembering.

This will give you real-world experience that the company appreciates. And also it gives you a nice portfolio.

Use git And GitHub

Make sure your commits are small and commit messages logical and understandable. This will give your future employer information not only what you develop, but how you developed it as well.

Basically they can see how easy will it be to work with you and how much additional training you need.

Also, having git locally is good but not good enough. You need to be able to save your code in the cloud so the rest of your teammates can access it.

And since most companies use GitHub – so will you 🙂

Code Review

This is also related to git and GitHub. Make sure you know how to:

  • make a new git branch in your code
  • commit changes to this branch
  • make a pull request on GitHub
  • make comments on pull request
  • resolve comments on pull request
  • approve pull request
  • merge pull request to main git branch
  • delete a branch that is merged and no longer needed

Writing Tests

Make sure you familiarize yourself with whatever testing framework is the most popular at the time you’re reading this (also depends on programming language you use).

Just knowing how the testing setup works and the difference between unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests goes a long way. As well as how to mock models and database.

Use Slack

Learn how to use Slack or whatever communication medium companies are most likely using at the time you’re reading this.

Familiarity with all these extra tools reduces the friction for your employment.

Handle Tickets

Currently the most popular tool is Notion. But they all work similarly. Learn how to move tickets from the moment they are assigned to you, in progress, in review, merged to stage, in production (done).

All these things will set you miles apart from other candidates (especially if we’re talking about your very first coding job).

P.S. -> read this article if you want to double your salary