Excel Yourself

The study plan you need to become a softawre developer/engineer with cutting-edge skills in a technology industry like FAANG.

Why am I doing this?

• Guy in my class faked his resume and got FAANG interviews and an offer.
• Do not include leetcode profile on your resume!
• TAGALOG/ENG: IT Graduate who didn't take college seriously looking to fill in the gaps.
• TAGALOG/ENG: How hard is it to enter the IT industry without a degree?
• TAGALOG/ENG: Leetcode or Portfolio
• TAGALOG/ENG: How hard to get a FAANG software engineering job after college in the PH?
• TAGALOG/ENG: How to get hired in FAANG? Are there open jobs here locally or abroad only?

Data Structure & Algorithms

• Start with free content before paying for anything
• Neetcode's free content is more than enough
• Take you forward
• Tech Interview Handbook
• Leetcode Patterns
• DeriveIt

• Source

  • is it enough to learn DSA?
  • Is the LeetCode’s Data Structures and Algorithms’ $89.99 course worth it?
  • How to learn Data Structures and Algorithms?
  • How I got into a FAANG 1st try after 54 solved leetcode problems

Frontend

• Front end Interview Handbook
• greatfrontend Coding Preparation

Leetcode 3 to 4 months Study Plan

• Grind 75 is an improved version of Blind 75
• Cracking The Coding Interview or CTCI
• Element of Programming Interviews or EPI

• Source

  • Your idea of best 3-4 month LC study plan

Leetcode System Design

• Why DO NOT buy LeetCode's System Design course?
• Watch codeKarle instead!
• L5 System Design Primer
• Awesome System Design
• greatfrontend System Desgn

• Source

  • what are good resources for system design?

Resume

• Found this on reddit and they said got passed on FAANG interview by using this template

• Why use Reddit and Blind for resume review? Rather than buying FAANG Tech Leads packages?

• Jake Gutierrez Resume ANOTHER EXAMPLE!

• Resume Formatting from FAANG Tech Leads

• How to format a resume and include things to add on your resume from someone who did work at FAANG

• How many projects should I have on my portfolio?

• For Amazon Employees Affected by Layoffs

  Amazon Employess Affected by Layoff

  💡Red = Action Verbs: Start each experience with an action verb; if it’s in a current position, you can put as present and if past, you put as -ed (Example of great action verbs: Reengineered, Controlled)

  💡Orange = Hard Skills: Put the specific hard skills and platform-based skills throughout the resume to show that you fit the job description's qualifications; in the Skills section of your resume, you can also have the skills and match them to your experiences where applicable. Example: To direct full-cycle recruiting for Annapurna Labs by leveraging a strong network of talent, To conduct detailed reviews of # employee requests for reasonable accommodations in alignment with ADA/ADAAA laws

  💡Green = impact metrics: optimizing cost efficiency by %.

  💡Cyan = Impact statements before the number/percentages: This showcases if you improved, optimized, or increased xyz. Example: "resulting in the hiring of # full-time engineering staff members within # months."

  💡Yellow = soft skills: more broad or simple statements, these are relative to collaboration, providing recommendations, and identifying solutions to potential problems

  Note: This is an example resume; it should be chronologically ordered.

  

Mock Interviews

• Pramp Interviewing: the most profitable skill you can learn
• Anonymous mock interviews with engineers from FAANG
• Neetcode Discord Community

• Source

  • Best options for mock interviews

TL;DR Websites to help you to ace an interview

• Freecodecamp.org Algorithms and Data Structures Tutorial - Full Course for Beginners
• Neetcode.io
• Leetcode Study Plans
• System Design Primer
• Grind 75
• Coding Prep greatfrontend
• Quiz Prep greatfrontend
• Resume template

TAGALOG/ENG 5 lessons from an I.T. engineer How I achieved ₱7-digit salary

5 lessons from an I.T. engineer

𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 # 𝟏: 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝟐𝟒 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚
Limited ang kita ng isang I.T. engineer. Kahit pa sabihin mo na you get paid $100/hour you can only earn $2,400/day. You are the product and you only have 24 hours per day to showcase your skills. That’s the reality of a typical employee and self-employed person and that’s why only business owners and investors become wealthy. The same goes for any career.

In the Philippines, when you hit the 350,000/month mark as an I.T. engineer kabahan ka na dahil wala ka nang malilipatan na mas malaki pa dun at pag nawala sayo yung work na yun mahihirapan ka na makahanap ng company na kayang tapatan yun. And believe me, mawawala sayo yung work na yun. If you continue to remain an engineer and don’t move up to I.T. Executive Management once you hit that 350k mark yung sweldo mo na yun will no longer rise but fall.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆 # 𝟏: 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒊𝒏
If you look at the 1st screenshot I attached you will see that I currently have 4 jobs. Yes, FOUR FULL-TIME jobs. Sa same screenshot na yun you will see that all four jobs combined I make about $304/hour. That’s P16,000/hour or P133,000/day NET. That’s nothing new to me as I started working multiple jobs when I was 19. I experienced my first WFH job nung 2007 with IBM. Dun ko na master yung diskarte kung paano pagsabayin na lang yung mga trabaho instead of working multiple shifts a day. Nung pandemic since bawal lumabas I took on 6 jobs.

I am merely an employee/consultant. I have to submit a timesheet and say Yes Sir or Yes Boss. Pero kahit employee lang ako mas malaki pa kita ko sa mga boss ko. I only work 10 hours at night, in the comfort of my house, and never have to think about work after my shift. On the other hand, they are on-call all day and have to report to the office; I am playing golf while they are stuck on bridge calls and E-mails. I also don’t run a business at wala akong iniintindi na bayad sa rent, sweldo ng mga employees, sales, problema sa tao, accounting, etc. I don’t carry a CEO title next to my name yet I make more money than many CEO small business owners out there who stress about their business on-site and at home.

No one knows that I’ve worked for at least 10 of the Fortune 50 companies out there. I don’t talk about what I do with anyone including my wife. People who know me only knows I’m in the I.T. field and that’s it; hindi nila alam kaya ko pasukin mga E-mail at social media accounts nila at palitan mga WiFi passwords nila sa bahay if I wanted to. I use a 15-year-old laptop and I still carry an iPhone SE. I say these because that’s how much I hate tech, I don't love what I do, and how unavailing I think my career is. I’d rather be doing farming kasi nandun passion ko nung bata ako, pero hindi ako kaya buhayin ng passion ko so ito pinasok ko. I knew there is money in I.T. and let’s be honest – money solves a lot of problems.

I wanted a 6-digit salary so I worked hard for it. Nung nakuha ko na hindi ako nakuntento and wanted a 7-digit salary, so I worked harder for that. After that I said I wanted to get paid $1,000/day, and then $50,000/month. Tapos nun sinabi ko sa sarili ko na I want a 6-digits salary daily and not monthly. Nakuha ko na lahat yun but I'm still not satisfied, now I want a 6-digit monthly salary in dollars and I am working hard to achieve that.

Walang mali dun. I don’t smoke, I hate drinking, and I don’t gamble, but I don’t go out there and tell another adult to have the same ethics that I have. Do not let anyone tell you na wag ka papasok sa isang bagay dahil sa pera, na be grateful dahil may trabaho ka at malaki na sweldo mo tapos yung iba wala, na sundin mo ang passion mo kahit di ka kaya buhayin ng passion mo, blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah. Kung wala ka naman sinasaktan, nilalabag na batas, maayos ka nagtratrabaho para kumita, and you can sleep soundly at night knowing you are a good person then everything else is just noise. I used greed as motivation to achieve my goals and become rich and not a basis for my morals.
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘬𝘰.

𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 # 𝟐: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒓
Pumasok ako sa I.T. because I was inspired by a 16-year old American who can build websites in just a day. At 16 years old may Ferrari na sya kahit wala pa syang license to drive. That was during the dotcom boom, and then years later it crashed. I’m old enough to have witnessed that at yung pag baba ng salaries ng mga web designers, as well as the rise and fall of the salaries of Network Engineers, Microsoft Engineers, Database Engineers, Storage Engineers, Virtualization Engineers, and Mobile Developers. There was a time when government agencies use Novell Netware as their Operating System. None of you probably heard of that but I also witnessed Netware Engineers on their 50s lose their jobs and retire early dahil nag dominate na si Microsoft and they didn’t keep up. I was lucky enough to have witnessed that early on in my career because that told me that I have to continue learning sa field na pinasok ko.

Sa I.T. field at sa kahit ano pang industry or sa buhay in general – the more you know the better off you will be.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆 # 𝟐: 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔, 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒐𝒏𝒆
I never stayed in a company for more than 2 years. I am only 41 but if you look at the 2nd screenshot I attached you will see that I have worked for more than 50 companies throughout my career (a lot more actually, I just wasn’t keeping an archive back then). I do that because I want to learn a lot and earn a lot. Hindi ako kuntento sa desktops lang, hindi ako kuntento sa networking lang, hindi ako satisfied sa development at programming, ayaw ko maging specialist sa cloud, sa security, infrastructure, servers, etc. The only way I can learn everything is if I jump from one company to another.

Sa 1st screenshot ulit makikita nyo na ang mga trabaho ko ngayon are:
- 𝘾𝙮𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 – I am architecting a vulnerability management program for one of the states sa America
- 𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙 – I am automating the migration of thousands of Windows Servers to AWS for a $13B private company
- 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙠𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙨 – I am doing a Windows 7 to Windows 10/11 VDI upgrade project for a $23B public company
- 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 – I am an I.T. Project Manager for the 2nd largest vehicle manufacturer in the world

No one in my level would be willing to go back to desktops, but that’s not how I think. I don’t mind being a Jr Developer ulit at inuutusan ng mga senior developers kung may panibago naman akong language o framework na matututunan. When I go into a company I just focus on stuff na hindi ko pa alam and then I learn it and be good at it. Pag alam ko na then I move on. I only need 1-2 years for that and less than a year to learn a specific system, hardware, or application. Hindi ako nag bibida-bidahan sa opisina, I don’t involve myself sa office politics, I don’t make friends nor talk about personal stuff with my co-workers, and I attend meetings a minute late para wala nang “Hi, how are you?” na nagaganap. If the hat I am wearing sa company is an I.T. Business Analyst at may kausap akong Infrastructure Engineer, kahit alam ko na may mali syang ginagawa hinahayaan ko na lang coz' ang priority ko is wag mag pasikat para ma-juggle ko lahat ng mga trabaho ko. Nevermind na hindi ako ang pinakamatalinong engineer sa team. Nevermind na meron isang super yabang na hacker kuno akong co-worker. Nevermind na meron isang 20 years na sa company na kabisado lahat ng nangyayari sa I.T. department namin. Hindi ako insecure sa skills ko para ipaalam pa sa iba kung ano-ano ang alam ko. Instead, naka focus na lang ako sa mga hindi ko pa alam para madagdagan yung mga nalalaman ko.

I have used hundreds of technologies throughout my career. Lagay mo ko sa backups I know the role and I can give you 7 different backup technologies na nagamit ko na; lagay mo ko sa monitoring, ganun din and I can give you a dozen monitoring tools na nagamit ko na rin. Development tools, programming languages, Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix, and VMware products, etc. marami na ko nahawakan. I am an expert in none but I am your Jack that can run and manage all of those systems smoothly.

Nowadays ako na namimili ng trabaho. I don’t care what my job title is, kung ano ba role ko, kung sobrang ganda na ng company na napasukan ko, or kung ano ang mga benefits na meron sa company. When I look at a job posting ang hinahanap ko na lang are signs kung kaya ko ba isabay yung work sa iba ko pang mga trabaho, and if so, then I’ll go for it. Kung meron bagong matututunan or kung yung company is in an industry na di ko pa napapasok then that’s a plus for me at inaaplayan ko yung work kahit maliit sweldo.
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐.𝘛. 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘬𝘰.

𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 # 𝟑: 𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑨𝑭𝑳(There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch)
Paulit-ulit na lang, all successful people will tell you how important hard work and sacrifice is.

Today para bang WFH is a must, a stress-free environment is required, and everyone is entitled to have a work-life balance. Elon Musk is an executive to many companies working more than 20 hours a day yet he has a work-life balance. I have four full-time jobs but I still have a work-life balance.

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠-𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙭 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙮.
"If you don't go out there and put in the work, you don't go out and put in the effort, one, you're not going to get the results, but two, and more importantly, you don't deserve it. You need to earn it. So that defined my upbringing. That defined my career." – Tiger Woods

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆 # 𝟑: 𝑷𝒂𝒈 𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝑻𝒊𝒚𝒂𝒈𝒂, 𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝑵𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒂
Nung 18 ako naglilinis ako ng banyo sa McDonalds at yung maliit na sweldo ko napupunta lang sa rent ko as a bedspacer. I couldn’t even afford to commute and was riding a bicycle to work, minsan late pa kasi nabasa ako sa ulan at kailangan ko magpatuyo muna before mag clock in. I experienced how hard life was and I had my share of tears pouring down while taking a shower. I did a lot of self-studying and faced countless number of rejections until makapasok sa field. Friday and Saturday nights habang nasa bars mga kapatid ko I was in a cubicle inside a Data Center kasi I have a weekend night shift NOC Engineer job that I have to attend to. I used to commute 2 hours one way sa umaga and again sa gabi kasi dalawa trabaho ko at magkalayo yung dalawang office. Lunch break ko was spent catching up on sleep. Sacrifice sa barkada, sacrifice sa sports, sacrifice sa luho; hirap sa commute, hirap sa maliit na sweldo, hirap sa stress. That’s how I spent my entire 20s and that’s just a tidbit of all other sacrifices I had to make during those years to gain experience and get myself ready when I hit my 30s. And did I mention na despite me working multiple jobs I have never been absent nor have I taken a day off from work for more than a decade now, maybe in the last 15 years pa nga?
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘬𝘰.

𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 # 𝟒: 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆
There was a time when I was one of the youngest CCNA holders sa buong mundo. I passed my CCNA certification on the day of my 19th birthday. There were only 500 CCIEs in the world back then. I was very good that I can even do subnetting in my head. Sobra ako nag sikap at talagang alam ko yung pinag-aralan ko. However, when it was time to find work I realized no one wants to hire someone without experience. I was so proud of my accomplishment only to be humbled by reality: In the I.T. world experience trumps degrees and certifications. What I went through then is no different than what many newbies are going through now. Sobrang daming fresh grads and career shifters na hindi alam ano gagawin at paano makapasok sa I.T. dahil walang experience. Even people with MBAs struggle with finding work.

Colleges will teach you what you need to learn about your career but they will not teach you how to land a job sa industry na pinapasok mo. Kaya maraming taong hirap makakuha ng trabaho kasi walang nagturo sa kanila kung paano makakuha ng trabaho. Job hunting and the art of it should be a class taught in universities for an entire semester. Heck, I would love to teach that class for free!

Kahit Summa Cum Laude ka pa ng I.T. sa U.P. Diliman you start from the bottom like everyone else dahil sa industry natin employers want experience. Hindi ito kagaya ng ibang fields na pag nag top ka sa school, bar, or board e hahabulin ka na ng mga job offers. Hindi porket narinig mo sa mga tao na nasa Cybersecurity at Cloud ang pera at future, at nagsikap ka pag-aralan yun, e makakakuha ka na ng mataas na sweldo agad-agad. If you don’t believe me then simply ask every successful I.T. person you know kung ang first job ba nila sa I.T. e malaking sweldo na agad; ask every I.T. person you know kung meron bang company na humabol at nag recruit sa kanila straight out of college.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆 # 𝟒: 𝑩𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕
Newbies are too obsessed on studying and learning that they don’t realize that is just half the battle and the other half is landing a job. I carry 12 different certifications in my arsenal yet I don’t even put all of them sa resume ko kasi minsan mas makakasama pa sakin na ganun kadami certs ko. Ayoko ma question at tanungin na how can I be a Certified Scrum Master and also have a PMP certification but at the same time Certified Ethical Hacker din ako? Ang layo diba? I also have to modify job titles because I can’t be applying for an Incident Manager role but say na I’m a Web Developer sa current company ko. Experience ko is capped at 15 years lang dahil alam ko na pag nilagay ko pa na over 20 years na ko sa industry may bias na rin yun and many employers will think I’m too old na.

I have 28 versions of my resume. I learned to manipulate my resume and have a certain template to use depende sa role na inaaplayan ko. Kung may makita akong job posting for a Linux Engineer may resume na ko for that and I just modify it to tailor fit it sa requirements ng role. Kung ang company na inaaplayan ko ay nasa BPO industry then papalitan ko lahat ng previous work experiences ko and only mention the companies sa BPO industry where I worked for and then just play around with the dates. Kung meron naman akong specific na field sa I.T. na gusto ko pasukin for the first time then yung resume ko for that field ang ipupublish ko on-line for recruiters to see.

Many people think na masama ang binabago-bago ang information sa resume. That’s a huge misconception. Walang official rule kung paano gumawa ng resume. If the argument is to be honest sa resume then sa technologies pa lang I would probably have a 2-page resume na with three columns tapos kung ilalagay ko pa lahat ng mga work ko then I would end up with a 50-page resume. But why would I do that, diba? My goal is not to be honest, my goal is pansinin ang resume ko out of the dozens or hundreds of other resumes at matawag ako for an interview, so I have to think outside the box. Now if you’re filling out a formal application form ng company and signing it saying everything you said is truthful then yes, be honest.

I‘ve been working in the I.T. industry for 23 years but spent my first 22 years without a college degree. Last year ko lang nakuha ang BSIT ko sa PUP. Not having a degree wasn’t a choice, I simply had to survive on my own at a very young age. For 22 years kinailangan ko dumiskarte kung paano ako makakalusot sa mga trabaho na required ang college degree. Sinubukan ko ilagay sa resume ko na may degree ako; that didn’t work out kasi nahuli nung vinerify. Sinubukan ko naman magpagawa sa Recto ng diploma/degree/transcript; minsan lusot, minsan huli. Sinubukan ko naman na ilagay sa resume ko na college student ako and I’m supposed to graduate in 4 years – complete failure. I tried honesty and certainly it wasn’t the best policy. Binago ko ulit and said I’ll graduate na in 1 year and with that I got more responses sa applications ko. Ultimately ang naging diskarte ko is ilagay sa resume ko "%NameOfUniversitiy% - Bachelors in Information Technology, %CurrentYear%". That way iisipin ni HR, ni recruiter, or whoever is doing the initial screening of my resume na may degree na ko but when it's really time to be honest about it then saka ko sasabihin na kaya nga 2023 nakalagay kasi patapos pa lang ako, that I am on my last semester na. Throughout my career up until last year ang sinsabi ko lagi isang semester na lang may degree na ko. Worked flawlessly each time.

Again, walang nagturo sakin nun, at kahit mali yun I don’t care kasi alam ko naman na mabuting tao pa rin ako kahit ganun ang approach ko. Ang goal ko is ma-interview ako ni hiring manager kasi alam ko na pag nakausap nya ko he will end up hiring me. I can no longer count the number of times na ni-reject ako ng HR for not having a degree pero nakakuha ako ng exception kasi si hiring manager sinabi kay HR that I am the right guy for the role. This is why I am a firm believer that you don’t need to be a college graduate to have a successful I.T. career and this is also why I would pick a street smart person over a book smart individual any given day. I fetish on fixing problems on my own instead of asking other people for help kasi sa ganun paraan ako natututo – that’s how one becomes street smart.
𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚’𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨

So why do I have a college degree now despite being successful already? Two reasons: 1) I became a father and I want to set an example to my son when it's his time. 2) Because I worked for more than 50 companies it also means that I reported to more than 50 bosses. I’ve never been a manager but I know what makes of a good boss after experiencing that many superiors. Sobrang taas ng confidence level ko when it comes to landing a job sinubukan ko mag apply sa isang multi-national company sa BGC for an I.T. Senior Vice President role. At the end of my final interview with my supposedly soon-to-be British boss he told me “I interviewed 9 people so far and no one has the experience that you have. I would hire you in a heartbeat but a P500,000/month salary without a college degree won’t fly with our HR department. If this has a lower salary grade I can make it happen but for this particular management position, you are too high up the ladder and I don’t carry that much power, unfortunately.” I knew he was telling the truth because everyone that I spoke to liked me. Gets ko naman kasi kokonti lang naman talaga ang mga companies na kukuha ng executive na walang degree. Alangan naman ilagay nila mukha ko sa website nila at mag send sya ng mass E-mail sa buong I.T. org nila introducing me tapos walang mention about my educational background. I smiled, thanked him for the time and consideration, and then left. Pag labas ko ng building sobrang taas ng ngiti sa mukha ko kasi alam ko na someone like me who has no management experience can land a Senior VP role. So ayun, nag enroll ako sa PUP at tinapos ko degree ko during the pandemic. I never tried applying for another management role since then kasi priorities have changed and I am enjoying my time being at home with my 5-year old.
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘬𝘰.

𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 # 𝟓: 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒈 𝑩𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍
Kung iniisip nyo na unfair at hindi applicable dito sa Pinas yung sinasabi ko well mind you, Filipino ako, sa Pilipinas ako nakatira, and I am a taxpayer. Dumiskarte lang ako para makakuha ako ng mga clients abroad at makuha ko ng buo yung hourly rate ko. If you’re saying naman na magkaiba tayo ng situation at may pamilya ka na sinusuportahan well mind you again, nung 20s pa lang ako kahit single ako ang dami ko nang sinusuportahan mga tao, as in madami. Instead of being scared to make critical decisions sa career ko mas lalo pa ako naging aggressive kasi marami akong tinutulungan. Kung tingin mo hindi applicable sa Pinas ang multiple jobs dahil sa tax contributions then you’re normal. Kung tingin mo there’s no way for you to find work abroad while living here then you’re normal. Kung tingin mo di pwede kumita ng foreign currency habang nasa Pinas then you’re normal. Kung tingin mo bawal dahil nakalagay sa contract mo na you can't have multiple jobs then you're normal. And that’s fine, but don’t expect your future to be special. I wanted a life different from most people so I challenged myself to get out of my comfort zone and think outside the box.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆 # 𝟓: 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆, 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆, 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆
Dahil nga wala akong degree alam ko na handicap na agad ako pag dating sa mga job applications, so what I did was invest 8 hours of my day for job hunting and treated it like a full-time work. For 8 hours each day hanggang makakuha ako ng work I was modifying and sending out my resume, applying for work, speaking to recruiters, doing interviews, studying new stuff na nakikita ko sa mga job requirements na hindi ko alam, etc. My goal was to land a job but unexpectedly naintindihan ko na rin yung buong recruiting and job hiring process that I was able to come up with my own strategy on how to land work.

If you look at the third screenshot I attached you will see that this year alone I have already sent out my resume over 260 times. I average about 500 job applications in a year but 99% of them I don’t land, and for many reasons like wala akong college degree, no response from the employer, hindi nag agree sa offer, wala akong experience, I backed out after knowing more about the job, hindi ako lumusot, etc. That doesn’t bother me because I only need 2-3 jobs in a year and logic tells me that if I apply to one job posting I have a 50/50 chance of landing a job but if I apply to 500 postings then a 1% success rate is enough.

𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙄 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝟗𝟗% 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝟏% 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚.
Instead of ranting na walang response from the employer after your interview, na walang response sa job applications nyo, na lagi kayong rejected after an interview, or kabado kayo lagi sa interview, or di kayo magaling mag English at makipag communicate, just send out your resume to hundreds of employers dahil ika nga sa industry natin, it’s all just ones and zeros. Meron at meron isang engot dyan na papatol sayo.

Hindi ako nakikinig lang sa mga sabi-sabi na ito ang hot ngayon or ito ang malaking sweldo. I actually see it first-hand kung ano ba ang hot, ano yung mga pawala na, at ano yung mga bagong roles na naglilitawan dahil minomonitor ko ang mga job boards and I get daily E-mail alerts for all job postings posted in the last 24 hours. I used to get contracts for $110/hour to hack company networks as a penetration tester but nowadays that salary doesn't exist anymore. Hindi na ko invested sa Cybersecurity like before kasi secured na career ko sa field na yun and I want to be ahead. Nowadays I am targeting work related to A.I. kasi yun ang nakikita ko sa trend at yun ang konti lang na mahirap pasukin. Believe me when I say na 10 years from now a Cloud engineer’s salary will be just like any other Server Engineer’s salary, likewise for Cybersecurity. Kung papasok ka pa lang sa I.T. tas ang end goal mo is Cloud or Cybersecurity kabahan ka na dahil by the time you actually get to a level na deserve mo na yung malaking sweldo baka it’s no longer the same salary you were told it was going to be.

Not once have I asked my employer for a salary increase. When I wanted a salary increase I find another job. That’s how I managed to bring my salary up. There were times that I jumped 40,000, 56,000, and 61,000 pesos per month sa salary only because I hopped. The highest increase I got was when I was 25 years old, jumping from 320,000/month to 520,000/month. Yun yung time when I decided to get out of my comfort zone again and try I.T. consulting naman. If you want an increase in pay wag mo na sayangin oras mo by asking your boss. Find another job instead because the best time to negotiate a salary increase is when you have nothing to lose dahil employed ka naman. You’ll be surprised na minsan ikaw pa pipigilan ng boss mo umalis and instead of getting the typical 3-8% standard increase lang tatapatan pa nila yung offer mo sa iba.

I’ve experienced doing an interview habang bagong gising lang kasi nakalimutan ko at nag ring phone ko habang tulog pa ako – and I still passed that interview. I’ve also done interviews while taking a dump in the toilet, not because I wanted to but because parang ABC na lang sya sakin at di na ko kinakabahan. Kaya ko mag multi-task habang nag-iinterview and still land the job. Iharap mo ko sa HR or sa recruiter alam ko ang mga dapat ko sabihin para lumusot ako sa kanila. Iharap mo ko sa hiring manager alam ko rin ang diskarte ko. Panel interviews alam ko strategy ko. Boss ng boss ko or mga directors and management people kabisado ko rin gusto nila marinig. If I am interviewing for a company in the Healthcare, Finance, Banking, Automotive, Retail, Government, BPO, etc. industry may sarili rin akong diskarte kasi kabisado ko na rin mga I.T. processes at systems nila. I know all these because I do interviews almost every week, sometimes multiple times a day. Kahit first day ko sa bago kong work I still do interviews with other companies. I’ve been on panel interviews where senior engineers don’t even know what to ask me kasi they were intimidated by my resume and they need not say anything else. I've landed many jobs before na isang interview lang pinagdaanan ko tapos parang formality na lang yung nangyari kasi sa resume ko pa lang nabenta ko na sarili ko at nag decide na si hiring manager na i-hire ako.

Everyone I know upskill para may bago silang matutunan so they can move to a higher role and salary. When I upskill I don't do it to learn something new, I do it to pass interviews. Pag may gusto akong pasukin na field or role I will go to the job boards and pull 20 job postings for that role tapos babasahin ko mga job descriptions nila at mga technologies na ginagamit sa role na yun, tapos pag-aaralan ko summary nung mga skills na kailangan and get a working knowledge about the technologies na ginagamit. I don't spend weeks or months studying, thousands of pesos on boot camps and training schools, I don't waste time with hands on experience, and I don't get a certification when I upskill. I only spend hours before the interview to upskill para lang malusutan ko ang interview. I learn enough information about the system just to B.S. myself through the interviews. Pag nakalusot na ko sa interviews and land the job saka ko kukunin yung hands on experience ko. Hindi nila kailangan malaman na wala naman talaga akong experience dahil confident ako na pag nandun na ko kaya ko matutunan yun agad-agad ng walang sablay. Kahit saan mo ko lagay sa I.T. chances are I know the role at kung hindi man kaya ko makipag communicate sa taong yun at his level. That's how I upskilled sa career ko -- on the job, getting paid while learning something new.

Lastly, get your certs and keep getting more certs. Totoo na you don’t need certs to get into I.T. or land a job. However, you certainly need the certs if you want to have an advantage sa ibang applicants when applying for a job. Always assume that the first person who will see your resume is not a technical person. Assume na yung HR rep or the recruiter is not technical enough to determine kung magaling ka talaga. Assume that these people have a checklist sa harap nila and all they do is quickly browse through your resume, look for the requirements na nasa checklist nila, and check off those boxes. Kahit 10 years ka nang Help Desk Technician kung nasa listahan ni HR is required ang A+ Certification at wala ka nun, then assume na bale wala ang experience mo and HR will write you off. A hiring manager will entertain your resume because he can tell na you know your stuff despite the lack of cert, but unfortunately the hiring manager is not the first person to see your resume so always assume the worst.

If you look at the last screenshot I attached you will see na in a span of 7 days I received E-mails from 6 different recruiters for different positions ranging from $50-$120/hr (there are a lot more actually pero pinili ko lang pakita yung mga E-mails na malalaki sweldo na inentertain ko). They reached out to me directly kasi nakita nila resume ko sa mga job boards. These recruiters simply type keywords sa search nila and many will search for a certification. Kung wala ako nung mga certs na hinahanap nila then I won’t be getting these E-mails. Because of the certs, plus yung effort ko to put out my resume on various job portals, mas tumaas ang chances ko in landing jobs kasi ako na ang nilalapitan nila instead of me sending out my resume to them. That’s how I view certifications – not to showcase my skills like what everyone else is doing but to use certs to have an advantage sa job hiring process.
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘬𝘰.

My early goals in life was no different than most people: I wanted a brand new car and my own house. I checked the former when I was 21 and checked the latter when I was 23. I then followed up those goals with much larger ones with deadlines set to when I turn 30 and when I turn 40. My goal now before I turn 50 is to transition from being rich to being wealthy. Preferably I wanted to become wealthy by the time I hit 40 pero sobrang dami lang talagang tinutulungan kaya sacrifice muna sa sarili to help others. Hopefully by the time I reach 50 I have enough assets that are working for me giving me the same monthly income I am making now so I can finally retire and bum out.

For over 20 years I’ve consistently worked at least two jobs. I make millions each month yet I still spend the first hour of my shift browsing the job boards, modifying my resume, sending out job applications, and talking to recruiters. Twenty years later I am still hungry, driven, and motivated. Naturally I just forgot about farming and discovered my true passion which is to help my family and help people in need.

There is absolutely nothing wrong about pursuing your passion. Likewise, there is absolutely nothing wrong in forgetting your passion. My experience taught me that it is much sweeter and rewarding when you set goals and pursue those goals, because the journey it takes to reach those goals becomes your passion.

𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.
It’s my turn to be a parent now and unlike many parents out there, when my son reaches the age of reason I will not advise him to pursue what he is passionate about. I would instead tell him to create goals, both short term and long term goals, and to keep creating goals, and then simply work hard to pursue those goals, so he can find his passion.

This long read is not meant to tell anyone to mimic me. It’s also not meant to inspire anyone to enter I.T. because getting to a 3M monthly salary didn’t happen overnight, it’s decades’ worth of sacrifices and hard work. I do not know anyone else who is doing what I am doing but believe it or not I am not special dahil marami kaming marunong dumiskarte. Lumabas lang ako sa comfort zone ko para matuto akong diskartehan ang buhay ko. That’s what this post is about – matuto kayo dumiskarte sa buhay at hindi gaya lang ng gaya sa mga naririnig, binabasa, at sinasabi sa inyo. When things get tough stop asking other people for encouraging words to make you feel better or to help you with your problems. Instead, concentrate on the problem and then come up with solutions to fix it. Think outside the box.

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔:
• I didn’t let society define my morals in life
• I got out of my comfort zone so I can grow
• I gave up my 20s to become successful
• I used experience as my teacher in life
• I pursued goals instead of my passion
And again, 𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑲𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬, 𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑲𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬, 𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑲𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬

Reference:
No, M. (2023, November 9). 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝟕-𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲 (5 lessons from an I.T. engineer). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/MedyoSocial/posts/pfbid0J214TStt6cJMctpc5pVBEkpfbA6N7pfGoyvT9ytx4WKTEta5JAPWdcN53MKKEgXdl

TAGALOG/ENG November 2023 I.T. Career Advice: Interview Strategies [the real talk way] by Medyo No

A long note

Almost all of you won’t be able to name an I.T. engineer who only worked for one company throughout his career because every successful I.T. engineer would have worked for multiple companies before being successful. To be able to work for multiple employers you have to be capable of landing a job and to be able to land a job you have to surpass the interview process. That’s how important interviews are. In our industry it’s not all about skills and tech at hindi lang isang interview ang dadaanan mo sa career mo.

With that said, here is my November I.T. Career Advice: Interview Strategies [the real talk way]

Tip # 1: If you don’t know how to prepare for a job interview read the job description of the role you are applying. If you don’t have it then search the job portals for that role, read through 20 postings, and then understand the common denominators of that role (skills required, day to day responsibilities, and technologies used). Focus your preparation on those three.

Tip # 2: If you have a meeting invite for your interview (ask if you don’t) pull the names of the people on the invite and Google them. See if they have a LinkedIn profile or if you can find them on-line. Research their past roles and job history. Knowing who will be on the call will tell you how the interview will go. Obviously kung meron mga engineers sa call then expect the interview to have technical questions, kung HR or recruiter then it will be more about your background, career, and compatibility to the company. Kung upper I.T. management or final interview sa boss ng magiging boss mo then be ready to sell your personality and communication skills. Kung si hiring manager heavy ang technical background at newbie manager pa lang then be ready na tapunan ka rin nya ng technical questions, pero kung nasa management na sya for a very long time then you may be able to B.S. your way about your technical skills. Meron din ibang diskarte kung maliit or malaki ang company at kung anong industry sya, although medyo advanced tips na yun for me to share here.

Tip # 3: Don’t be shy to ask your recruiter or HR about the person or people conducting your interview. Recruiters will gladly give you some tips. Ask questions like “How does this person/people conduct their interviews?”, “Have there been candidates before me that completed the same interview and how did those go?”, “What are the typical questions being asked?”, etc. Kung magaling recruiter mo he/she should be able to answer all those questions.

Tip # 4: For technologies you are not familiar with get a good understanding of what they are 2-3 hours before the interview. Find out about version numbers, get a good look and feel of the product’s interface, common problems with it, competing products, etc. It’s much better to sell yourself na you have a good working knowledge about the technology despite the lack of hands-on experience than to simply say you don’t know what it is. Else, kung hindi mo talaga alam don’t be scared to say na hindi mo alam. Mas ok yun kesa magpanggap ka na alam mo dahil ang mangyayari lang is paligoy-ligoy ka sa sagot mo and interviewers will definitely see through that.

Tip # 5: I have a 49-inch widescreen monitor that I use solely for interviews. On that screen are all of my notes for the interview including answers to the most common interview questions I have gathered for the role I am targeting. My camera is pointed to my face but in an angle and not directly to my eyes. Sa simula pa lang ng interview I stare at my notes na agad and don’t look at the camera directly. This gives the interviewers the impression that I am looking at them through my screen but in reality I am looking at my notes and am only glancing on them. This way pag may tinanong sakin na hindi ko completely alam and I have to refer to my notes hindi halata na may binabasa ako.

Tip # 6: Have a template of perfectly crafted answers to the most common personality questions or questions that you know may be asked because they are red flags on your resume, like “Why did you leave your last job” or “Explain the gap on your resume”. Know how to respond to questions like “Where do you want to be or where do you see yourself 5 years from now” or “Tell me a time when you had to deal with a huge problem and how you managed to resolve it”.

I hop a lot and sometimes I get asked why I hop a lot. Companies ask that kasi ayaw nila na papasok ako tapos aalis din naman ako in a short period of time. Ang sagot ko lagi dun is “I wanted to learn a lot and I wanted to work at different environments and industries. That helped me tremendously in my career and brought to me to where I am now. However, I just started my own family recently and am a father now. Priorities have changed so I am now looking for a stable company that I can grow with for a long period of time, and I feel this company meets that requirement” – kahit hindi naman totoo na nag ka anak ako at alam ko na lilipat ulit ako after two years or less.

Tip # 7: Go through plenty of rejections. I’ve learned to master the strategy on how to talk to recruiters and HR, hiring managers, engineers, and what to say and not to say on technical interviews, final interviews, personality interviews, initial screening, etc. because I always put myself through interviews. Yung notes ko na sinabi ko sa Tip # 5 were notes collected from decades’ worth of interviews. By going through it over and over again you will naturally be able to predict how an interview will go and can easily prepare for it, even to a point na kaya mo na i-set ang tone and direction ng interview kahit ikaw yung applicant.

There is no step by step process to successfully pass an interview. Interviews are mastered through confidence, confidence is achieved through experience, and experience is collected through tons and tons of rejections. Experience countless number of rejections para mas maintindihan mo yung job hiring process at para ma build mo ang confidence mo.

Tip # 8: Kahit hindi ka naghahanap ng work just go out there and test the market. Get a feel how marketable you are or how hard it is for you to land a job para may idea ka in case mawalan ka ng work. Test the market para malaman mo kung underpaid ka ba sa skills na meron ka or overpaid ka. Di mo naman kailangan lumipat if you don’t want to e. At the end of the day it is always better to be rejecting job offers than to be rejected for a role. Kung stress ka na sa work mo or feeling mo toxic sya, kahit di ka pa naman nagplaplano mag quit maghanap ka na ng work para malaman mo kung may karapatan ka ba mag quit dahil kayang-kaya mo kumuha ng kapalit o kung dapat ka muna kumuha ng kapalit bago ka mag quit. The side effect to embracing endless job search is gagaling ka na rin sa interviews naturally.

If you don’t want to leave your comfort zone at ok ka lang sa company mo then hanap ka ng mga work na 50K more sa kinikita mo at mas senior sa role na meron ka. Apply ka ng apply at pag daanan mo ang mga application and interview process. Ang goal mo lang naman is to gain experience sa mga interviews e so kung di mo man makuha mga roles na yun then ok lang, pero kung biglang ginulat mo sarili mo dahil nakalusot ka, well, then meron kang napakagandang problema.

Tip # 9: Going through countless interviews taught me that it’s not about my qualifications but about selling myself sa mga nag-iinterview sakin. Maraming beses na ko nakalusot sa mga interviews not because I am qualified for the role but because I was able to sell myself to the hiring manager. If you can get to that point sa career mo na kaya mo na benta sarili mo successfully then you will never have to worry about job security ever again nor will you ever have to worry about a low salary.

Tip # 10: Never ever deny yourself of an opportunity to go through the job hiring process. When recruiters reach out to you or may nag refer sayo kahit hindi ka naman naghahanap entertain them and go through the hiring process. Maraming beses ko na na-ecounter na nasa interview ako for one role tapos inofferan ako ng ibang role with a much bigger pay than the one I am targeting dahil nakausap nila ako at nalaman nila skill sets ko. There were times din na alam ko na hindi ko naman kukunin yung work pero pinatulan ko pa rin para lang ma experience yung interview process tapos in the end I ended up getting the job anyway kasi sobrang ganda nung final offer versus sa initial understanding ko about the work and salary. These are unexpected opportunities na di ko naman malalaman kung tinanggihan ko na agad sa inquiry pa lang.

I am both an employee and employer. Once in a while I go to the job boards and look for talent to work for me. I look for experienced engineers who I feel are underpaid and I give them an opportunity to move up sa career at buhay nila. Lagi ako nakaka encounter ng mga engineers who flat out decline a role without even asking for more information. One of the responses I always get is “I am currently employed”. If only they knew that the salary they would get from me is at least double of what they are currently making and that what I have to offer will allow them to experience different roles and exposure sa ibat-ibang fields sa I.T., get to touch countless of technologies, and work at different industries. Don’t be that kind of engineer – pag may tumawag sayo or may nag refer sayo for a role kahit hindi ka interested pag daanan mo yung process – because again, in our industry it’s not all about skills and tech lang.

Reference

No, M. (2023, November 9). November I.T. Career Advice: Interview Strategies [the real talk way]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/itphil/posts/1334770923853726/

What interviewing hundreds of Pinoy developers taught me, 5 advices to be more hireable... by UnrelatedConnexion

5 advices to be more hireable

𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 #1: 𝑮𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒔
A lot of developers I have interviewed learned their skills by using frameworks and don't know the basics. I'd estimate that 80-90% of the candidates who got rejected were rejected because of a lack of basic understanding of programming. Probably 95% of the web developers I interviewed can't properly explain what's the Javascript event loop.

For example, they jumped into web development learning jQuery, or React but they don't know Javascript. This is a mistake. Learning the basics might sound boring, but they are the foundations on which you build everything else.

So that's my first advice, go back to the basics, spend some time learning the Node.js API, how Javascript and TypeScript work, how C# and Python work, whatever is your favourite language. Learn common design patterns. Learn how the internet works as well if you are a web developer. It's crazy to see how many candidates apply to a web job but have no idea what are web vitals, what is latency, and what is a DNS.

And SQL, if you are a backend developer and handle a database, please learn SQL, and learn how to properly model a database, and what are the first normalization rules (go on Wikipedia and read). You will keep this on your tool belt for the next 20 years. I learned all that 25 years ago and still use everything today, nothing has changed.

Go on roadmap.sh and learn everything there. At no point during your career you'll know everything.

𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 #2: 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈
It's perfectly OK to jump boat for career growth and I'd advise you do so if you are working with completely outdated technologies or processes because in the end experience and practice make perfect.

But first, learn by yourself! I have yet to meet a skilled software engineer who hasn't dedicated their evenings or weekends to honing their coding skills. You can't expect your employer to pay for 6 months of training, and lament because they don't and you are not growing.

Life gets in the way, for sure, but be honest, how many hours do you spend on social media? Just replace that with some coding sessions, sit down for 30 minutes and learn something, or simply solve 1 Leetcode every day.

Nobody else will learn for you, and nobody else is responsible for your growth as a software engineer.

PS: Watching a YT or TikTok video doesn't count as learning, it's entertainement. You must apply your skills to learn. If you are not typing code, compiling, deploying, you are not learning.

𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 #3: 𝑩𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅
This is particularly important today with the emergence of AI. Some developers I met are able to give an answer to a question (because they know how to prompt an AI), but when you ask them to explain their answer, they are stuttering and can't provide a proper justification.

Not being able to explain the WHY you made a decision, chose a particular technology, or structured your code in a specific way, will backfire. It's not enough to know how to do it, you need to know why it's better this way over the other way.

There is a difference between being a coder and an engineer. If you want to grow, don't be just a coder. During an interview, we'll always try to discover if you can justify your decisions because it's a proof you know what you are talking about.

𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 #4: 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉
Yeah I know, this is boring too. But you'd be surprised how many people can't write a sentence in English without a spelling mistake. Why is this important? Because when you are working with foreign (English speaking) clients or employers, you'll write all the time, in e-mails, in Slack, in your code comments, naming your variables and classes. Everything will be in English.

In the Philippines, you are very lucky to learn English early in life, but I think you are learning the language mostly by watching TV shows, Netflix, and Youtube. This won't help you with reading and writing. I'd strongly advise you spend more time reading than watching. This is one of those compounding skills that will help you with everything else in life.

Writing in proper English will also show your employers that you are careful and have attention to details. And luckily today this is getting simpler with tools like Copilot or ChatGPT, but don't fool yourself thinking that you are good at something if AI is doing it for you, because companies also know how to simply use an AI instead of you.

𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 #5: 𝑶𝒏 𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝑰 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒔
This will depend on the company, usually we don't mind people using AI during an exams, but a coding exam is about showing you know how to solve problems. If you copy/paste everything from AI you are just showing you can prompt an AI, and as soon as the AI won't give you the correct answer you'll be lost.

AI is like an auto-completer, don't use it to replace your skills, because if you do so then there is a great chance some more senior developers can also use it to replace you.

Recently, I have seen a growing number of people failing an exam BECAUSE they were using an AI and got lost trying to understand ChatGPT's answer and were completely unable to fix it.

And yes, it's super easy to tell when someone use an AI during an interview or coding test. In the future, I suspect most coding exams will be replaced by some other form of interviews like pair programming sessions, or live whiteboarding.

Also, consider this, once hired, if you cheated your way with AI, there is a great chance you won't pass the first performance evaluation. The make-up will wear off very quickly once you are onboarded in a project.

Conclusion
I know all this sounds quite boring, there are no special tricks to get you your dream job. If you want to be above the crowd you need to do things that most people don't do and in my experience, most candidates I have interviewed are not doing all this.

Go back to the basics! And I wish you all the best in your careers.

Reference

UnrelatedConnexion. (2024, February 20). What interviewing hundreds of Pinoy developers taught me, 5 advices to be more hireable. Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/PinoyProgrammer/comments/1avd91u/what_interviewing_hundreds_of_pinoy_developers/

Sources that might be help us

• PK Leetcode
• 14 Patterns to Ace Any Coding Interview Question
• Grokking LeetCode: A Smarter Way to Prepare for Coding Interviews