Scott Lingner
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Resources for post-bootcamp software engineers looking for work

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I graduated from a Bootcamp earlier this year and have been actively applying for jobs throughout California for the past few months.

This article is for any future or current Bootcamp graduates who might need some advice on which steps to take next.

Feel free to check out my work. I’m currently looking for new opportunities.

Résumé Advice 📄

  • If you are interested in the Startup field, Ryan Choi from YCombinator wrote a thorough post on resumes and connecting.
  • No typos plz! I like Grammarly for Chrome. This extension has helped me write emails, resumes, cover letters, etc.
  • A video cover letter could be a great way to stand out. Crash.co seems to be the authority.
  • If you want a resume quickly, this will get you one in about 15 minutes! Resume Genius https://resumegenius.com/
  • Resume Worded has some good articles and an interesting approach to AI scanning your resume.

Job Listings 📋

  1. workatastartup.com I’m mostly interested in working for a smaller team within a startup, so this website has been very useful for finding opportunities.
  2. https://news.ycombinator.com/ Another great resource in connection with YCombinator is their Who Is Hiring Now monthly postings. A large majority of these postings have direct emails to the recruiters and I have found it to be a much better response rate than the classic LinkedIn of Glassdoor applications. I find these by googling ‘y combinator who is hiring now August’ (whichever current month). Try to get on these at the beginning of the month!
  3. Dice Although I’m not as familiar with Dice, I have heard from multiple recruiters that this is a great resource and was really the standard space for job seekers before LinkedIn.
  4. AngelList Jobs Another excellent resource for startups. These postings usually have the job poster’s name and clearly state what they are looking for. I have had a high percentage of replies and feedback from AngelList applications.
  5. Levels.fyi - Still Hiring Nice site to see which companies are still hiring. There is also a lot of data on here regarding salaries.
  6. Google Jobs I like using Google jobs because it seems to do a wide-spread, comprehensive search for openings. You just need to search for a job and type which city you are looking for, [ web developer San Francisco ], and then it will pull up listings. I like to filter it down to jobs within the past week, anything beyond has a high chance of being overly saturated with applications.
  7. Glassdoor Glassdoor has other perks on top of just job listings! Sometimes previous job seekers will submit interview questions that they have been asked. Former employees will post their salaries, benefits, and overall experience while working at XYZ company.
  8. NoCSOK I like this one because it already filters out postings that say that you don’t need a Computer Science degree. They have a nice weekly email subscription that doesn’t feel too spammy also.
  9. Key Values If you know what you are looking for, this is an excellent concept for finding the team that is the perfect fit. Want a team that pair programs? Eats lunch together? Friends outside of work? Find companies that share those values here.
  10. These other classic job postings probably won’t get you as many hits, but you can do more research by finding the company on LinkedIn and reaching out to the recruiters or potential devs who would be your boss or colleague. LinkedIn Jobs Indeed ZipRecruiter (really fast one-click applications, doesn’t feel like a very legit site for applications though)
  11. Remote specific jobs:

Interesting Application Tools 🛠️

  • Email hunters like Hunter.io and Clearbit Connect
  • I have a custom excel sheet that I’m using provided by my Bootcamp to track my applications, but if I didn’t, I would use a tool like this Huntr.co. Once you get into the hundreds of applications, having a reference becomes critical. You want to know when you should follow up, what date you applied, and when you had your first initial phone screen. It seems trivial and tedious, but having this information is pretty essential.
  • This is a pretty specific issue but for anyone struggling with adding a preview image to their LinkedIn projects, here’s an article I wrote on the topic. Not having those preview images was so frustrating and having them there really makes your profile more professional.

Job Application Articles Worth Reading 📚

Raymond Gan posted a LinkedIn post with tons of wonderful ideas for new grads. His focus is on contributing to open-source projects and also digging deep into understanding your code. ( eg. Build your own mini react).

Here are some other articles for motivation and advice:

These are resources to help you find your first open-source project:

Data Structures and Algorithms 🧠

Best of luck in your search and thanks for reading through this post.

Remember, one of the most important things is to enjoy yourself throughout this process! Make sure to take breaks and have some fun. I’m always looking for new resources, please comment below with links that I should be aware of!

Make it so 🚀

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