Some time ago, during one of my recruitment interviews I was asked:
How is it possible to talk about so many missing people in IT and on the other hand hear about so many applicants who can't find a job?
At first glance, this may seem like quite a paradox. But let's take a closer look at this problem and try to break it down into its constituent parts.
1 in 6 sought after in IT is a junior
The image below has become a recent favorite of mine because it does a great job of showing how selectively information can be considered and how an opinion can change with a change in perspective. Does this meme tell the truth? Absolutely. Currently in the IT world there is already quite a large group of programmers, whether they come from universities, programming schools, bootcamps, or self-taught. So it might seem that the market is saturated and there is no more room for new people. However, what we won't find out is that behind this shelf of toys there are 3 times bigger bunch of children (customers/companies) who want to acquire those Buzz Astral (programmers).
According to the Europers Commission in 2020, there is a shortage of 50,000 programmers in Poland. In the entire European Union it is estimated that there are as many as 600 thousand vacancies. A report by Microsoft from the same year predicts one million IT specialists to be missing in Poland and as many as 149 million worldwide over the next few years..
Looking at this data, you might get the impression that we should already, at this point, quit our jobs and ask for our due 15k for just even being willing to consider taking a job 馃榾 But before we do that, it's worth noting one very important thing - the estimated share of junior positions in this entire list is about 16%. That is, only (or as much as!) 1 out of 6 sought-after people is a person who is at the beginning of their activities in the industry.
COVID has created new opportunities
Of course, predictions never take into account extreme, subversive situations like a pandemic. COVID-19 changed the world forever by causing a huge acceleration in the digitalization of society. Suddenly, it became clear that most activities that were once impossible to do online are quite easy to arrange. The changes have not spared the IT market either. Before the pandemic, working from home was possible, but it was done more occasionally, when the need arose. In a survey of the IT 2020 community. Bulldogjob indicates that only 8.1% of respondents had the opportunity to work 100% remotely. Currently, such a system of work is preferred by about 90% of professionals and the vast majority of them declare that they will resign if they do not have such an opportunity.
The status quo of working from the office no longer existsis
The chance to collaborate with others from anywhere on earth made countries/borders secondary. Companies from the United States or United Kingdom could start recruiting employees from other countries, because the status quo of having to meet in the office ceased to exist. Such a change had an impact on salaries, and consequently on the structure of employment of people both in Poland and abroad. Of course, these opportunities were and are most available to people with the most experience, i.e. seniors and the most talented mid-levels, but the greater the lack of these people on the Polish market, the more room for juniors.
Stand out
How then do you carve out a piece of that pie for yourself? After all, it is still estimated that a few dozen resumes fall into place per intern/junior ad.
Above all, the last thing you would want as a job seeker is to be one of many very correct but very average applications. Recruitment processes vary in companies, but something they have in common is the lack of time, which means you have to make quick decisions, also when it comes to inviting the candidate to further recruitment stages.
Your resume needs to tell your story and portray your personality to the best of your ability. It's impossible for a recruiter to guess that you're a motivated and talented person if you don't convey that to them in the right way (and no, I don't mean writing that you're like this/that 馃槂).
Show that this is really what you are interested in. Even if you're at the beginning of your career path, with no schooling or experience, there are still plenty of activities and forms to show your potential future company that you want to, you're trying, and you really like it. Why is this important? Because technical skills are only a fraction of what companies are looking for in a beginner. What they really want to see is the person who will soon become their most valuable team member.