5 Essential Tips for Successfully Finding a New Job

Over the course of my career I’ve done countless job interviews. Some of which went pretty bad whereas others went really great.

Needless to say I have always used unsuccessful job interviews as a source of learning for the next ones and asking for feedback was critical for me to focus and improve upon moving forward.

Additionally, I got to give credit to our experience. It surely helps us shape the type of professional we want to be and what to watch out for when looking for a new job.

One of the most asked questions and I have been asked is:

What are you looking for in a new job?

And this blog post is basically my answer to that question.

#1 Growth and career progression

That’s how I see motivation day in, day out. And we’ll benefit from it even more when given a good mentor.

A clear career progression aligned with growth makes everything better: it increases our impact, makes our job more enjoyable and it is the opportunity we have to face new types of challenges.

Make sure you know what a company values and how they align with your personal growth.

I would not apply for a job neither would accept a job offer if not given growth opportunities.

#2 Alignment

It's important to know how the company handles prioritization, makes decisions and takes actions. Every company has a long term vision and it is critical for you to know how they’re planning to get there. After that, align with your manager and team how you can help them to reach these goals.

Be ready to manage expectations along the way because things will probably change.

Also, the closer you are to your coworkers, the more trust and autonomy you’ll get, and the better you’ll feel about the direction of your work.

#3 Impact

Expectations around your impact will always grow, no matter your role, no matter how much time available you’ve got. And the more senior you are, the more accomplishments are going to be required and in less time.

Focus on working on what matters and you’ll find your path to impact.

#4 Mentorship & Feedback

We’ll learn more and faster when working closer to great Software Engineers. Not being stagnated and pursuing constant learning is one of the keys for great success in our careers.

Look for mentorship opportunities, help co-workers, do pair programming, promote knowledge sharing sessions, embrace problem solving from different perspectives and most importantly, ask for feedback.

Feedback is the main measurement we use to understand how far we are from our end goal.

I have once worked for a company where “feedback is key” and I couldn’t agree more with it.

#5 Work environment

Working for a great company is always a nice perk. But it should never be about the company you are working for, it’s always about the people. People drive culture, not the opposite.

I hope that's helpful and interesting to you. 👋🏼