Are you looking for an entry into the IT industry?

Did you graduate this academic year? Or a year or two ago and now have a career gap?

Or are you currently employed in a non-IT industry and are looking for a switch?

Here is your best route into the world of IT.

Be an employee, not a trainee

First, understand the difference between on-campus and off-campus recruitment. During on-campus placements, companies look for potential – students who can perform well when put through their training programs. However, during off-campus recruitments, most companies look for skills – employees who can be put into a team with minimal or no training.

In other words, you can have basic technical skills and still get placed during on-campus drives. However, if you miss that chance and are out in the world, you will need strong technical skills even to get an interview call.

Once you graduate from college, aspire to become a ready-to-board employee rather than a trainee.

So what do you do then?

Focus

Pick one thing and do it well – better than most people. Prove you can be an independent contributor to a team with minimal training.

Pick an on-demand skillset – that can be acquired and practised well within a few months. Say no to everything else.

I’ve trained multiple developers inside and outside Webinative in the last decade. From experience, here is my observation.

If you are short on time and need an entry as soon as possible, I recommend acquiring the design-to-code skillset (converting Figma UI designs into pixel-perfect HTML & CSS). This is a high-demand skill with minimal supply.

A bit of client-side JavaScript can improve your chances but is not mandatory.

Show. And Tell.

Showcase the sites you build publicly. Use GitHub to host your site and code. Let the world see your output and the code behind it.

Blog about your learning journey. Share your learnings and insights. 

Commit code daily. Create proof-of-work – a permanent record of how disciplined you were in marching towards your goal.

Your resume should have three important categories of links,

1. Your blog posts
2. Your GitHub repos
3. The sites you built

They tell a recruiter about your skills and commitment even before you meet them.

If you agree this is the right approach, check out my course on CoDevs.in where I transform novices to professional design-to-HTML developers in 12 weeks.