What can I do? Link to heading
I regularly get asked by aspiring devs still studying, and recent graduates who are still looking to land their first job as a software engineer for useful ways to continue to grow while job-hunting.
How can I do it? Link to heading
Below are great small things any skill level dev can contribute to just about any codebase of any maturity!
✅ Simple Bugs (e.g. Text, Formatting, Error Handling) ✅ Unit Tests ✅ Documentation ✅ Code Cleanup (e.g. Readability/Commenting, old console.log statements)
How does this work if you’re not already in a job with access to a codebase where console logs and unit tests need cleanup? Contribute to the open source projects you use for your assignments and side-projects!
Why does it work? Link to heading
“Contributed to open source project X” doubles as a powerful line item in your resume that helps you stand out from other devs with no commercial experience when applying for Graduate and Junior-level roles.
How do I know? Multiple times I’ve used “contributed to an open source project” as the deciding factor between two inexperienced but otherwise suitable candidates when hiring Grad/Junior software engineers.