Interview Pro-Tip: Be a user, not just a candidate

I do career mentorship for a 7-month code school in Denver: The Turing School of Software & Design. Their programs are broken into four 6-week modules with a small break in between. One of my favorite interview preparation techniques is about identifying companies where they’d like to apply for work upon graduation.

Certainly, knowing the industries and companies where you’d like to work is vital. But how do you stand out from the hundreds or thousands of other applicants trying to get that same job?

As you identify those companies, find a way to use their product, SDK, library, tool, or even mash-up some of their public data, into your portfolio of projects.

Now you’re not just a candidate, you’re a user. When you reach out to the company to do your usual networking, you’re a customer. You’re not some random person at a meetup, you’re someone whose feedback and questions should be given more attention and respect. You can speak directly to their “developer experience”. Companies love feedback, and are far more likely to return calls and answer questions from customers.

Want more tips and ideas? I wrote a daily email series for technical interview preparation by learning to think like an interviewer. Learn how to analyze questions to give more effective answers. Give yourself an edge and get ahead.