How Devfolio helped me land my first job at an awesome startup!
It all started at the beginning of the senior year of my computer science undergrad course. The final year at college, whether that means submitting a major project, end semester exams, or finding an internship/job, is a stressful time for students everywhere.
In the past, I had interned at two startups. I felt that startups were a place where you could work in a team, ideate, participate in brain-storming sessions, architect technical infrastructure, and also learn to do everything else in between, at the same time. The best part is that opportunities for learning and growth too seemed endless. I love working with motivated teams and building great products in the process. Hence, when the time came to find job opportunities off-campus, I was looking for a startup(a product-based one in particular).
Like any other final year student, I started to apply for jobs on LinkedIn, AngelList, etc. I am a Fullstack JavaScript Developer 👨🏼💻 (My money is always on JS.) and most of the positions I applied for, required skills like NodeJs, React, Vue, MongoDB, etc.
Devfolio Opportunities 🚀
In the midst of the job hunt process, I received a newsletter in February from Devfolio saying,
We at Devfolio believe that "Talent is everywhere; the opportunity is not," and our mission is to bridge this gap. We want to connect talented folks such as you with some of the best product companies, early-stage startups, and projects in India and abroad.
This got me interested in their Devfolio Opportunities program, which I indicated my willingness to participate in. When I applied to startups through Devfolio, I'd already skipped dealing with cumbersome application processes and emails that I would never hear back about. I gave it a try, and eventually landed my first job!
Within a week of applying, Denver from Devfolio contacted me over email informing me that I was shortlisted. I had a brief yet engaging conversation with him regarding my skills and the kind of place I wanted to work at. It got me amped up, and I was eagerly looking forward to the next step.
Within a couple of days, Devfolio was able to narrow down a job opportunity suited to me.
I was introduced to a product-based(yay!) FinTech startup in Bangalore, smallcase, a modern investment product that helps you build a diversified, low-cost & long-term portfolio. Devfolio mentioned that smallcase had shown interest in my profile and would like to connect to take the discussion forward for a frontend engineering position.
Technical Interview 💻
Up next was the interview with smallcase. It was spread over a few days and was divided into 3 parts:
☎️ Telephonic Round ️️- was asked questions related to almost all areas of frontend tech from HTML to React.
📱 Mockups - was provided with a PDF version of a web-app, and was asked to build it out. This tested my data structures knowledge and my ability to develop UI components in the React ecosystem.
👨🏼💻Live Coding - was tested on my React.js skills for developing and fixing components, data structures, and game development.
After clearing the three rounds, smallcase team was delighted to offer me the position of a Frontend Engineer!
I lucked out on my job hunt. Not only did I get a great job, but I also found a startup that values engineering, learning, and personal growth, and is filled with awesome people, all thanks to Devfolio. What I liked about the process was that I got the chance to showcase my building skills. Devfolio was empathetic to the job search process for student developers rather than judging us based on random aptitude or competitive programming tests.
I'm glad that Devfolio is changing the lives of other student developers much like me and giving them the opportunity to work at great companies where they don't have to compromise on their aspirations. More power to them. 💪