u/SlickkChickk wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Michael, if you were a new engineer in our shoes right now how would you navigate the current temp’s? Any suggestions u may be willing to share?
u/michaelnovati replied ·
It always depends on you and your goals, but some things to consider:
1. Working on a very large open source project, like Wikimedia, Wordpress, React, etc... It's very intimidating but you get exposure to real SWE development processes.
2. Working on a person project that is startup-like. Meaning a project that has real users (even if a small number) and is a real product that might even make some money, and you work on it for months/permanently
3. Working on fundamentals. The bootcamp approach is to learning on-demand practical skills to get a leg up, but that works best in a hot job market. In the current market companies aren't just looking for a React engineer as soon as possible, they are looking for strong engineers with strong fundamental problem solving skills.
4. Look for apprenticeships and try to get a foot in the door that way. Always good to learning in a more realistic setting. (e.g. [apprenticeships.me](https://apprenticeships.me))
5. Offer to volunteer at a startup. Look on WellFound (fmly. AngelList) for companies with under 10 people and ask if you can volunteer for a month on anything they need urgent help on.