u/-01001000-01101001 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
>If you are really stuck, proactively reach out to startups that you have a GENUINE connection to and offer to work for free for a month to show them your value. u/michaelnovati From your experience, are startups generally wary of onboarding a junior, even if for free? Since eve
u/michaelnovati replied ·
I haven't seen that many people do it, which is why I said it's a bit of a last resort option. I would say it works more the other way around - if the option presents itself to you, consider it, rather than go out seeking them. There are a lot of scams out there. You want a genuine "contract to hire" relationship and not someone stringing you along to help them with their unfunded project for as long as they can get you to work for free.
And yeah smaller companies/very small startups tend to hire senior engineers because they don't have the bandwidth to manage and train junior engineers, that's the downside, but for the right person it can drastically accelerate your career because you can quickly get to a scope of responsibility you wouldn't get elsewhere.