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A reader asked: I have been in this company for 4 years. To be honest, I don’t have much pressure at work. I do repetitive tasks step by step every day. Basically, there are no big challenges. Recently, a colleague successfully changed his job. The 50% salary increase made me feel that the opportunities outside were very attractive.
But now I'm asked to change jobs. I feel like I'm not ready. I haven't done any decent projects. I don't know what to write about my project experience. I'm a little afraid of interviews and I don't know what preparations to make. Can you give me some advice?
My advice
Many things don't need to be prepared before you can start doing them. You can prepare as you go. Usually when you are ready, the day lilies are cold, and the same is true for job hopping.
I always feel that going out to participate in interviews at various factories is really good for "physical and mental health". It can exercise your expression skills, understand the market conditions (what is your salary level), and know where your skills or abilities are lacking. Then make corresponding improvements, which forms a positive feedback and achieves multiple goals with one stone.
Regarding job-hopping, let me share my views and suggestions next. I hope they will be useful to you.
Project experience is important
Among the items on your resume, what the interviewer values most is project experience. How complex is the project you have done? What role did you play in the project? What tasks were undertaken? What problem was solved?
Through this series of questions, the interviewer can basically figure out what level you are at. Therefore, your project experience is the core factor that determines whether you can successfully change jobs.
What should I do if I don’t know what to write about my project experience?
This is simple. First, list the projects you have participated in, and then select some representative projects. Review the technology stacks used in these projects. These technology stacks can be listed down. Which ones are not mastered well by you? Correspondingly Make up for it.
An important point is that you should never write about projects that you have not participated in on your resume. Once the interviewer asks you about this situation and you cannot answer the details, the interview will be a failure.
What should I do if I really don’t have any projects to work on? This actually doesn't matter. Just write your resume according to the actual situation. It will be good if you can master the technology stack used in daily projects.
If you really feel that there is no project that you can use, then you can consider doing some open source projects. An open source project with hundreds of stars will definitely be successful.
Don’t be afraid of interviews
Let's talk about the interview. The interview is actually a "self-proposed open-book exam." The interviewer actually asks some extended questions based on your project experience on your resume. This is equivalent to you taking the exam by focusing on your own.
But, having said that, it really doesn’t make sense if you can’t answer something you wrote yourself.
During the interview process, remember not to try to do the same thing, and admit it generously when you encounter questions that you don't know. Don't be smart, talk nonsense, and try to get through. You must know that the questions asked by the interviewer must belong to the field that he is familiar with.
Two of the most frequently asked questions in interviews:
1. What is the most impressive (most difficult) problem you encountered at work, and how did you solve it later?
Eight-part essay questions belonging to the interviewer are usually used to delay time when there are no questions to ask. People who have not prepared for this question will definitely take a long time to respond hesitantly, but for early interviewers For those who are prepared, this question has lost its meaning again.
2. What are the reasons for job-hopping? Why do you want to leave such-and-such company?
This is basically a question that HR must ask. You need to have a valid reason, and the most acceptable reasons for HR are generally blocked room for advancement, lack of interest in technical direction, and too long commuting distances. It's best not to complain about your last company, let alone say "bad things" about them (although it may be true).
Everyone is in the same circle, and the circle is often much smaller than you think. If you say "bad things" about people, it might reach their ears the next day, and they will "turn you into an army" when they backtrack. , enough to make you uncomfortable.
In addition, the personality of the interviewer is also a factor that is easily overlooked. I have a colleague who has a very cheerful personality, but he doesn’t like candidates who talk a lot during the interview. He feels that such people are unreliable. This is completely contrary to my intuition. I always thought that the interviewer prefers Someone with a similar personality to him.
Do you need to brush up on the questions? Is there any use in brushing up questions?
In the past, this part of interview questions was mainly set up for fresh graduates, mainly because fresh graduates have just graduated and have little work experience. By doing questions, you can check whether their foundation is solid.
But then it gets rolled up, especially in some big companies and some newly established small companies. The interview will add a link, which is to give you a few data structure or algorithm questions to answer, and then based on your answer, you will decide whether to enter. Next step is the interview.
At present, it seems that you need to answer questions before looking for a job, mainly to cope with the question-taking part of the interview. First, you must ensure that you have a chance to enter the second round of interviews with major companies.
Answering the questions may be a bit difficult for some non-computer major students, and it will take 2 months to do it. Students with poor foundation can first review the data structure and algorithm, and then directly answer the 200 high-frequency questions of LeetCode, which means repeating the questions repeatedly. , until you understand all these questions. Once you understand them, you will be able to handle most of the interview questions.
A reader previously shared that answering questions was too painful for him. He couldn't answer a single question in the first day, and then he often wanted to give up. He gritted his teeth and persisted. After working overtime every day, he continued to answer questions in the early morning. Later, he gradually mastered some of the questions. The idea of commonly used algorithms makes it much easier to solve the questions. Is this you on the way to "answering questions"? You are not alone.
Is answering questions useful for solving problems in actual work? Useful, but not very useful. Problems encountered in actual work are often unlikely to be abstracted into as simple as an algorithm problem.
Is there any use in brushing up questions? Benevolence is in the eye of the beholder, wisdom is in the eye of the wise, so what do you think?
About non-compete agreement
The original intention of a non-compete agreement is good, and the rights and interests of both parties are protected. However, the initiative in implementation often lies in the hands of the capitalists. In the end, when the dispute breaks out, it is often the worker who faces a company's legal team alone.
Slightly larger companies will set up a list of competing companies when employees resign. Companies on this competing list (usually more competitive companies) will not allow you to go to them within a certain period of time after you leave. , but the company needs to provide corresponding compensation to employees.
A company with a little bit of conscience will clearly tell you whether it will require you to abide by a non-competition agreement when you leave. If you are required to abide by the non-competition agreement, the company needs to provide corresponding compensation; otherwise, if you change jobs, you can choose a company on the non-competition list.
However, there are also some unscrupulous companies that clearly require you to abide by the non-competition agreement when you leave your job, but wait until you get the offer and go through the resignation procedures before terminating the non-competition agreement with you. This is equivalent to wasting your non-competition compensation and making you You lost quite a bit of money.
So how do ordinary workers protect themselves?
It is enough to do the following points.
When you propose to resign, do not disclose your whereabouts to anyone in the company before signing a non-competition agreement; if the company needs to "compete" with you, you can ask the HR in advance and record the entire process or save the chat record, which will be discussed later. It can be used as evidence; be prepared, get more offers, and take the initiative.
About salary
I saw a discussion on Zhihu, saying that for a successful job change, the corresponding salary should increase by at least 30%. This is actually just an evaluation from the perspective of salary, which is not comprehensive enough. If the industry is on the rise or you are in the golden period of your life, this conclusion can be established. But when the market is bad, job-hopping with a flat salary may also be a successful job-hopping.
From other perspectives, such as obtaining greater room for advancement, escaping from a bad environment, obtaining the desired technical direction or position, and shortening the commuting distance, these are all a successful job change in my opinion.
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