Job application stories #1 + Advanced Java course

It is a funny story about getting a job offer... :)

First of all, you have to know that I started working for a Finnish company, but I was dealing with marketing issues.. and to tell the thruth I didn't really enjoyed it. Yes, sometimes it was challenging, but I wanted to move on. I needed a change and I really wanted to work as a software engineer.

So... first I had to make my CV. It turned out that is not the easiest thing at all. You have to sell yourself and if words are not your friends you can have some problems. Fortunately I had someone who helped me making my CV better an better with time. Thanks!

I had my CV, I only had to find some job offers. This was also not easy, because I did not have any experience, I was only 19 years old, I haven't even started university, who would hire me? Tough question. I did not really found offers that would fit me for the first time as expected. But! I found a free Java course at a company in Budapest. This was not a job, but why would I miss it?

So I applied. We had to write a test, so that they could put me to the group I belonged to based on my current knowledge. Fortunately they put me to the advanced group. :) Next week the course started. We were 11 different people when starting the course, but we became friends. I was the only girl and the second-youngest in the group. When it turned out I was a bit shocked, but then it was not a problem.

If fact I loved every minute of it! We learnt about J2EE, web applications, servlets, JSPs, Spring framework, Maven, SonarQube, SQL, MySQL, etc. The "teacher" was a senior Java developer who helped us happily when we needed help. We tried things out in practice, too, we made some very simple web applications.

On the last day a scrum master gave a presentation on Agile and Scrum and after that we had to write a test, something like an exam... :)

In the first part (45 minutes) we had 32 questions in connection with the technologies we learnt about during the week and we had to answer them with short, simple sentences. In the second part (90 minutes) there was only one task. We had to make a web application with 3 functions.

• input field > get number > write out "Hello World!" the given number of times
• quadratic function > 3 input fields > numbers > solve equation > pay attention to user errors
• Pascal's triangle > 1 input field > exact number of rows printed out
• + bonus task - complex numbers as solutions

It was not 'that' hard, fortunately we did not have to care about the design. I could finish everything in time.

Next Tuesday I received the results. They said that it was all good, maybe next time if I will have more time I refactor the code.

Here comes the trick! They wanted me to work for them! I was more than happy, I only had to send their my CV and they would call me with the details. I did it, so they called me. We arranged a meeting in one of their workplaces. It was a job interview, but there were no technical things at all, it was just a 1 hour long talking between me and two people (1 Chief of Operations and 1 IT Project manager - maybe my future boss). They told me, that they really want me to work for them... :) I have to contact them in the middle of August (after we will have been moved to the capital).

So it seems to me that soon I will have a part-time job! :)))

But the story goes on!

2015.07.26.