1. What to expect
& How To Be
Prepared

2. Hello.
My Name is
Michael.

4. What To Expect.

5. We Expect people to
Be honest, respectful,
and always find joy in
what you do - have a
positive/can-do
attitude.
-Kim Smith

6. Have all your Materials
present - resume, business
card, portfolio, etc. Also,
Know the job you're applying
for, and how your skill set
will fit in.
-Janna Shepherd

7. When it comes to us artsy folks,
visuals are a must. For me as a
graphic designer, I honestly don't
think it matters if it's a paper
portfolio, a PDF or an online
portfolio. You just need to have one.
Every employer will ask for it, and
as long as you have presented it in a
nice, professional way, then you're
off to a good start.
-Cary Apel

8. How To Be
Prepared

9. When in an interview, give firm handshakes
and look people in the eye when you are
talking to them. Always give honest answers
and be willing to make an effort (if you don't
know a program, learn it...maybe create more
examples of your work, etc.). Ask questions
about their company - you are interviewing
them as well.
-Kim Smith

10. Networking! Become friends
and network with people in
the business you're wanting
to go into. Knowing the
right people makes all the
difference.
-Janna Shepherd

11. Knowing people is your biggest help. Being on
time, putting yourself out there, and
finishing school strong are all things I
would say as well. But when someone knows
you, your father, or your sister's ex-
boyfriend's second cousin, it makes for an
automatic in. It makes it personal. The future
employer immediately has a testimony of who
you are from someone they trust, or they
will associate you with that friendship or
mutual acquaintance they have.

12. With that being said, be careful of
your reference as well. If it's
someone you don't really trust or
respect, there's a good chance the
person your interview knows that
as well. So, I wouldn't recommend
them dropping your name even if it
is a close friend just trying to
help out.
-Cary Apel

13. Now, lets see
what other
companies Are
Wanting.

15. The biggest thing to expect when entering
the working world is that, in this
industry, there not just a job waiting for
you. You have to want it and you have to
go get it. No one is going to hand you
anything. So be ready to work hard, work
harder and be passionate about what
you're doing.

16. When we DO fill positions, its often from a
pool of people we've already met. We very
rarely post a job posting to our site and see
who emails, we know we have a role to fill so
we dig back through all the great folks
we've talked to either in passing or at
informational interviews and we go from
there. So go out and meet everyone you can,
as you never know when your name may fall
across someone's lap.

17. Also, have a website worth
visiting to. You're not getting
through the door without a
great website these days. None
of this "my new one will be up
soon" BS. Ain't nobody got no
time for that.
Jamey Erickson
Owner / Creative Director

19. • In face-to-face interviews, I'll normally ask a
series of programming questions that they are
free to answer using whatever language they like.
I'm more interested in their thought process behind
solving the problem than I am in the right answer.
• Challenges - both positive and negative - they
encountered during school projects, internships,
co-ops, or previous jobs, and how they handled
both.

20. • In face-to-face interviews, I'll normally
ask a series of programming questions that
they are free to answer using whatever
language they like. I'm more interested in
their thought process behind solving the
problem than I am in the right answer.
• Challenges - both positive and negative -
they encountered during school projects,
internships, co-ops, or previous jobs, and
how they handled both.
Tom McFarlin
Developer/Technical Editor of WPDaily.co

22. 1. There's a lot of competition out there
2. Create a great portfolio
3. Always be honest and courteous, even in the face of obnoxious
clients or coworkers
4. Never sell yourself short, and never work for free
5. There's a friendly and helpful community out there for you to
tap into, but you've got to be friendly and helpful in return. Share
all your knowledge; give away all your secrets.

23. 6. Learn how to find answers on search engines!
7. You'll meet a lot of really crappy code out
there, some of which you'll have to work with.
Learn how to work with crappy code, and push
standards and good practices wherever you can.
8. You'll have to learn a bit about business,
especially if you're freelancing. There will be
people out there who'll try to rip you off, and you
need to be prepared.
9. There'll be people who know more about any
subject you think you're great at, regardless of
how good you are. Be prepared to be humble, at
least some of the time.

24. 10. You'll never stop learning.

25. At Opera we are generally looking for
both excellent coders, and those who
have a passionate belief in open
standards and best practices (e.g.
accessibility). Plus we love those with
an open mind who embrace diversity.

26. Tips:
1. get your code hat on; you'll
probably be given a tough coding test
2. Be yourself, unless you are a serial
killer
Chris Mills
Developer Relations Manager, Opera

28. Expect to work twice as hard as the person who was
hired before you. Expect to be patient and learn what
you can from others.
Find every opportunity to observe, listen and learn. It
doesn't matter how talented you think you might be.
You're likely coming into the the working world with
relatively zero experience. Find every opportunity to
learn and contribute to the discussion when you're
asked. The worst thing you can do is enter a job and act
like you have already learned it all.
Don't look for ways to take the easy way out. You don't
learn a thing and that lack of experience will
handicap your career eventually.

29. You need to display and demonstrate a
willingness and desire to learn, work hard
and contribute. Come prepared to the
interview:
* Invest the time to consider what questions
you might be asked and put together
thoughtful responses accordingly. You need
to study for this event like you would an
exam. Too often potential employees come to
interviews unprepared and it's easy to spot
and disappointing.

30. * Consider what questions you can ask your
employer about how they work, what their
expectations are going to be of you and what
you need to do in order to succeed. That's a
good start.
* Do some research about your future
employer and learn what you can about their
business before hand. This information will be
useful at some point during the interview.

31. * Dress for the job you want to
have, not the party you went to
the night before.
Greg Storey
President, Happy Cog

33. Be eager to learn. Learning doesn't stop when
you're done school. I left school thinking that
most of it was useless and yet, the older I get,
the more I think I should've paid more attention
in school. Work in different environments. Take
a job in a small company, take a job in a big
company. Different perspectives will broaden
your experience.

34. Have passion. With every company I've worked
for in the last decade, I've noticed the same
thing. The people that get hired and the people
that do well are the ones that are excited about
the work they're doing. It's something that they
do as a hobby. I build sites during the day and
then I go home and work on my own projects. I
enjoy it that much.
Jonathan Snook
Developer/Designer, Writer of SMACSS

36. Expect to be underpaid and overworked -- that's
been the experience of most devs I know, including
myself. Many new devs get the maintenance /
"crap" work, but it's at that time that developers
learn the most; how to fix odd problems, how to
avoid problems in the future, how to cope with
experienced developers, and more. Don't get
discouraged by the negative -- just take it and it
eventually gets better. :)

37. My feeling on getting jobs in web development is that if you only code 9-5,
I don't want you. Employers want to see candidates' GitHub accounts,
blogs, etc.; seeing that the candidate loves webdev, not just see it as a
job, makes a candidate infinitely more hirable. My blog, for example, has
taken me from a small web shop in Madison to Mozilla -- they wouldn't
know me had I not started my blog! I also recommend candidates be
comfortable coding on a whiteboard -- they'll encounter that at larger
web firms.
David Walsh
Mozilla Web Developer