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School Certificate or IT Certificate , if IT Certificate why not, currently working as a PHP Developer in a french company meanwhile i studied Business Administration in University,but that's pending my occupation permit works out in Mauritius not yet a full staff cuz of immigration, IT Certificates are subjective to certain companies some enforce it most don't however my advise, a Certificate though won't be bad as it will help let people know you are the master of what you truly knw, just don't be a certificate junkie, also play with LinkedIn that's how i got the Job but i was schooling in Mauritius then sha, but if you are good they will be willing to compromise

The q is actually "how can i sell myself as a (untypical) programmer".
1. Tell them u're good! Ur dedicated and hard wrking and self taught?
Who isnt all of these?
It's lame.
2. Try a mor unique approach:
use ur logical mind.
A. Try to get a conversation with a prospect (very important)
it will giv u pix of urself in d real wrld cuttg a deal. If u cant persuade ur sunk.
B. Wen they say no.
It will hurt like hell,
get enuff no's till d hurt dont sting anymore.
U'll need this skill to sell ur products (software) l8r - if u get tired of being a wage slave.
C.
Broker a deal tht reduces risk 4 ur employer. E.g wrk 4 free, for c.v sake .
D.
Build an app - not toy stuff- something tht wud cost you 500 hours min.
That cud take you 3months+ (working @ 5hrs /day)
E.
Use jobber man etc.
Statiscally, this kind of trawler services wud favor only d brightest (on paper)
. Personally, me thinks d effectiveness of sites like jobberman is nil for 70% of all applicants.

Build a beautiful portfolio.
Your portfolio will speak for you, Look for a project that is somehow related to real life application that will help you get a job quickly.

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sweetroses:

Can you give me an example of one such project?

My First commercial application was a Student record management system, although it was a simple record management system it really paved way for me to get other jobs. The most interesting part is that your present job determines your next job, clients and employer tends to feel comfortable with a guy who has experience doing what they intend to do or doing. In a nutshell if you develop a financial related software don't be surprise if other financial institute come knocking on your door

if u've read learn programmg the hard way, the author epilogued with some wisdom nuggets.
One was, "it's better to use programmg as a secret weapon"
. I.e train in a career outside programmng and use ur prgrammg skills to create products 4 ur industry.
E.g architects , lawyers,doctrs, etc
wud b hav an edge creatg mor specialized software thn outsiders.

sweetroses:
This is interesting, how did you receive the offer for employment from the company in Mauritius? Did you apply for it or do you have connections with a staff there?
If you applied how did you go about doing that?

I don't believe in connections and programming, you know the Job you get hired, I applied through LinkedIn also LinkedIn is vital get one now

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sweetroses:
I see get your point. I ws told tht organisations usually hire people with certificates to develope such software for them.

Who ever told you that lied, or maybe I am just lucky. Most organization that I have consulted for, only ask for my past project, past project source code, and coding style. Only on few instance will anybody ask for your certification most especially jobs that requires high level of clearance. If you are competent enough they will come begging you for the job not you applying for the job.

sweetroses:
Ok. I used to think tht foreign companies only hired those with certificates. This is news to me. Thnks for your help.

no one hires based on certificates but mostly on previous works and objects

pc guru:

I don't believe in connections and programming, you know the Job you get hired, I applied through LinkedIn also LinkedIn is vital get one now

Do you mind sharing how you manage get the job on linkedin, just curious.

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sweetroses:

Thank you so much, your post has been of great help to me.

You are welcome

talk2hb1:
Do you mind sharing how you manage get the job on linkedin, just curious.

Simple I just searched for jobs in Mauritius and found one called "Linkeo" i search the Job requirements, i was skeptical at first because i had this notion that international companies don't employ people especially "Nigerians" like nations, but i just applied by using my resume and it also submits my LinkedIn profile too which has a lot of information of my previous projects and works. I even applied to multiple companies, a company first replied asking when i could come for interview but i didn't respond on time because i had exams, then while playing game i got a phone call from a "Clifford guy (My now Project Manager), he asked for "Remi" but spoke french but i couldn't understand then he switched to english and asked about PHP,OOP,Zend and other advanced topic on PHP Development (SoC,MVC) and others and i answered all. then he said someone will get back to me, then a lady "Myline(my now HR Lady) told me to come to the office for a test which was totally in french but i translated it in Google Translate and finished the test it was to build an application using an already existing class, it was a 1hr 30 mins test but in that short time i created lot of classes using several design patterns since that's i code anyway and finished the test, 2 weeks later they said i aced it not because i finished the test but because of the following "PHPDOC(I always comment because i forget easily and put comment on return types and purpose of the function), used alot of design pattern e.g Singelton patterb for the Database because resource are expensive in PHP so i always use static for such, so they said it was good for them because they have an in-house framework and my coding style was perfect for what they were looking for, so i did a 2 months internship and after then they decided to recruit me, which is where i work currently pending my papers are complete. The HR lady told me that the reason Clifford called me was because my LinkedIn Profile stood out, and they were reading all my comments on groups that i made such as Zend Group,WordPress,PHP groups, i go there to answer people's problem most times, even after that i had lots of offers from other companies but i decided to stick around because they intended to switch to Zend Framework 2 which was something i wanted in my CV as working experience and because i had little time as my student visa was about to expire. LinkedIn is Highly important even Nigerian companies mail me about jobs cuz they say they went through my profile. sorry if i went offpoint just explaining the full thing so you can get a cue from that

pc guru:

Simple I just searched for jobs in Mauritius and found one called "Linkeo" i search the Job requirements, i was skeptical at first because i had this notion that international companies don't employ people especially "Nigerians" like nations, but i just applied by using my resume and it also submits my LinkedIn profile too which has a lot of information of my previous projects and works. I even applied to multiple companies, a company first replied asking when i could come for interview but i didn't respond on time because i had exams, then while playing game i got a phone call from a "Clifford guy (My now Project Manager), he asked for "Remi" but spoke french but i couldn't understand then he switched to english and asked about PHP,OOP,Zend and other advanced topic on PHP Development (SoC,MVC) and others and i answered all. then he said someone will get back to me, then a lady "Myline(my now HR Lady) told me to come to the office for a test which was totally in french but i translated it in Google Translate and finished the test it was to build an application using an already existing class, it was a 1hr 30 mins test but in that short time i created lot of classes using several design patterns since that's i code anyway and finished the test, 2 weeks later they said i aced it not because i finished the test but because of the following "PHPDOC(I always comment because i forget easily and put comment on return types and purpose of the function), used alot of design pattern e.g Singelton patterb for the Database because resource are expensive in PHP so i always use static for such, so they said it was good for them because they have an in-house framework and my coding style was perfect for what they were looking for, so i did a 2 months internship and after then they decided to recruit me, which is where i work currently pending my papers are complete. The HR lady told me that the reason Clifford called me was because my LinkedIn Profile stood out, and they were reading all my comments on groups that i made such as Zend Group,WordPress,PHP groups, i go there to answer people's problem most times, even after that i had lots of offers from other companies but i decided to stick around because they intended to switch to Zend Framework 2 which was something i wanted in my CV as working experience and because i had little time as my student visa was about to expire. LinkedIn is Highly important even Nigerian companies mail me about jobs cuz they say they went through my profile. sorry if i went offpoint just explaining the full thing so you can get a cue from that

Thats very interesting, this could help lots of guys out their someday somehow.

pc guru:

Simple I just searched for jobs in Mauritius and found one called "Linkeo" i search the Job requirements, i was skeptical at first because i had this notion that international companies don't employ people especially "Nigerians" like nations, but i just applied by using my resume and it also submits my LinkedIn profile too which has a lot of information of my previous projects and works. I even applied to multiple companies, a company first replied asking when i could come for interview but i didn't respond on time because i had exams, then while playing game i got a phone call from a "Clifford guy (My now Project Manager), he asked for "Remi" but spoke french but i couldn't understand then he switched to english and asked about PHP,OOP,Zend and other advanced topic on PHP Development (SoC,MVC) and others and i answered all. then he said someone will get back to me, then a lady "Myline(my now HR Lady) told me to come to the office for a test which was totally in french but i translated it in Google Translate and finished the test it was to build an application using an already existing class, it was a 1hr 30 mins test but in that short time i created lot of classes using several design patterns since that's i code anyway and finished the test, 2 weeks later they said i aced it not because i finished the test but because of the following "PHPDOC(I always comment because i forget easily and put comment on return types and purpose of the function), used alot of design pattern e.g Singelton patterb for the Database because resource are expensive in PHP so i always use static for such, so they said it was good for them because they have an in-house framework and my coding style was perfect for what they were looking for, so i did a 2 months internship and after then they decided to recruit me, which is where i work currently pending my papers are complete. The HR lady told me that the reason Clifford called me was because my LinkedIn Profile stood out, and they were reading all my comments on groups that i made such as Zend Group,WordPress,PHP groups, i go there to answer people's problem most times, even after that i had lots of offers from other companies but i decided to stick around because they intended to switch to Zend Framework 2 which was something i wanted in my CV as working experience and because i had little time as my student visa was about to expire. LinkedIn is Highly important even Nigerian companies mail me about jobs cuz they say they went through my profile. sorry if i went offpoint just explaining the full thing so you can get a cue from that

Thats cool. What is Mauritius like?

A-ZeD:

Thats cool. What is Mauritius like?

Not bad its simple and a beautiful place, but its quite quite small, Lagos is much much much larger than Mauritius, IT here is on the demand here, Professionals won't have any issue here, especially from the government sector. sorry i don't want to branch off-topic. @OP get a LinkedIn account also start doing projects even if its for fun, also engage in communities contribute to open source too, the Zend Developer who maintains the Zend Framework was employed after contributing alot to Zend, you might think online who is noticing but trust me someone is looking at your comments and posts.

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pc guru:

Not bad its simple and a beautiful place, but its quite quite small, Lagos is much much much larger than Mauritius, IT here is on the demand here, Professionals won't have any issue here, especially from the government sector. sorry i don't want to branch off-topic. @OP get a LinkedIn account also start doing projects even if its for fun, also engage in communities contribute to open source too, the Zend Developer who maintains the Zend Framework was employed after contributing alot to Zend, you might think online who is noticing but trust me someone is looking at your comments and posts.

Can i send you a PM?

A-ZeD:

Can i send you a PM?

Sure why not, my days of biting people are over

pc guru:

Sure why not, my days of biting people are over

wait u mean u left d country just 4 a job interview?
U get money to waste o...

No at all, i was already there for school through Aptech. I would never travel for interview