Advice in career path.

[Tanvi Patil]

I am a B.E.I.T graduate. Worked for 2 years as a  full time web developer in a reputed college.
Developing web applications in  HTML, CSS, J2EE and DB2 for college website eg. Online student attendance, college alumni site.

In 2013 shifted to Pune. It’s been 4 years did not get any job.

Problems faced during interview:
• Data structure related questions asked for an HTML interview.
• 2 years of web development experience is too less for some companies.  
• For others 4 years gap is too much.

Job portals don’t give exact information about job requirement as I was once turned away from a company campus.
Tried with few contacts. The resume is only taken and then there is no response. No help from classmates.

Please advise me on what I can learn or update for job opportunities in Pune,India.

Will OCAJP8 certification  help me in getting job after 4 years gap?

I am sure I will get some advice here.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Welcome to the Ranch

Don't know whether your Java8 cert will help, but I am sure it won't do any harm.
What sort of data structure questions did they ask for your HTML job? You would expect developers of all sorts to know at least basic data structures.
Have you explained to companies what the four‑year gap was? Illness? Family matters? Have you done any programming in the meantime? Have you got any applications you can show them? Have you written any websites for friends or similar?

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Tanvil,
Welcome to CodeRanch!  The OCA is a very basic cert. You are going to need to know the material on the OCP at least. More importantly, what have you been doing for those four years. And if it isn't tech related, start now. Build your own website. Deploy it to the cloud. Put it on github. Showcase that you have current skills.

[Tanvi Patil]

Hello ,

Thank you Jeanne Boyarsky and Campbell Ritchie for your valuable advice.

Please pardon me for my late reply , I was out of town and recently I have started teaching 5th grade students in school as part of help to the society.

During my 4 year gap, I was giving interviews and revising . But at each opportunity the company policy did not match my profile.
I did manual testing course and ISTQB certification with 75% score. This again in Testing field companies need experienced candidate which I don't have.

In my java development interview I am asked as for why I did the testing course ?


In HTML interview complex array questions with searching and sorting techniques are asked.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Tanvil,
You are going to need more to put on your resume. Teaching is good to show you are doing something. But it's not programming.  Also consider two or more resumes so you can target it towards the job you want - Java, Web programming, testing, etc.  While an OCA/OCP cert isn't going to hurt, it isn't going to magically transform your resume either. You really need some sort of recent experience. Like putting your own stuff on github. Or using a freelance site. Because right now your profile looks like an entry level person. And entry level people have more recent experience than you do from college, internships and personal projects.

Also go to local tech events and network. See what people actually need. Develop connections.

Another idea is to find someone you know to give you a mock interview and give you comments on your weak points.

In my java development interview I am asked as for why I did the testing course ?

Well, why did you? Presumably you found it interesting. We write plenty of tests in Java - JUnit, Selenium, etc. So it isn't completely out of left field that you'd be interested in testing.

In HTML interview complex array questions with searching and sorting techniques are asked.

Not sure what an "HTML" interview would be. Nobody does just HTML anymore. And JavaScript does use data structures and logic so this seems like a fair question.

[Tanvi Patil]

Thank you Jeanne Boyarsky ma'am for this priceless advice.

I will definitely follow it . Thank you.