Proof of Work: the new era resume

Do you know 38% of professional developers don’t have a degree in computer science? 😲

70% of developers think they are self-taught, learning everything online on their own. Trust me, these numbers are only going to increase over the coming years. More and more self-taught developers are going to be hired by companies across the world.

One question might be bothering you, how can companies trust these developers who don’t have a degree?

The answer is simple, it’s their Proof of Work which makes them trustworthy. Read further to know more about it.

What is proof of work all about?

Proof of Work is basically a portrayal of your knowledge and skills. It acts as proof that you have those skills which you are claiming to have.

See, anyone can claim to have 10s of skills but those who show it by their work are chosen by the recruiters.

Proof of work varies according to the industry/domain you are looking to get into.

For example, if you’re looking to get a job as a Web developer, proof of work can be a link to the web applications you have built so that recruiter can actually take a look at them.

You should also put the code of your projects on GitHub and share a link to that too. This is also proof of work. The hiring manager will take a look at your code and can decide how good you’re at coding.

Similarly, if you’re applying for technical writing jobs, your already published articles are your proof of work. Share them while applying for the job.

The idea of Proof of Work applies to literally any field, be it marketing, no-code development, Software Development, designing, etc.

Therefore, When you learn something new, try to create a piece of work using that. That work can tell people you actually know your stuff.

There is a very famous saying, Talk is cheap, show me the code 😁. Similarly, Don’t tell me you are skilled, instead show me what have you built using your skills.

A perfect recipe to land a job

Companies these days ask about things you have done related to the role you have applied for. For example, if you have applied for a Mobile app developer role they gonna surely ask if you have developed any mobile apps before.

If you’re a fresher, you have no industry experience. In such a case, why a company should trust you, just because you have mentioned a skill on your resume? It doesn’t work this way ( anymore ). You should build projects & publish them online, publish your articles online, and show them to potential employers.

This showcasing of your work builds trust. Proof of work shows that you’re capable of doing work because you have been doing it on your own already. It gives you an edge over other candidates competing for the same job and makes you stand out from the crowd.

I have seen freshers getting jobs those demand 1-2 years of experience, just because those freshers had a good profile. They showed their Proof of Work to the recruiters. Recruiters trusted them and went ahead with interviews.

When I got a React Developer job last year, I had no past experience working with React. They hired me based on the React.js projects I had done on my own. I approached the recruiter with my best proof of work. She found my projects good enough to proceed to the interviews. I aced 4 rounds of interviews and finally got the job I like.

In conclusion, build your proof of work so strong that recruiters can not ignore you. Companies gonna trust your work more than your degree.

What proof of work can not do?

Proof of work definitely gives you a great advantage in the job market, especially in these times when 100s of people are competing for one job. It can land interviews for you but It can crack them for you.

What I’m trying to say here is that build your proof of work very strong but also give time to learn skills that are needed to crack the interviews. Try to get your interpersonal skills to a good level. Learn how to communicate effectively. These skills are not only helpful during interviews but they help you excel at your job too. So try to be great at technical skills and have good interpersonal skills.

What industry experts have to say

We can see many prominent personalities saying Proof of Work is the future of hiring. Here I’m attaching some tweets shared by those folks.

When you go apply for a job, prepare your resume focused on your proof of work. Also, when you approach a recruiter on social media, start the conversation with – I have done this x, y, z, and here are the links to my work. Then tell them I’m looking for this job at your company.

The idea is to highlight your work to make the recruiter trust your skills.

Conclusion

To summarize, here are some of the key points about Proof of Work –

1. Proof of Work is to build/create/write and show it to potential job providers in order to get hired.
2. Proof of work builds trust, it tells people that you’re capable of doing your work.
3. In a time when there is high competition in the job market, your proof of work will put you ahead of other candidates.
4. Learn, build, and share that online to stay at the top in the game of job hunting.
5. Remember, the future of hiring will not revolve around degrees but around proof of work. The stronger the work profile, the better the job you will get.
6. Don’t get busy building technical skills only, interpersonal skills are important too.

This is all I have for this article. I strongly hope this article will help you get better jobs. All the best with your job search 💜.

If you need any guidance regarding Software Engineering, please reach me on Twitter here.

Thank you for reading till the end 🙏!

See you in the next article ✌️