Landing that first job...?

Hi Chase. You are not alone. However, you are far beyond some others. Your internship should help you meet many new people within the company. Most importantly it could lead to a better understanding of our industry. This will allow you to meet many new clients and others in this field. I am 39 years old and recently changed from finance to web developed. One thing I can stress is to let friends, family, clients understand exactly what you are doing and remain professional. You will do fine!

Your company hiring? ;) Thanks for the response! I'll keep my head up!

Hi Chase - I've been in the IT industry for 23+ yrs now...I remember my 1st job...it was tough to get it. I went through 4 interviews and spent money I borrowed on a "less than" suit. However, I kept a positive attitude, I let my winning personality shine in each interview, smiled a lot, did not fake it...meaning be upfront and open about what you know and where you see your career in 1, 3 & 5 yrs, keep applying for jobs until you have a job, even if you feel super confident about current potential opportunities. Today's market is very competitive and everyone wants to see your work. Being that your work is on the www for everyone to see, most project Mgrs and leads will ask for examples of your work by providing them URLs. The more the merrier. If you have the time, another way to get a quick online portfolio is to ask small businesses for web development work you'll do for free. By doing this, you will: get your name out there, you will build your online portfolio and you'll meet potential employers. Send out a FB post that you are available for web development work and will build a website up to 10 pages to the 1st 5 customers. You can put what ever you'd like, but you get the idea. You can also put an ad in Craig's List as well.

In addition, I currently work at http://www.benefitfocus.com/ and we are always looking for new talent. Benefifocus is a software engineering firm that focuses on building software that provides a way for companies to manage their entire benefit offerings to their employees via an online web platform. I invite you to review the website and reach out to HR. Let them know I referred you, Steve Weetman.

Never give up, have a high level of perseverance and you will succeed!

Best regards and God bless, Steve

Try attend industry gatherings and meetups. The more people you know the better. While a shiny resume can land you some jobs, more often than not placements are filled by people who are already known to the company. Especially in smaller businesses.

Best of luck with the job hunt.