After I changed my Linkedin, I got contacted by a headhunter.

Mohammed studied Computer and Information Science at Cairo University, Egypt. Since 2016 he has been working as an Android Developer, accumulating experience as a freelancer as well as in full-time jobs in startups. Overall, he was happy with what he achieved but curious to explore the world outside. Then, Mohammed decided to apply to our boot camp at joinimagine.com.

Mohammed is like many of our students. He could be you. And now, he has a job in Germany.

What made him successful was the fact that he did not focus only on learning new technologies. In addition, he engaged in volunteer activities for mentoring students and worked on side projects. He knew how to take advantage of every learning opportunity he found. As a result, he gained practical experience with relevant tech stacks, besides developing an important set of soft skills.

If you were to ask me, what makes Mohammed special, I would say: he’s curious, willing to learn, happy to share his knowledge, and eager to embrace new challenges.

I recently talked to him to find out how he’s doing. See below!

Hi Mohammed, it’s nice to meet you. How are you?

Hey. I’m really happy because I got hired after having been applying to different companies for six months. And this is because of all your recommendations about how to enhance my LinkedIn profile. After modifying my LinkedIn, a recruiter found me and I started the process. I’ve received the job offer in May and now I just landed in Berlin.

That is so amazing. All the Imagine Team is happy for you. By the way, which company will you work for?

Thanks! I will work for Hexad as a Mobile Engineer.

Some people don’t know what a selection process in Germany looks like. Could you tell us about your experience?

Well, in my case a recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn. We had a talk and she invited me for the first interview with the company’s HR department.

Later on, they invited me for a technical test and a technical interview where I faced a problem-solving task. Next, I had another technical interview, this time it was focused on Android programming.

The final step was an interview with the project manager who I would work with if they decided to hire me. Finally, in May, they sent me the job contract which allowed me to apply for the Visa and start the relocation process.

Wow! Congratulations. But you mentioned that you had been applying for jobs in Germany for over 6 months. What was your strategy back then?

You are right, I have been applying for jobs in Europe for over 6 months. What I did was try to learn as much as I could. For example, after reading some job posts and participating in some interviews, I formed in my mind an idea about the technologies companies were using in Germany (eg. Kotlin, Dagger, Rx-java, etc). So, I just tried to learn as much as I could about Kotlin.

I also joined your boot camp and started to prepare myself for the interviews. I started to watch videos about job interviews and the cultural fit interview. After getting 360-degree feedback from Imagine, I improved my CV and changed my picture and profile on LinkedIn by following your advice. Just one day later, the recruiter contacted me. I could not believe it myself!

What advice would you give other Imagine Fellows who are applying for jobs in Germany?

#1. Find out the skills you need to have. Try to learn from the job posts, interviews, and tests you participate in what are the requirements, and what companies look for in terms of knowledge and experience.

#2. Be a self-learner. You may take online courses, but practicing is important too. Therefore, consider having open source projects published on your GitHub. Another option is developing commercial projects, as a freelancer, that allows you to have practical experience with important tech stacks.

#3. As I said before, build your network. Find people from your country on Facebook or LinkedIn who live where you want to move to. They can advise and help you with the job applications, also with your relocation. Do not forget to follow the recruiters who contact you on LinkedIn.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I could not forget to mention the valuable help I received from my friend Mohamed El Awadi. He was the one who presented me to the Imagine website, encouraged me to apply for the Imagine boot camp, helped me with technical stuff and reframed my thoughts. Thanks, my friend.

Awesome! If you also have friends outside Europe who are looking for a career abroad as a software developer invite them to apply.

That’s it. We hope you enjoyed the read. Now it’s time for action. As always, we are rooting for you. Keep us posted.

— Your friends at Imagine

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