Whether you take the traditional way or an unconventional method to pursue your career is not important; what you should concentrate on is identifying your skill sets, and your passion. If you know what exactly do you want to do for the rest of your life, a gentle nudge will make you tread the right path. Consider this article to be that gentle nudge.
 
You will be amazed to know that you need not be a jack of all to become a professional programmer or a coder; or for that matter, no job in the IT industry require you to be a knower of everything possible on this planet.
 
Be The Best In What You Do
 
All you need to do, to get ahead in the competition and land yourself a job of your dreams, is know your craft. Be the best in what you do. Even if you are a fresh IT graduate, an experienced one or are someone new to programming; if you are still pondering over the idea of becoming a developer, you need not worry at all. You need to know a minimum of one programming language and make sure that you have learned it really well. That’s it. If the recruiter sees that you are very good at what you do, even if that’s one programming language, you should know that the battle is won.
 
Learn The Fundamentals
 
The biggest slipup that the candidates make, is that they focus more on grasping everything. This makes them keep forgetting the roots. Avoid it, at any cost. Whether you hold an experience of ten years or are a beginner or are trying to switch to the technical field from your prior non-technical field; knowing the fundamentals is a must regardless of your background. Even if you are well acquainted with the latest technology, it’s important that you have your fundamentals crystal clear. This is one extremely important thing, that every recruiter wants from its candidates and if you have your fundamentals clear you have already gain an edge over the other candidates.
 
Showcase Your Work Efficiently
 
The rule of thumb in any area of work is that the recruiter gets to know all about your positive side so as to see and evaluate your potential and candidature. In order to achieve this, create a portfolio that is hard to undermine. If you are a great scorer and have awesome percentages to boast off in your resume, then great, but what if you are not a high scorer. Well, high scorer or not, the software development industry always wants to hire someone who is the right person for the job. Someone who has the talent and the knack to learn and explore. Make yourself a portfolio or an website that showcases your positive points effectively. You can show them your internships, the open-source projects that you might have participated in, the personal projects that you have undertaken etc. But yes, do remember not to clutter it.
 
The whole point is that you put forward your best foot and in the process give the hiring industry something to talk about you that is exceptional than the rest instead of the regular points. If you succeed to do this, in no time you will succeed to get that dream job for yourself too.