Landing

Piggybacking off the discussion in this post to give some advice to those frustrated with landing an internship or full time interview. ___ First, a bit of background: 1. Went to a medium sized university with a mediocre CS program 2. Landed an internship at a large non-software company in their IT department from going to a career fair 3. Upon graduating, had an offer from Amazon for SWE and an offer from the company I interned at, among others not worth mentioning 4. Took the cushiony non-software company position and couldn’t be happier. Years later, I’m very involved in our college recruiting process. Based off the above, I would like to think that I’ve figured out the important pieces to landing an interview relatively well. The biggest advice I can give is as follows: Landing an Interview As pointed out in the aforementioned post, most job openings have hundreds of applicants, of which only a handful get interviewed. Usually those in the handful have referrals. A referral does not necessarily mean your friend or family member works at the company. The most common referral, in my experience, is one where a recruiter got a positive impression of a candidate and passed their resume along with a positive note. - Go to career fairs, events, clubs, etc. Even if you hate meeting new people, find a way to get yourself out there. Quantify it, gamify it, whatever you need. - At career fairs, have copies of your resume to hand out, and use the resources on this sub and elsewhere to make your resume stand out. - I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but PLEASE, take a shower and put on a business casual outfit for any networking. It’s astonishing how many unpresentable people we see at career fairs. If you can’t put in the effort to present yourself, we damn well won’t be hiring you. - Smile, make eye contact, stand up straight, speak with confidence. Many take these things for granted as they come naturally, but for those that they don’t, practice these things. - Follow up! If you met a recruiter, gave them your resume, and had a quick convo, reach out to them on LinkedIn! It puts your name in their head again, and shows your interest in the position. While most of these may seem obvious, the overarching theme is this: landing the interview has almost nothing to do with your resume, and everything to do with networking. I hate that it’s true, but I would rather hire a personable, outgoing, mid-tier student than a technical genius who can’t communicate. Passing the Interview Once you’ve got the interview, you’ve already beat 90-95% of applicants (pulled that number out of my ass but still), so go into it with confidence. - If you’re remote, have your resume open. When answering questions you can refer to your experience directly on your resume, asking the interviewer to do the same. “If you have my resume handy, position X mentions Y. In that role…” This is huge, you’re painting a picture of yourself and your experience, help us use the tools available to paint that picture. - Smile, make eye contact, stand up straight, laugh if they make a joke, share an anecdote where appropriate, etc. Most companies are hiring for culture fit, so rather than getting bogged down by the details, show that you’re someone they would enjoy working with. - For technical interviews: vocalizing your thought process is #1, so practice this. Also, if you don’t know an answer, share how you would find it. In my Amazon technical interview I didn’t get a working solution at all, and literally said “if I was solving this for work rather than for an interview I would google ‘<exact query>’.” I “failed” the technical interview, but still got a handsome swe offer because of the other things. - Show that you have a passion for tech. If you aren’t passionate about it and just want a paycheck, pretend. Hopefully this helps, and I will be glad to answer any questions! At the end of the day, there are countless applicants, many with great resumes, and many with awful resumes - the main thing that will set you apart is everything that isn’t on your resume. Hell, the #1 candidate I’m looking at right now has 0 relevant experience, but he was the most enjoyable to talk to, showed a passion for problem solving and tech, and showed he’s eager to learn. It’s the intangibles that count! Edit: I definitely should’ve worded my title differently - it’s not so much that you can be a great person with no technical expertise and land a SWE role. It is more so that the technical skills you build are your foundation, but that is the same foundation every other grad is building. The tips above are things that allow you to differentiate yourself from all the other qualified resumes in the stack. Also should’ve mentioned in experience that I interviewed with multiple FANG companies and countless tech-adjacent/non-tech companies during my undergrad. The Amazon role and my current role (which includes recruiting) were just most relevant anecdotally. Finally, this is just my advice from my experiences - by no means do I think this is all encompassing, but I hope it helps a student or two land a job!