Obligatory

Today, I accepted my first offer post-grad for $70,000 at a startup in the Midwest! I'm gonna try and not be one of those people who get their first offer and think they're experts and start offering tons of advice, but I did want to share my experience because its nice to have some positive posts on this sub here and there. Throwaway just in case. ###### Stats: - Graduated May 2021 from a non-CS state school - GPA: 3.85 - No internships - Average to slightly below average at Leetcode - Anxious and bad at interviewing in general - 311 total applications in about 2.5 months, 2 onsites, 1 offer ### Application Process I waited until after I graduated to start searching for a job mostly because I didn't feel ready for interviews before then, which was a mistake because 1) new grad hiring is at like right at the beginning of senior year apparently and 2) I needed the practical interviewing experience even if I wasn't ready. APPLY EARLY. Once I started applying, I went for everything that listed less than 4 years of required experience, mostly finding things on Indeed, LinkedIn, and AngelList. I did not apply to any FAANGs. I looked all over the country, but mainly focused on New York, Seattle, Chicago, and Minneapolis. I tried to apply to at least 5 a day, sometimes getting up to 15 in one day or going days without applying. I did not tailor my resume or write cover letters, but I did only apply to jobs whose tech stack I had at least a little experience in and could conceivably be qualified for. ### Interviews I absolutely suck at interviewing, my mind just goes completely blank and my social anxiety is awful. I struggled with behaviorals at the beginning and failed a few phone screens, but quickly got a little better with practice (at least good enough to make it further in the process). I still struggle with Leetcode, even after studying for the past few months and buying Grokking the Coding Interview. I can do maybe 70% of Easy and a few easier Medium problems. Thankfully, I only ran into Leetcode in OAs; all of my technical interviews were very basic with no Leetcode. I bombed the onsite for a new grad program at a large company even though it was very easy which was devastating. I was convinced that was my only shot, so I temporarily gave up interviewing and took a mental health break. I ended up getting the call to schedule the interview that landed me the offer only a few days after that, luckily! The interview process gave me some of the worst anxiety and depression I've ever had and I am extremely glad I only had to do it for about 2 months. Solidarity with those of you still looking after 6+ months... I have extreme social anxiety, so every aspect of interviewing is a nightmare to me. Every phone interview or onsite I had, I was on some combination of propranolol, a stiff drink, and meditation / breathing exercises 10-15 minutes before. ### The Offer The company is a small-mid size startup in Minneapolis. The interview process was an easy take-home, a behavioral phone interview, and a few hours virtual onsite with the team. Compared to some of the processes I had gone through, this was pretty short and easy. During the interview, I got along well with everyone and asked a ton of questions which I think is what got me the offer (plus my take-home) since my answers to the more technical portions weren't extremely good or detailed. I really thought I wasn't going to get it because of that but I got the call! I guess that just goes to show you how important soft skills are. ### Tips - The two of the three onsites I made it to (before one got cancelled) had take-home tests. Lots of people will tell you not to waste your time on them and if you have ANY experience I'd say you can probably skip them... But as someone who is just okay at Leetcode and bad at thinking on the spot / describing my projects / shit at interviewing in general, they were by far my best shot at showing my programming skills and instantly give you something to talk about / review with the interviewer. - If you do decide to do a take-home, make sure to write plenty of tests... test the hell out of it. And if it's getting posted to GitHub, make sure the README is airtight. - I think new grads tend to have the best chances at FAANG and large companies (if you can Leetcode) or small startups (if you have a good personality / aren't afraid to talk to higher ups). I had zero success with mid-size companies anywhere and I wouldn't waste my time on them. --- Sankey Diagram ###### Diagram Notes: - Ghosted means the company either reached out to setup some kind of interview and then did not respond when I gave dates/times to schedule OR gave me an interview and then never sent any kind of rejection - Ignored means I ignored a request to schedule an interview either because I realized I actually did not want to work for them after I had applied OR they called to schedule something after I accepted my offer - Cancelled occurred when my onsite was cancelled by a company without a real rejection after doing very well throughout the rest of the process