Hey friends! This is a guide for getting a gig in college as a tech major. I just graduated this past school year with 10 job offers after having 5 internships throughout my four years of college. You can do that, too. Because you're great.
- Introduction (you read that already)
- Your Resume
- Your Cover Letter
- Your Attitude
- Your Skills
- Building Them
- Selling Them
- Your Search
- Events
- Networking
- Fellowships
- Cold Calling
- Conclusion
Your resume is your personal summary sheet. Your resume is the thing that gets your foot in the door. So, there's a few things you should do (and not do) to make it as awesome as you are.
Your name has to stand out from everything else, because you want it to be remembered. Making it the biggest thing on the page is the easiest thing you can do to make that possible. I've seen soooo many resumes where the name is at the top, but it's just bolded and centered and they expect that to be enough. It's not.
Nobody looks at the objective. Nobody. I personally spoke to a bunch of recruiters from various companies and they all said that they never look at them. Use that space to talk about projects you've done, activities you've done, etc.
I know that lifeguarding in high school was a good gig that helped you gain people skills and attention to detail. But you're in tech. That doesn't matter as much to tech companies. Sorry, buddy. I still think you're great with people. When you're a first semester freshman, it's okay to have old high school stuff on there, just because it's less likely that you have other things to put on your resume. But as soon as you have a college GPA to work with, a club or two, and some volunteer experiences to replace that, do it.
Companies aren't allowed to ask about your religion, marital status, or race/ethnicity, so you shouldn't include that.
In terms of contact information: you don't need your mailing address. That is a thing of the past. Just like my youth. Tech companies email, and maybe call. That's all you need! Some great things that you might also want to put on there are your personal website (if you have one, which you should), your GitHub profile (if you have one, which you should), and your LinkedIn (if you have one, which you should).
Though there's some who might disagree, you should include your GPA. If your major GPA is significantly higher than your overall GPA, you might want to consider having both. When you have graduated and have a full-time job, you won't need it as much. But at this point in your beautiful life, keep it in there. Some companies care about GPA more than others, so you might as well play it safe and have it there.
Your cover letter is your written sales pitch. You've got a resume that summarizes everything. Now you have to write out a more complete, professional description of you and what you can offer a given company. Here's a sample cover letter to get you started:
Dear _________,
I hope your day is going well! My name is _________, and I'm a _________ at _________. I am very interested in working for _________ next _________. Your commitment to _________ and _________ that I saw on the website inspired me! The products you build and the values you stand for make _________ seem like an ideal workplace for me.
A little about me, I [insert relevant work experience, extracurriculars, and projects here]. I think these experiences would make me a great candidate for you.
Please let me know if there's anything else you need from me. I look forward to hearing from you! I can be reached at _________ and _________.
Best regards,
_________
Now, remember, this is just a sample. You can write a cover letter in any format you'd like. But, you should be sure to include the following:
- Who - Who you are. Easy enough.
- Where - Where you're coming from.
- Why - Why you're interested in this company, and show that you researched them.
- What - What you can bring to the table.
- When - When you're available to start, and when they can contact you.
- How - How they can reach you.
When you're internship/job hunting, it's very easy to feel down if you don't hear back from companies, an interview goes poorly, or you start comparing yourself to people. It's a tough field we're going into.
So. I won't spend much time on this. But I want to emphasize something: You're brilliant. You're in this field for a reason. When your grades aren't awesome or someone gets something that you wanted, don't feel down on yourself. So many opportunities will come your way if you just keep working hard and refining your skills.
When you're talking to companies and recruiters at career fairs and hackathons and over the phone, be confident, not arrogant. Be grateful for the opportunity they're giving you, and smile! A great attitude will take you VERY far.
Obviously, your skills are what a company is buying from you when they you. So, honing those skills and presenting them in an effective way is probably the most important thing in getting a gig.
Chances are, if you've had a data structures and/or algorithms class, you're already going to do pretty well in the technical interviews. That is, if you can recall the information you learned.
Here's a checklist of things that you should probably be prepared to know in a technical interview:
- Data types
- Array
- Linked List
- Singly Linked
- Doubly Linked
- Circular Linked
- Queue
- Stack
- Binary Tree
- Binary Search Tree
- Heap
- Graphs
- Sorting algorithms
- Insertion
- Selection
- Merge
- Quick
- Time Complexities
This guide isn't for teaching you these skills. But there are several out there that can help.
Typically, for an internship or your first job, questions won't get much more specific unless you're applying for a specific role. For example, if I wanted to be a mobile intern, I might be asked iOS/Android/Windows Phone specific questions, or if I wanted to be a web intern, I might be asked HTML/CSS/JavaScript questions, or if I wanted to be a backend intern, I might be asked about Django or Node or Ruby on Rails. That definitely depends on the company, and what you're both looking for.
You have a resume and cover letter in hand, and you have the skills to make anyone want you. Now, you just have to find the right gig for you.
When you're on the hunt for a great internship or first job, the events you go to can really set you apart, and will help you meet people that could potentially help you in the long run.
The biggies that you will definitely run into are:
- Hackathons
- Meetups
- Conferences
Which sounds better?
a. I'm a web designer for a club website
b. I developed and maintained website for engineering club using HTML, CSS, Javascript, and JQuery to promote the club and give members crucial updates about meetings and events. In three months, our club gained 23 new members, and the website received 5000 hits.
It's obvious - b sounds way better. Having skills and experience is one thing. Selling them is an entirely different art. When you're describing a skill - whether it's on a resume or in an interview, ask yourself:
- What? - Did you create an iPhone app? Complete a project? Found a club?
- How? - Which technologies did you use? Did you use a specific API?
- When? - This past summer? Last year? When you were in preschool?
- Why? - To save the world? For a hackathon? School project?
- Impact? - How is the world different because of your project/internship/club/etc.? Quantify it, if you can - numbers of website hits, etc.
Fellowships are a great way to network with a community and get valuable mentorship that will most certainly help you in the long run. They vary depending on the program, but typically you'll get assigned a mentor or two, go to several events to network with professionals, and intern for a company that has partnered with the specific fellowship program.
Here's a list of some example fellowship programs. This is by no means a complete list (feel free to send a pull request or file an issue if there's another you'd like to be added), but it should get you started!
React
Typescript
Django
Laravel
Facebook
Microsoft
Google
Alibaba
D3
Tencent