This morning I was looking on Indeed and LinkedIn for more junior/new-grad software engineer positions to apply to. I’ve had the most success networking and connecting to recruiters and software engineers through conferences and their career fairs, but cold applying to open positions also has its benefits. Your resume gets stored in the company’s internal database and there is a chance that an internal recruiter will like your resume and pass it along to the hiring manager.
Here are three job applications I’ve found that have piqued my interest and that I will apply to. Company # 1 is for a new grad role for a startup, Company # 2 is for a SWE 1 position for a bigger company, Company # 3 is for a Junior SWE position for a startup.
Like with any job posting, job title and job description is relative. I picked these three descriptions to share because I believe they are fair-ish descriptions that help guide me towards applying for the job. Would you apply to these job postings?
I know there are students that apply to 200+ job applications and these 3 jobs potentially could never get back to me while applying, but I think it’s important to identify descriptions you resonate with. The job description are also important for you to reflect on if you have certain marketable skills the company are looking for as well. Essentially you are working backwards to fill in the missing pieces of what to improve on to be a stronger applicant.
I could be overthinking this, but I *think* identify such factors will help up your chances of getting a response back to then go through the first, second, third round of interviews.
As with anything, talking with an actual recruiter, software engineers that have been working there, and hiring managers will give you a better understanding if this position is a good fit for you!
There are so many factors that play to getting noticed…timing, resume format, technical skills, location… just keep going and good luck to the people apply for jobs out there! Slow and steady!
Company # 1:
- You are currently working on your BS in Computer Science or related field graduating Fall 2021 or in 2022
- You have a strong understanding of programming fundamentals
- You are Platform minded – love abstractions and helping to enable engineers
- You have analytical, problem-solving and debugging skills
- You have strong communication skills
- You’re a self-starter, motivated learner and have a strong desire for professional growth
What You Will Do:
- Build a platform that will make developing software a dream for your fellow engineers.
- Build solutions on modern DevSecOps principles and infrastructure-as-code
- Collaborate on defining new platform capabilities that will move the needle in productivity
- Ensure privacy and security is one and the same with our platform while not being a big burden on development
Bonus Points:
- Experience in our current tech stack: Python, Go, Java, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Istio, Terraform
Company # 2:
As a junior backend engineer, you will work directly with the engineering and product team to:
- Help architect the APIs and database schema that power our platform
- Participate in DevOps and infrastructure initiatives
- Work within a tight-knit agile team to deliver on product goals
- Push for engineering best practices
- You’ll excel at this role if you:
- Have a degree in C.S. or a related major
- Have 1+ years of experience working on a backend app
- Have experience in PHP & MySQL
- Have experience working with RESTful APIs & JSON
- Have experience with Elasticsearch & Redis
- Enjoy knowledge sharing with team members
- Enjoy working within a data-driven team
- Have experience working with CI/CD pipelines and testing (e.g. Jenkins/Selenium)
- Are eager to learn and hit the ground running
- Are detail oriented and rarely have things slip through the cracks
- Love building marketplaces
Company # 3:
Basic Qualifications:
- Passion for building sophisticated web applications that are performant, secure, and highly-available
- Proficiency in common languages such as Javascript, Python, or Java
- Excellent problem solving and debugging skills
- Outstanding verbal and written communication skills
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with web technologies and the browser environment
- Experience with developing and deploying applications on a cloud platform (AWS)
- Experience working with Agile methodologies
