While I am on my final quarter in the Computer Science program at Oregon State University, and job hunting is right on the horizon, I have recently become anxious. I have begun to doubt myself in several moments, asking myself if I am good enough to work professionally as a software engineer, confident enough to get through the interview process, or if my portfolio is interesting enough where it showcases my skills and motivation to excel in this field. I realize, however, that this anxiety is common and that many people go through the painstaking process of applying to jobs, interviewing, and getting turned down by several companies. For those of you reading and going through the same struggles and feelings, know that you are not alone. Even well established software engineers today have been in the same place as we all have, and have experienced more failure than success. I know this because out of my worry for the future I have looked through numerous blogs made online through sites or Youtube channels of software engineers reflecting on when they first started applying for jobs. Naturally by looking through these posts and videos my self doubt has begun to disappear.
Finding a job is still a daunting prospective for myself, but I am learning to look at it as more of a welcome challenge than a stressful one. Job hunting after graduation should be more of an experience where you showcase your skills and interests to professionals in the field. For anyone in the same position as me I implore you to look at videos online or blog posts which discuss other software engineers’ experiences in job hunting. There are a lot of things to learn about the interviewing and job acquisition process, as well as encouragement gained from them.
