The vast majority of students are looking to work as software engineers, if not all of us. Some may be interested in pursuing research or working in education, but not me.
Part of the reason I chose to study at Oregon State was the active and helpful community of students and alumni. They have played a pivotal role in me preparing for the job hunt by sharing their knowledge and experiences. However, I think I started utilizing them to the full extent too late.
Before accessing the wealth of knowledge the community offers, I had a rough idea for when to start applying and what to expect to encounter in technical interviews. I didn’t know how to handle it when I encountered it. But I was familiar with the types of problems I’d see.
Utilizing the wealth of knowledge of the community too late hurt me in the internship hunt. I didn’t start to practice for interviews early enough. I didn’t feel confident going into interviews until they stopped being offered. I missed my only chance to get an internship.
I was nervous about hunting for a full-time role after graduating, but I was now utilizing the community and knew what to do to prepare. I spent all summer practicing technical problems and enrolled in a course to prepare for interviews. It was a long summer, but I was prepared for the job hunt.
I started applying later than I think others did. I didn’t think anything of it at first. But then people started getting offers and I still wasn’t really scheduling any interviews. Eventually, I started getting responses and scheduling interviews.
I submitted a lot of applications to get some online assessments and got even fewer interviews. But I was ready for this moment, I spent all summer practicing for it. My first final round interview came and went.
I spent some time in the days following that interview, slowly becoming more and more critical of my performance. I knew where I made mistakes and how to be better the next time around. Finally, I got a response.
Finally, an offer.
If there is one thing I can say looking back at my experience, it’s that you should be persistent and make use of the resources available to you. We are fortunate to have such an active and caring community.
But you also must evaluate yourself and what you are doing. Without that, you won’t be able to identify what you can do to improve. Even when you do well enough to get an offer, there are things you can do to improve. Maybe you shouldn’t beat yourself up over these things. In fact, you shouldn’t at all, but it’s a skill that you will need for the rest of your career.
