Going into this program, I was extremely nervous for job interviews. The Software Engineering interview process is, in my opinion, the most unique and difficult job process out there. Early in the program, I struggled immensely. This was the first time I’ve ever really struggled in school. However, this only pushed me to improve my coding skills for future interviews.
I started interviewing after Intro to Algorithms, for I felt like it was the final foundation I needed to start leetcoding. Prepping for interviews was the hardest part. Going through countless of leetcode questions was extremely draining. After I felt a bit comfortable, I started to apply EVERYWHERE. My best friends are all Software Engineers. Before I entered the program and while they were looking for jobs, I would also ask them “Hey why don’t you apply here?” They would always tell me that it’s not that simple. After sending hundreds of applications, I fully understand now. Even though the demand for SWEs is high, getting an interview is almost near impossible. You’re competing with hundreds of other people who have similar, if not better, projects and experience than you. However, I continued to gruel out the interviews and trust my own experience. After hundreds of rejections, I was finally able to secure a new grad position in Michigan. Even though it’s far from where I currently live, I am extremely grateful to have something secured going into my final quarter. It also gives me leverage for any other interviews that I’m currently applying for.
For capstone, I wanted to build something different. I’ve already worked on full stack web applications for CS340 and CS493, and I wanted to work in app development this time. Thankfully, I was assigned with the cross platform discussion application for my project, and I’m really excited. I’m an avid user of Reddit, and it’s exciting to work on something similar to it. I’m also excited to learn React, for I know it’s one of the popular frameworks in the world.
