If you were like me this past semester, you were one of thousands of college seniors around the country looking for a job in the tech industry after graduation. After five grueling months, my process is finally over, and although I’m extremely happy with how things turned out, there are definitely some things I wish I knew before I began the process in August.
If you have some experience interviewing in the tech industry, you should already be familiar with the standard advice: work on personal projects, get an internship to bolster your résumé, brush up on data structures and algorithms for the interview, practice going through coding questions on a whiteboard, and research the company you’re interviewing with.
In this post, I wanted to share some tips about the job search process that you don’t normally hear about, tailored specifically for new grads.
There is always a relevant XKCD.
1. Start early.
It’s no secret that many of the larger companies start interviewing for new grad positions in early August. They fill these spots on a rolling basis, but since these companies are so big, they should be hiring for a long time, right? Before I started my applications, I spent a lot of time brushing up on algorithms to get ready because I thought they would be hiring for a while, so it wouldn’t matter if I applied a few weeks or even months down the road. I learned the hard way that this isn’t the case. By the time I was ready to apply to one large company sometime in early October, they had already filled all of their spots for new grads. By the time I was ready to apply to another company, they had already taken down their listing for 2016 new grads and already put one up for 2017 new grads. In October 2015.
These might be extreme cases, but it does make sense why these companies start so early. It takes a really long time to go through online coding tests, schedule phone interviews, plan for on site interviews and wait for feedback from recruiters. Before you know it, two months have passed and all you have to show for it is two phone interviews. My advice is don’t wait. Even if you don’t feel ready to interview, apply anyways so you can get on a company’s radar before it’s too late. If it turns out you really do need more time after landing an interview, ask for it then, since they (usually) can’t refuse a candidate who’s already in the pipeline.
2. Stay organized.
Unless you’re some kind of interviewing guru, you’ll likely be applying to dozens of different companies. This is why I recommend keeping a spreadsheet of all the places you’ve applied to. Personally, my spreadsheet listed all the companies I was interested in, ordered in tiers by personal preference. In the spreadsheet, I also kept track of the date applied, date of response (if any), any contacts at the company that I knew, any miscellaneous notes about that company’s hiring process, and a list of questions that I was asked if I received an interview. I was able to refer back to this spreadsheet over and over again throughout the semester to make sure I was keeping all of my applications straight.
The tier ranking of companies also helped me plan the order I would apply. For instance, I tried to apply to companies in the lower tiers first so I could get more comfortable with interviewing before I talked to places where I badly wanted to work. Of course, this comes with the caveat from number 1 in that you still should apply to all the companies on your list as early as possible, or else you run the risk of missing out on an awesome company completely.
Staying organized will also help when you inevitably have to miss class to interview or fly out to companies. It’s okay to miss some class time to hunt for jobs, but you’ll really need to stay on top of things to make sure you don’t fall behind in school.
3. Apply through all available avenues.
There’s more than one way to land an interview. If a company is at your school’s career fair, great! Head over there and get your résumé in the pile. As long as you haven’t failed out of all of your classes, you should be able to at least talk to an engineer on campus.
If a company isn’t at your school, it’s best if you can get a referral from someone you know inside the company, since your résumé can then bypass all the standard filters. If you don’t know anyone, utilize your LinkedIn connections and reach out to any alumni from your school that might work there. Don’t be afraid to ask for a referral; they are probably more than happy to help out, since they were once in your situation too.
If all else fails, don’t be afraid to just apply online at a company’s website. I’ve heard it said that it’s pointless to do this, since your résumé might just get lost in the ether of desperate new grads, but I’ve personally had a pretty good response rate, both positive and negative.
4. Don’t get discouraged.
You might often hear about how there’s a shortage of talent in the tech industry, and this is probably true, although I don’t claim to know enough about the industry to go into detail. However, I do know that new grad positions at the “hot” tech companies are extremely competitive. Unfortunately (though perhaps deservedly so), it seems like every Computer Science major wants to work at any of the hip unicorns that are experiencing massive growth right now. While these companies are indeed growing, they obviously can’t afford to hire every single new grad, and so they basically get their pick of the best and brightest. If you aren’t able to get a job at any of these companies, don’t get down on yourself.
There are hundreds of awesome tech companies in the Bay Area, Seattle, New York and all over the US. Chances are you haven’t even begun to scratch the surface on everything that’s out there. Just like college applications, don’t just focus on the big names; there are tons of hidden gems out there that may turn out to be the best fit for you. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t work at the coolest company at the moment. That will almost definitely change within the next few years anyways.
5. Don’t count on getting feedback.
In all the failed interviews I’ve had (and there have been many), not once has a company provided specific feedback afterwards. This is understandable, since they have basically nothing to gain and a lot to lose by increasing the chances of a discrimination lawsuit. From the candidate’s perspective, it really would be nice to hear what went wrong and what they could do to improve for next time. I would suggest asking more vague questions like “Which interviews went well and which didn’t?” but don’t take it personally if you don’t get an answer.
6. Practice smart.
This one seems kind of obvious, but it makes a huge difference. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we have to write code on a whiteboard to get a job, so you might as well get used to it since it’s completely different from typing at a computer.
It’s not enough to just practice coding silently in your favorite IDE. Buy a whiteboard (they’re only like ten bucks on Amazon) and find a friend. Practice walking through problems and take turns asking each other questions. Explain your thinking as you go and try to simulate as realistic an environment as possible, because it’s probably unlike anything you’ve done before.
7. Relax.
I know it’s really tough at first, since it seems like your entire future hinges on you getting that job at that awesome tech company. Still, one of the best things you can do to prepare for an interview is just relax. If you’re nervous or stressed out, it’ll make it that much harder to think clearly during the interview, and as a result you won’t perform at your best.
This does get better with time. In August and September, I was so nervous before (and during) my interviews that I could barely think straight. By the end, a few months later, I was so used to interviewing that it fortunately didn’t phase me anymore. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I ended up doing better on my later interviews.
So there you have it. Obviously, you should still follow the standard advice, as it is standard for a reason. Hopefully, these tips will help with some of the other aspects of the new grad job search. Good luck!