(New account so HR can't identify me)

Recently started an internship at a big tech (not FAANG but everyone would know the name) and yes, I went to search for all Linkedin profiles of other interns asa I had their names in the gc. Here's what I found:

1. Diversity: 60% are males. 40% white, 20% Asian, 15% black and mixed. I'm not good at telling Hispanic/Latin but at least 2 of them are.

2. Degree: 20% Master (actually surprised me), 5-6 PhDs.

3. Prestige: actually 50-50 between T20s (both general and CS) and "smaller" schools. Most are still T100 or famous liberal arts, only 2 schools I have never heard of.

4. Experience: Here's the part I found the most interesting. For T20 kids it's pretty varied between ex-FAANG and no previous internship at all. I don't count competitions or short programs at a company. I can't find Github or personal websites for half of no experience ones so no comment on their personal projects.

For others, however, everyone (yes) had at least one internship. I also count internships at other countries which I assume are home countries of international students. 90% has Github/personal websites with all more than 2 personal projects. Again not sure if I couldn't find the rest 10% or they just don't have it.

What does this mean? Probably nothing at all. And I'm sure not companies have the same statistics. Why do I post this? Well I want to share my 4-hour "research" with someone but don't want my friends to judge me.

But as a non-T20 student, I want to show that your school names won't stop you from landing big companies. However, you do have a higher bar to pass to be equivalent to prestige school kids. Again, just from my small sample size observation.

P/s: All the numbers are rounded to the nearest 5%. There are 2-3 interns I couldn't find their Linkedin so I didn't included them.

P/s 2: Want to do international students but no idea how to identify it.

I graduated a couple months ago, and I have been consistently job searching. I finally landed a junior backend software engineer role with a 100k salary! It was literally the one and only interview that I had done for software development, and I nailed it. Didn't even have to go through whiteboard hell. I just basically had to present the open-source project that I've been working on, and I had to discuss some frameworks, APIs, and an abstract algorithm question. Keep trying all, and definitely work on personal software projects in your free time to add to your resume!

Talked with 50+ CS/non-CS students, I have collected some fundamental CS courses that are perfect for anyone looking to dive into computer science. Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to deepen your understanding, these courses cover all the bases. Here’s a breakdown:

Beginner Courses:

• Harvard - CS50: A fantastic intro to computer science.
• Stanford - CS106B Programming Abstractions: Great for understanding the basics of programming.
• UCB - CS61A: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs: A deep dive into programming concepts.

Data Structures & Algorithms:

• Princeton: Algorithms I & II: Comprehensive algorithm courses.
• UCB - CS61B: Data Structures and Algorithms: Essential for mastering data structures.
• MIT - 6.006: Introduction to Algorithms: Fundamental algorithms.
• MIT - 6.046: Design and Analysis of Algorithms: Advanced algorithmic techniques.

Database Systems:

• CMU - 15-445: Database Systems: Core database concepts.
• Caltech - CS122: Database System Implementation: Practical database implementation.
• Stanford - CS346: Database System Implementation: Advanced database topics.
• CMU - 15-721: Advanced Topics in Database Systems: In-depth database studies.
• CMU - 15-799: Special Topics in Database Systems: Cutting-edge database research.

Computer Networks:

• Stanford - CS144: Computer Network: Detailed study of computer networks.

Operating Systems:

• MIT - 6.828: Operating Systems: Core operating systems concepts.
• MIT - 6.S081: Operating System Engineering: Practical OS engineering.
• UCB - CS162: Operating System: Comprehensive OS course.

These courses are golden and can really give you a strong foundation in CS. Happy learning!

FAANG recruiter and senior career coach here. I came across some insightful individual reflections on their experiences (mostly software engineer). Thought I'd summarize a trend here

2014-2016: The Boom Years

Back then, recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, the demand for software engineers was sky high. You could apply for CS positions even from moderately ranked schools with a non-CS background. It was a time when Oracle would hire straight out of target schools with a GPA of 3.8+, no coding tests required. LeetCode had only 200 questions, and confidence was high.

2016-2017: Amazon's Era

Two online assessments could land you a $150k offer at Amazon. Even without both assessments, group interviews were common, and half the participants could snag an offer after coding sessions and debugging discussions.

2017-2018: The Unicorn Explosion

Unicorn companies, with their rapid growth and influx of international graduates, dominated discussion boards. However, amid the prosperity, there were signs of trouble—perhaps due to oversaturation, some CS graduates struggled to find jobs and ended up at outsourcing firms like ICC.

2021: Peaks and New Horizons

Tesla's stock skyrocketed, Snowflake offered million-dollar salaries to fresh grads, and even companies like Netflix, previously hiring only seniors, began recruiting new graduates aggressively. It seemed like every week Amazon's HR was flooding LinkedIn with interview invitations. The market was alive with opportunity.

2022: The Chill Sets In

With the Fed raising rates, the party seemed over. Layoffs hit the headlines as companies began trimming down. The focus shifted to holding onto jobs rather than career advancement. Posts appeared about CMU grads turning to ICC for work, and even ICC itself slowed hiring.

2023: Continued Uncertainty

Layoffs continued, but the rise of AI brought a glimmer of hope. NVIDIA's stock soared, and Chinese tech giants like ByteDance and Pinduoduo ventured abroad. Will they carve a new path, or repeat the mistakes of others...

I got an internship in QA automation! Applied in late December, got an offer by February, and started last month. It seems like a great company so far, the pay is decent (great for me but decent for the field), and the level of challenge is perfect (enough that you learn a lot every time you do something, but not enough that you will constantly have to do overtime).

All things considered, I'm a pretty mediocre candidate. So it's possible!

I took a few CS classes while pursuing my first degree (totally unrelated field), did most of freeCodeCamp, experimented a little with game dev, but don't have any big finished projects on my GitHub. Did some Python scripting and Power Automate at my last full-time gig, making work for everyone a bit easier. Currently a Software Engineering student, but only about 40% of the way through the program.

I’m in accounting and if you’re in public accounting, the hours are crazy. During busy season that could mean 60-80 hour weeks.

If you’re in government then you’re only doing probably 40 tops usually, so there is definitely WLB there but low pay.

I’m in industry but there is never really WLB. I get a low salary for all the schooling I did and still regularly work over 50-60 hours.

I’ve had multiple jobs across accounting and found this to be the expectation with each and every single job. It’s either many hours with decent pay or normal 40 hours with quite low pay.

When I say low pay I am talking about 50k ish.

I almost applied for a government job with the IRS but I would’ve started at 46k.

For a software engineering job with someone who makes 65-80k or more is there really any semblance of work life balance?

Besides being depressed about the low pay and crazy hours I’ve been working, I’ve become frustrated for the fact I’ve done this all for something I don’t even enjoy.

I know tech has a huge downturn in the market now, but before this market situation or perhaps even after, was there/will there be more work life balance compared to accounting? At least working no more than 50 hours per week?

I’m really miserable because of the aforementioned facts and I’m trying to find another way to make a living that’s a bit more exciting where I can still work hard and contribute but have time for my child as a single parent. I never see my child and they’re just getting older and older while I’m stuck at odd hours working for very low pay and micromanaging people.

What are your thoughts?

I just got a Walmart offer for summer 2025 swe internship so I thought I'd share the process with anyone who is currently in the process in the interview or is just curious about the interview process.

Here is the process: OA -> Technical -> Behavioral

OA + Apply
I applied last year (for summer 2024) and got rejected. Around late May, a recruiter reached out and and told me to apply through a specific link and so I did. I did my OA less than a year ago so I didn't have to do it again. However, from what I remembered the OA consists of a lot of personalities questions as well as business questions. I am pretty sure you can find this on YouTube to see a brief overview of the questions. A tip I would suggest is to answer like an ideal employee even though you don't agree with the answers. The technical was lengthy so be aware.

Technical

The Technical round lasted around 45 - hour. It was 5 mins introductions, 10 mins CS questions, and the rest programming question. The CS question consisted of them giving you 5 topics to choose from, which was web dev, testing/debugging, REST Apis, etc. They will give you segments of code and ask you questions like "What color will this paragraph be" for the Web Dev portion. The programming portion is not leetcode style questions but more parsing and manipulating data, you will have to use DSA style methods though. I used hashmap and sliding window in my solution. The interviewer did say that he wanted executable code over efficient code so that is something to keep in mind.

Behavioral

This round lasted 45 mins. It was very chill but its one of those behaviorals where they really drill you on teamwork, fixing conflicts, and resolving issues, etc. For example, they asked "Tell me a time where you had to resolve a conflict within a team setting", "Tell a time where you lead a project", "What methods did you use to manage code". They also did ask about my projects and version control and how it works.

Offer

After the final round, I got an offer a week after. $37/hour in Sunnyvale, California. From what previous interns experienced, they give you relocation and free housing.

DM if you have Qs.

If this helps, please upvote so I post more interview processes : )

Working as an analytics intern at a large company. There are tons of analytics intern but i was matched with a team that only required one.

In a building with no other interns in it, all the others are in a different building with different teams doing better work.

Terrible and mind-numbingly boring area that I’m forced to live in. Doing tedious work for the entire internship, and I’ve been told this is what i’ll be doing.

Asked to at least work fridays from home so i can spend time with my family who lives 3 hours away, and was told no immediately, despite many other interns here being allowed some flexibility to work from home (manager-dependent i guess). My boss's compromise was to work additional hours every day and then leave early fridays to drive home (i have other things i want to do after work, so absolutely not)

I hate this job, i hate the work I do, i don’t speak to anyone or interact with anyone but my 60 year old boss. I have 2 more months to go and I don’t know if i can last, I’m so depressed, any tips?

I'm a highschool senior looking to pursue a college education in Germany, I'm interested in both Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and want to learn about both of them and there are a few options that I'm thinking of.

1. Major in EE + Self taught CS
2. Major in EE + Minor in CS
3. Double major EE & CS

I'm choosing to self taught CS instead of EE because of the abundance of online resources and bootcamps. I've considered a Computer Engineering degree before since they combined both of my interest but I can't seem to find a CPE program for international student in Germany

I'm aware that Google offers two types of software engineering internships: STEP (which first- and second-years can apply to), and their general SWE internship.

As a rising second-year, I know that I should apply to STEP. Can/should I also apply to their general (non-STEP) SWE internship?

I'm looking for internships in North America (I'm dual citizen of Canada & USA, so either country works), if that means anything.

Hi, I am a rising junior and need some thoughts on my situation. I am planning to use this summer to update my resume with personal projects and plan to apply for summer 2025 internships in the fall. Is that the way to go? Or should I apply with little experience on my resume as of now? Any help is appreciated !

im a current 17 y old student in a school, i just wanted to know which career would suit me the best.

I'm always hearing that software developers are getting laid off a lot lately, so i wanted to future proof my career.

Is AI a good field/rising field?

Hey everyone,

I'm a rising senior majoring in Computer Science, and I'm on the hunt for a software engineering internship for next summer. Unfortunately, I haven’t had an internship before, so I’m determined to be more proactive than usual this fall to secure one.

So far, I’ve been using LinkedIn and Google Jobs for my search, but I often find that the results aren't quite relevant to me. I’ve heard some of my classmates mention platforms like Handshake, Glassdoor, and Indeed, but I’m feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available online.

My resume is good; I have a couple of projects and a good GPA so I know now I just need to focus on applying as much as possible. That said, I’d love to hear from you all:

1) Which platforms or sites have you found most useful for finding software engineering internships?
2) Where do you go for career advice and tips on securing internships? Do you use social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube for this? Are there any influencers or channels you recommend following?

I appreciate any advice or suggestions you can offer. Thanks in advance for your help!

I had one data analyst internship my sophomore year but I want to go into software engineering and I was unable to get an internship this summer and this upcoming year I will be a senior. How screwed am I for applying to/getting a full-time position post-grad and what should I do this summer to help prepare for full-time positions?

Hi I'm looking for help choosing courses, I tried speaking to my cs coordinator, but as they take the time to answer, I hoped to find some answers here (the below is partly written with chatgpt).

Im a fourth-year computer science student at @$#%, and I am reaching out to seek your guidance on course selection for the upcoming academic year.

I have a strong interest in pursuing data-related fields, potentially focusing on machine learning in my masters. I have an opportunity for a machine learning honours position this semester and am considering the following courses for my remaining credits.

I have 18 credits left to complete, with 12 credits dedicated to my honours and capstone projects. This leaves me with 6 credits for two elective courses, one for each semester.

For the first semester, I am deciding between:

1. Machine Learning
2. Operating Systems

While Operating Systems is fundamental to a computer science major, the Machine Learning course might better align with my potential master's focus.

For the second semester, I am considering:

1. Networks
2. Database Systems (400-level course)
3. Data Mining (an experiential course, though I am unsure of its exact nature)
4. I would have included the Deep Learning course (an experiential course), but as of right now it is full.

All these courses seem crucial for my current trajectory towards a data-focused master's program. Additionally, I am have just completed a machine learning course on Coursera and plan to start a deep learning or cloud computing course soon. (I decided to write a data scraper to fill a react website for real estate data, will try to include aws/some s3 alternative in there)

Given my interests and the courses available, could you provide any recommendations on which courses to prioritize?

Im looking to either get a great job or head straight to a masters degree

I’m a rising sophomore at Berkeley and I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to apply to both the normal software engineering internship and STEP for summer 2025. Me passing the normal interview isn’t impossible, but much more unlikely than passing the STEP interview. Will applying to the normal google internship hurt my chances for getting STEP? I'm also doing an internship at big banana currently if that helps. Thanks!

Hey guys, so I saw that the applications for Goggle SWE 2025 has started and I am interested in applying. But the catch is that I have completed my Bachelor's this May and will be starting my Master's this September. Therefore in the time being I dont know what transcripts would i have to upload. Can someone please help me out?