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As someone who hires CS professionals, a few pointers. Be deliberate about the industry that you are working in. You won't know how long you'll be there and after a few years, your industry knowledge will comprise a larger body than your technical knowledge. This is a lever for amplifying your value, because that crossover is when you can start thinking in terms of the value in the products and services you're developing, in addition to their technical implementations. The flip side of this is that the longer you are steeped in that industry, the more difficult it will be to change to a different one. You'll want to be in an industry that challenges you. For example, 10 years as an embedded RF engineer is not the same as 10 years in back-end banking. If I were looking for the former, I would not interview someone from the latter. CS pros have to be intelligent to get in the game. Once they are in, the primary success factors are a. Do you participate effectively in a team and b. do you work hard and pull your weight. Most universities today have coursework that includes extended, team projects. Do well in those programs, encourage your teammates to be competitive and committed and actually make something you can show off when you start interviewing. Be ready to go into detail, not just on the technical, but the team dynamics: What role you played, and here's a nugget: What were the different strengths of the team members and how did you deliberately take advantage of those strengths. A new grad who displays that type of insight will set themselves apart. Many jobs are landed through networking. Establish relationships with upperclassmen and keep in touch after they graduate. When you're ready to start looking, some of them may be working at companies you target. When you do your summer internships, connect with everybody you can. You can reach out to them, and in many cases, they will have moved and seeded other companies that you could interview with. Finally, just some out of the box thoughts for getting that first job: Cast a wide net. Submit a lot of resumes. Take a lot of interviews. Before each, research the company. Not just their technical products, but again, what market do they serve and do you believe you'd be challenged by that industry for the long term. Be good about following up. Don't be a pest, but don't let more than a week go by without checking in with your contacts on how it's going. Many companies are really bad at keeping candidates apprised of their status in the hiring, or where they are in the process. You don't want to just be left hanging when they've made a decision weeks ago. Good Luck! |