[olliej]

Honestly open source projects such that you can point to work you did without requiring an interview is super effective.

I'm honestly unconvinced leetcode practice is useful, there's a significant misunderstanding on coding interviews (google, apple, MS-to-an-extent ask questions I've seen labeled "leet code" but generally as a result of people not understanding the goal of such questions). Companies that are doing "real" leetcode questions in the sense of "could produce a solution for this specific weird question? yes/no" are probably not something you'd want to work for in the long term, and general "make sure you can explain what you are doing while writing code, make sure you can come up with test cases, make sure you can come up with solution trade offs" practice will work for leetcode, and be more useful to less questionable companies.

One other big thing is to try to tailor your CV/resume to each job you apply to. For mass application that isn't really feasible, but if you're only applying to 5-20 a little tailoring of your resume to each position (in the order of a couple of sentences on your background and specialities) is helpful. Your CV should also be as short as possible, no more than two pages, ideally one. Don't include irrelevant prior jobs, if you've been working more than a couple of years the jobs are more important than your degrees if you have them, and your school grades do not matter. Of what you keep, prioritize the jobs and qualifications relevant to the specific job. e.g. if the job you're applying to is primarily C++ your CV should put more emphasis on your C++ experience than the JS ones, etc.