Holy shit, what a hell of school year. There isn't any other way to put it really. Literally everyone I know has had plans change, lost opportunities, and been irrationally angry at the state of the world. I should say rationally angry, because there is good reason to be upset. TPTB are mishandling multiple very delicate situations and the good people of the world are turning the pressure up. I think it's easy to tell from the way that I write that I am pretty liberal, but if not please know that I stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. I have donated money to support those arrested for protesting in my community, called local law-makers to voice my unhappiness, and will continue to be an ally in the ways that I can. At risk of getting too political, I would like to talk about what it means to do anything you can and how it affected my job search because that's really what this blog post is about.
If you are a CS student or current software developer, and let's be honest who else would really be reading this, then you may be aware of the stigma around the getting an entry-level developer position. However, it doesn't matter if you are aware or even if you are in software because for the sake of completeness I am going to explain it anyway. The stigma is that it's pretty damn hard and for many seems close to impossible. Companies demand perfection from applicants and grossly overestimate the kind of knowledge that a new grad will have. Grueling whiteboard programming sessions and dumbass behavioral portions where there's a right answer to "Tell us about your hardest experience" are the norm when getting the kind of job every developer dreams of. This leads to an interview process that requires more studying than an entire course. I'm actually not joking, I spent so much time finals week in December studying for my Final Amazon round that I didn't even think about studying for a single class. It's a joke, and entry-level devs are the punchline.
I never had any idea it would be like this. As much as I love software, I would have picked a different career. All the discussions I read on being a software developer up until my senior year never mentioned the doom and gloom of being an entry-level dev. And once I started reading them, I couldn't apply fast enough. I did everything from cold applying on LinkedIn to messaging recruiters directly to utilizing my tiny network to get jobs. Nothing seemed to work, and I had a very stressful senior year. I knew in my heart of hearts that if I graduated without a job it would be a tough summer of self-loathing for ole Jared Chud. I tried so hard. In my job search spreadsheet there are 123 unique entries, which doesn't include multiple applications within the same companies or those nights when I would go on tears and apply to every entry-level job posting on LinkedIn in a given area. And the scary part is, this is the norm! Seriously, if you or someone you love is experiencing this in entry-level software you are not alone. It is really, really tough to get any kind of replay from companies. It's such a draining process too, you read job description after job description and apply and apply, filling out applications, trying new resumes, cover letters, or strategies and nothing sticks. Every once in awhile you see a golden goose, a job that feels like a perfect fit. You make up a little story in a your head about what your life would be like if you had that job and how the area would be so nice and the company is using the exact languages you want. Then two weeks later you get the 'You are a very qualified candidate but we have decided to go in a different direction email'. Such a bummer.
I could probably go on forever talking about my experience but because I want people to actually read this I am going to limit myself to a cool anecdote, a couple of tips from my experience, and some other stuff I'll come back to this. One day, when I was perusing Seattle and deluding myself that I would get a response from a Seattle-based company with a cold-application, I came across an entry-level job posting from Valve. ... If you know anything about Valve then you know they are for sure the kind of company that doesn't take entry-level developers. But, what the hell. The position was actually suited to the work I was doing in my capstone glass so I took my time and made a really nice cover letter and did a great job selling myself. I wasn't expecting much but, damn was I excited at the potential. Getting to see behind the Valve veil as an employee would be an awesome experience. And I now know for a fact that Valve is a great company because not long after my application I received a personalized rejections letter. Yeah it was a rejection letter but it was personalized. I felt pretty fucking good about myself. The letter was from a very nice man in HR basically saying that while my experience was suited for the position that Valve does not hire people with very little experience and that the entry-level position was posted as a mistake. He offered me advice on what kind of people Valve seeks to hire and overall it was a very pleasant experience. 10/10 would get rejected again.
That was the only good experience I had applying for jobs. It was a pretty tortuous process through and through. My advice to someone struggling with this is take every opportunity you can. An interview that ends in rejection is still great interview experience. My first interview I almost drove away from because I was so nervous. The one that got me the job I was able to sell myself much better, all while maintaining good banter. Which is my personality to a T, not some scared little software nerd who is unsure of his technical ability. If you want more sound advice there are plenty of forums (r/cscareerquestions) to offer it which basically amounts to strive for good internships and GRIND leetcode. Seriously, leetcode is like their mantra. And while I did grind, I certainly don't think one should have to for their first job. But do it anyway because I did. Okay, so after writing all that I actually came up with two solid pieces of advice for what is essentially the hardest parts of the search. If you are having trouble getting responses, boost the rate at which you're applying bigtime. I had 5 post-initial-phone-screen interviews, which isn't very much. The only way I know for sure to get more responses is too apply more. It's a numbers game. If you aren't feeling confident in the technical interviews, grind leetcode, read "Cracking the Coding Interview", or study-hard the things that you do know. This will make those parts less scary and set you up for success in the rest of the interview.
I am very lucky to say that I got a job offer on my last day of school. I say this not only because we were in the midst of a national pandemic with a social uprising on the horizon, but also because there couldn't have been a more perfect position. I'm actually not joking I am so overjoyed with my position in every way. The company is very cool and develops software for a very cool industry. The tech stack is ideal and the people I'm working with all seem great. I can tell that I am going to have a long and fruitful career with them which is so much more than I can say for any other company I had any intent of working for. I hope that this blog post gave you some idea about what my job search experience was like, because that's why I wrote it. And I hope that you'll stay with me even though I am now a corporate sellout. Yes, I sold my soul, but hey, I'm doing it in style.