On Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 11am former students Daniela Alvarez Ulloa and Kristie Iovino-Grebe, 2018 CPIS grads, were hosted by the SWiC Club to share advice on approaching the job market and career tips in general. Despite being virtual and competing with other campus events, there was record attendance. The audience that didn’t have to run to class stayed until 12:30pm, they didn’t want to leave! . Daniela and Kristie are employed in the industry and they shared tips on how to prepare and get a job in software engineering. They started by acknowledging that job hunting is a daunting task for students in their last semester of the CPIS degree at FSC. From preparing resumes and cover letters, to finding applications, and getting interviews, it can all be a lot to handle. Below is a summary of the advice shared at the career tech talk by the two alum.
Resumes/LinkedIn
Resumes don’t have to fit on one page. If you have 2 pages it’s fine just make sure it’s all relevant information and not fluff. Use bullet points when explaining work experience. If you are listing languages you know, order them from your strongest to your weakest. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, create one. This is your online resume. Many companies ask for your LinkedIn profile link on their applications, so include it in your resume. Copy and paste the work experience/projects from your resume into LinkedIn. Connect with coworkers, recruiters, professors, and alumni. The more connections you make, the further your network will reach.
References/Networking
Make sure you have at least 3-5 references ready. References can be coworkers, managers, professors. Make sure the people you choose can positively describe your work ethic, personality, and achievements. Give references a heads up that someone will be reaching out to them. Let them know how they will be contacted (Email/Phone), the company, and person who will be reaching out to them. Network while at school. Many of the best job opportunities may come a few years out of school from your classmates. Build a professional network at school. Connections can often lead to job referrals which could get you through to the first round interview.
Interviews
A typical interview process involves meeting the following people: recruiter, hiring manager, team members, and some type of leadership. Some interviews will include a whiteboard session. It’s normal to be nervous for these. Here are some tips to get you through it: Talk everything out. They want to see and hear how you break down a problem. Use pseudocode to help you get started. Use the engineers in the room as a resource. Study your programming fundamentals. Other interview prep tips: research the companies you are applying for, have answers and questions ready, take notes during each of your interviews, and be sure to do mock interviews. The more interviews you do, the more comfortable you will feel during them.
Misc Tips
Lock down personal social media accounts. You want to make sure your online presence is responsible and aligned with how you want to be perceived by these companies. Learn Git. Most developer teams use GitHub/GitLab, so being able to say you’ve worked in this will make you stand out. Try a bootcamp! Coding bootcamps are intensive, short-term training programs in coding for web and mobile development, design and security. If you don’t have relevant job experience, get involved in small projects and include them on your resume. Finally, don’t get discouraged if you’re not hearing back from companies. This is a highly competitive field, it may take some time to land the right job. Keep applying and something will come through!
