How To Nail Your Dream Software Engineering Job Right After Graduation

Preparing for your first technical interview

I was finally done with my bachelor! After four long years of educating myself in Bachelor of Computer Science with the dream of becoming a Software Engineer. What next? It’s time to look for a job! Despite having the interest to become a software engineer, I was unsure of how to look for and apply for jobs. As a Software Engineering student, the first thought that struck my mind was to Google it! But no! Not always does that work!

Now! I am going to tell you exactly how I became a software engineer. And mention to you the must and must not in this hunt for a job.

I would always recommend beginners to the IT industry to start off as an Intern. It would be highly recommended if it is a startup company as you will be directly working on real-world projects and not be learning on sample projects. You will get your first-hand experience and you will hold much lesser responsibility to the mistakes that you have committed. Furthermore, you will be able to understand your field of interest during your internship period and you may specialize in it in the future. However, if you are very confident, you can apply for your designated role straight away.

Before you make your first step, here are some prerequisites:

1. Create a LinkedIn Account

LinkedIn is a platform that helps professionals connect with each other. Using LinkedIn, you can create your profile with all your qualifications and achievements, which will not only be limited to your academics. Keep your LinkedIn profile always updated as it is like an extended CV or resume which would literally express your professionalism and character.

Furthermore, via LinkedIn, you can look for jobs by simply searching for the position you are looking for and filtering based on location, job type and many more. You can follow companies, people, hashtags and many more that make your interest. Linkedin is a good tool for professionals to hire or get hired in any field within your skills regardless of which field you are. Companies will post their job vacancies and your application is sometimes just a click away and your employer can simply skim through your Linkedin profile to get to know about you.

2. Get your resume or Curriculum Vitae

A CV or Resume is a very important tool that one must have! It highlights an individual’s details and qualifications. In the Software Engineering Industry, employers expect to know a certain amount of detail about you. Some important details would be:

Personal and contact details

When asked about your details, you need not discuss in-depth about your personal life such as your marital status, gender and so on. Just stick to your name in full, your date of birth, your official phone number, email and residential address. This should be sufficient enough for the employer to have a general idea of who you are.

Academic qualifications

In this section, mention the name of your course. Along with the place and year of completion. If you have honors or any awards for a particular unit, mention that too. It would highlight your interest and your skills. And do not forget to mention your GPA or WAM, or both.

Skills and interests

In this section, people include their hobbies and many more unnecessary details, which deviates the purpose of the CV. Therefore, here’s a tip to keep it simple and straightforward. Mention the post you are looking forward to working for (eg: Interested in Software Engineering). You can also mention being a team player and a small brief description of yourself.

Jobs experiences

This is not a mandatory field to fill in unless otherwise, you have worked in the same industry. Do not mention unrelated work experiences such as “worked part-time in a coffee shop” as it is not related to being a Software Engineer.

Projects you have worked with

You can mention any projects you have worked on, in this section. However, if you have not worked on any projects apart from the academic “assignments”, make sure that you include them as well, as every project counts!

Extracurricular activities

I have seen people include all their sports and extracurricular achievements in this section of the CV. Championship Team Basketball 2019, Championship Team Basketball 2020. I mean yeah! I Get it! You are a basketball fan and you play good basketball too! But all I need to know is whether you are a team player and you can collaborate with your colleagues and work. So, mention just the most recent achievement of the sport, just once!

Also do include any programming events that you have taken part in, such as hackathons, ideathons, etc.

Referees

Always do mention your referees. Stick to two referees and not more!

Unlike LinkedIn, which will contain a detailed list of qualifications of yourself, a CV or Resume will contain highlight the necessary and specific details about yourself. It is necessary to keep the CV abstract as you would want the employer to easily get to know about you.

3. Know What You Learnt!

As an interviewer, I would expect Software Engineering Graduates, to be knowledgeable in the following areas and be able to express these concepts during the interview.

Programming Fundamentals
Object-Oriented Programming Concepts
The concepts of SQL and NoSQL
The concepts of Model-View-Controller
Concepts of Testing
Previous projects and concepts of the projects
Concepts of GitHub and team collaboration

You will be advantaged if you have the following along with you,

The Projects uploaded to your phone so you can show a sample
Any project management assignments
Know more than one language
JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Android Studio, XCode

Here’s a tip! One need not know many programming languages, but one must know at least one programming language properly. It would be great if the language supports object-oriented programming like Java or C++.

Conclusion

Software Engineering is a beautiful, challenging and interesting field of study and work. It has been my dream. What interests me is the challenges and the hurdles I have to face when programming and implementing logical thinking. If you are willing to hurdle anything to become a software engineer, you just read the right article to make your first hurdle!

On my career path as a software engineer to taking my first step as an interviewee to an interviewer, these were what helped me a lot. Your first steps are going to be a tough hike, but trust me! Invest a bit more time on these preps and you’re definitely acing the interview like a boss! Good luck with your interview!