The most effective way to get a foot in the door, and the thing I wish I did when I was in college was go to all those different career fairs that your college likely hosts.
Talk to the different representatives of each company, tell them what you like, what you're interested in and _ask them questions_. What interests you about their company? If you seem excited about it, they are more likely to be excited about you.
If you have any kind of CS Alumni group, talk to them. Network. It is 1000x easier to get a job knowing someone already at the company vs applying blindly.
Some bigger tech companies FAANG, S&P500, etc have recent grad positions and programs. Those are like rocketships to get you ahead at the company. They might sound too junior, but in practice, you will be working with a different team every 6 months, making connections, and working on tons of different real world problems you can add to your resume. At the end of it, typically you get to pick which team you liked the best, and if they like you back, that relationship is worth its weight in gold for things like promotions etc.
If none of that is on the table then first step is to create a LinkedIn. List all your skills that you know, even if you dont feel that you know them the best.
Have any side projects? Anything you can show in Github? List that as well. No recruiter will look at this, but it will still make you look good.
Lastly, and what I had to do, was literally sit in a cafe, your bedroom, wherever you are, and just apply to every vaguely relevant job that pops up in the area you want to work.
When I graduated I didn't live in a major tech city, so I very literally applied to every jog that popped up with my skill-set (in my case iOS). I swear I applied to over 500 positions. Got maybe 8 interviews. Made it to the finals in 5 and took one job.
If you end up doing this, work smarter, not harder. Make a generic cover letter, and add a paragraph you can change to look specific to that company. Leave the rest the same.
You'll see the same 5-6 job application software tools pop up when applying to different companies. Make a text file that has the info they ask for and just copy and paste. Writing it out each time is exhausting, and soul crushing.
It's normal for it to take a while to get your first job. It doesnt feel great, but we've all been there, and there's nothing wrong with you if it doesnt happen right away. You will get there, I promise.
> Talk to the different representatives of each company, tell them what you like, what you're interested in and _ask them questions_. What interests you about their company? If you seem excited about it, they are more likely to be excited about you.
Agreed, hiring is largely arbitrary when you're fresh out of school so if you can get someone on your side, they can go to bat for you when the decisions are being made. And if you have the opportunity to talk to the CTO or another big shot, make sure to take it. They can literally hire you with a word, bypassing or overriding any process the company may have in place.
The most effective way to get a foot in the door, and the thing I wish I did when I was in college was go to all those different career fairs that your college likely hosts.
Talk to the different representatives of each company, tell them what you like, what you're interested in and _ask them questions_. What interests you about their company? If you seem excited about it, they are more likely to be excited about you.
If you have any kind of CS Alumni group, talk to them. Network. It is 1000x easier to get a job knowing someone already at the company vs applying blindly.
Some bigger tech companies FAANG, S&P500, etc have recent grad positions and programs. Those are like rocketships to get you ahead at the company. They might sound too junior, but in practice, you will be working with a different team every 6 months, making connections, and working on tons of different real world problems you can add to your resume. At the end of it, typically you get to pick which team you liked the best, and if they like you back, that relationship is worth its weight in gold for things like promotions etc.
If none of that is on the table then first step is to create a LinkedIn. List all your skills that you know, even if you dont feel that you know them the best.
Have any side projects? Anything you can show in Github? List that as well. No recruiter will look at this, but it will still make you look good.
Lastly, and what I had to do, was literally sit in a cafe, your bedroom, wherever you are, and just apply to every vaguely relevant job that pops up in the area you want to work.
When I graduated I didn't live in a major tech city, so I very literally applied to every jog that popped up with my skill-set (in my case iOS). I swear I applied to over 500 positions. Got maybe 8 interviews. Made it to the finals in 5 and took one job.
If you end up doing this, work smarter, not harder. Make a generic cover letter, and add a paragraph you can change to look specific to that company. Leave the rest the same.
You'll see the same 5-6 job application software tools pop up when applying to different companies. Make a text file that has the info they ask for and just copy and paste. Writing it out each time is exhausting, and soul crushing.
It's normal for it to take a while to get your first job. It doesnt feel great, but we've all been there, and there's nothing wrong with you if it doesnt happen right away. You will get there, I promise.