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Standing out as a new grad candidate

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Sashko Stubailo
Sashko Stubailo

A presentation I gave at the Berkeley Association of Women in EECS about how to stand out as a new grad candidate.

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Standing Out Growing your skills outside of classes and internships Sashko Stubailo Engineering Manager Meteor Development Group meteor.io
Who am I? ● Work at Meteor - developer tools in the JavaScript and GraphQL API space ● Engineering manager for 1.5 years ● Looked at thousands of resumes ● Been in hundreds of interviews We work with many companies including:
The software industry can be competitive ● Hard to get a job ● Hard to hire good people ● Hiring the wrong person is a big risk for any company ● Making yourself stand out as a candidate is a good investment Job requirements Available candidates Hire
Getting ahead ● Learn new technologies that aren't part of the regular curriculum ● Become great at communication ● Acquire real-world skills beyond academics How? Do interesting projects!
Good projects ● Your original idea, not something prescribed as a class project ● Used for their intended purpose by someone ● Explained well, with clearly communicated value ● Available to try, or lots of images/videos/data are available Some examples: ● Stock trading simulation to experiment with friends ● App to coordinate volunteers at a hackathon ● Hate speech index for Reddit using natural language processing
Do the last 5% of the work You've done the hard part: Actually building the thing. Now, put in the last bit of effort to present it nicely and make it work for you. ● Create a README ● Make a website ● Make a demo video ● Write a detailed description on your resume
Benefits of open source contributions ● You get the legitimacy of the project you're contributing to for free ● Guaranteed to be real-world relevant ● Your code is reviewed by some of the top programmers out there
How to get started Pick a project you use, and look at the issues. Often docs are an easy place to start.
Blogging ● The ability to explain your work is critical to job success ● You can blog about anything you've built or learned, even if it seems simple to you ● Get a proofread from your friends before posting, and ask them to share https://medium.com/@kt_seagull/salary-and-negotiation-for-new- grads-data-and-insights-42d55666bca2
Trendy tech Seek out tools and technologies that are too new to learn in school. Maybe your interviewer can learn about a new thing from you!
How do I find the time? ● These aren't just fake things to get a job, these are the same skills you'll be using on the job ● Just as important as your classes ● For certain careers, better marginal return than taking that extra class ● Good news: With strong fundamentals, you're already primed to jump in!
Conclusion ● Do interesting projects ● Take the time to showcase and explain your work ● You can help yourself stand out with excellent communication, trendy technologies, or open source contributions Please email me if you want a review of something, or might be interested in working at Meteor: sashko@meteor.com

More Related Content

Standing out as a new grad candidate

  • 1. Standing Out Growing your skills outside of classes and internships Sashko Stubailo Engineering Manager Meteor Development Group meteor.io
  • 2. Who am I? ● Work at Meteor - developer tools in the JavaScript and GraphQL API space ● Engineering manager for 1.5 years ● Looked at thousands of resumes ● Been in hundreds of interviews We work with many companies including:
  • 3. The software industry can be competitive ● Hard to get a job ● Hard to hire good people ● Hiring the wrong person is a big risk for any company ● Making yourself stand out as a candidate is a good investment Job requirements Available candidates Hire
  • 4. Getting ahead ● Learn new technologies that aren't part of the regular curriculum ● Become great at communication ● Acquire real-world skills beyond academics How? Do interesting projects!
  • 5. Good projects ● Your original idea, not something prescribed as a class project ● Used for their intended purpose by someone ● Explained well, with clearly communicated value ● Available to try, or lots of images/videos/data are available Some examples: ● Stock trading simulation to experiment with friends ● App to coordinate volunteers at a hackathon ● Hate speech index for Reddit using natural language processing
  • 6. Do the last 5% of the work You've done the hard part: Actually building the thing. Now, put in the last bit of effort to present it nicely and make it work for you. ● Create a README ● Make a website ● Make a demo video ● Write a detailed description on your resume
  • 7. Benefits of open source contributions ● You get the legitimacy of the project you're contributing to for free ● Guaranteed to be real-world relevant ● Your code is reviewed by some of the top programmers out there
  • 8. How to get started Pick a project you use, and look at the issues. Often docs are an easy place to start.
  • 9. Blogging ● The ability to explain your work is critical to job success ● You can blog about anything you've built or learned, even if it seems simple to you ● Get a proofread from your friends before posting, and ask them to share https://medium.com/@kt_seagull/salary-and-negotiation-for-new- grads-data-and-insights-42d55666bca2
  • 10. Trendy tech Seek out tools and technologies that are too new to learn in school. Maybe your interviewer can learn about a new thing from you!
  • 11. How do I find the time? ● These aren't just fake things to get a job, these are the same skills you'll be using on the job ● Just as important as your classes ● For certain careers, better marginal return than taking that extra class ● Good news: With strong fundamentals, you're already primed to jump in!
  • 12. Conclusion ● Do interesting projects ● Take the time to showcase and explain your work ● You can help yourself stand out with excellent communication, trendy technologies, or open source contributions Please email me if you want a review of something, or might be interested in working at Meteor: sashko@meteor.com