Hello! I am graduating and getting a Master's in CS this July. Ever since high school I have also been working part-time (24 hours / week) as a software engineer for a local company. I am now looking for a new job: should I look for entry-level or mid-level positions? I'm worried that in the first case I might be discarded as overqualified, and in the latter case the recruiter might go "this guy has just graduated and wants a mid position? no way"
#6.5 years of part-time professional experience but also a new-grad. Am I entry- or mid- level?
stark wing
hushed merlin
you should apply to any positions you want to
if you feel qualified looking at the role itself then apply, that simple
i would never, ever worry about what some recruiter might say?
let them reject but don't reject yourself, that just seems like limiting yourself because you think others will limit you?
pulsar canyon
I was in a somewhat similar situation when I graduated, except that it was fewer years. I found that new grad pipelines were not well-suited for me because I was good at things they did not evaluate and I was not good at the things they did evaluate on (gpa and java, at the time). I ended up converting to full-time with my company, but the applications that were successful were generally roughly mid-level positions. One company offered a lead/manager position, which I felt I was not prepared for and so I declined.
There are a few ways to do some self-evaluation to see where you're at. I like http://www.kitchensoap.com/2012/10/25/on-being-a-senior-engineer/ and used it to guide my career. There are now also a bunch of open career ladders though as well (https://www.progression.fyi/), https://dropbox.github.io/dbx-career-framework/overview.html being in my opinion a well-written one. Look through those things. Where do you generally fall?
The interview process will do level-setting, so you don't have to worry too much about the specific level you apply for. But new grad pipelines tend to be separate from all other hires.