#200 apps and all rejections without even an oa

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

red ridge
#

Overall format is good, the content is a bit lacking though. For example, in your Rock Paper Scissors project, I would omit the part where you say you use functions, loops, and conditionals since those are really elementary parts of programming. Instead I would emphasize the tech stack you used. Does the game use responsive CSS? Say that. Did you use React to build it? Say that.

Relevant coursework is another one. Some people argue that you don't even need that on a resume. Personally, I have it on mine (I posted my anonymized one in here myself). But if you're gonna have it, put more courses like maybe Data Structures, Algorithms, and Operating Systems if you did those. Another factor in this is that you're going for an Associate's Degree, which unfortunately is going to put you at a disadvantage compared to a lot of other candidates. Some jobs require a bachelor's to apply.

Your experiences are also not really software or hardware related. They're really nice from a volunteering POV, I'm not saying you didn't do good work. But it's not going to stand out to somebody looking for software engineers. I think it might help you to elaborate more on your experiences instead of having a bunch listed, like Carepeople Home Health and Freelance Keycap Maker are both only one bullet point. Since you're having trouble finding experiences in software, it feels a bit like a catch-22. How do you break out of the loop? Honestly the only way is to do more projects. There are a lot of good tutorials online about front-end development using React that I used to kick off some of my projects. Then I came up with my own ideas and built out some cool stuff.

The hardest part is landing that first internship doing something with tech. While you keep up the job grind, I suggest doing more projects and practicing LeetCode so that once those OAs start coming your way you will be ready.

#

The climb is very much like bootstrapping. You start by doing projects, hoping to get noticed by some small company or something. Your first internship (or any in my case) won't be FAANG. But once you impressed some smaller company with your projects and got that first internship, suddenly other companies will get interested in you. My sophomore year of college I applied to around 80 companies. I received exactly 1 phone interview. That 1 phone interview led to me getting an internship with that company. The following year, I applied to around 60 and got way more offers. My rate went from 1 in 80 to 5 in 60. It gets easier, you just need to keep pushing and doing things on your own too.

bright girder
#

Bro, take it from me... PLEASE push your grad date back to December 2025 or April 2026

#

I have 7 internships, and I'm getting massacred in this market. I am set to graduate in April 2024, but I'm highly considering pushing it back to april 2025. This market is horrific. I'd say, you need 3 software dev internships, and by then, the market will likely (hopefully) have improved

red ridge
#

No keep applying to SWE internships. However I 100% recommend that you change your graduation date and transfer school on your resume ASAP. I bet that is a big reason you are having such a hard time. You must only be a sophomore right now. In that case you really shouldn't be super worried about not getting experience yet. Just keep applying to places. You're unlikely to get one in sophomore year though, tends to take a bit of luck but try anyway. Position yourself well for your junior year for sure

#

Good question lol I don't really know. My intuition says put the BS on top but you're not even in that school yet. I think you should google what people in your shoes do

turbid tinsel
#

Incoming George Mason University
BS, Computer Science

And put it on top

#

You have stuff on ur cv but nothing is really explained
For starters, take the whole cv and put in in gpt and ask it to improve it

#

Then go from there

turbid tinsel
#

Keep it I'd say but upto u

#

Copy each section and mayne add some more details and put something like -
"Write x bullet points for this for my cv" if it's too long, tell it to shorten them and vice versa

#

Obviously if a bullet point is true ask it for another point