Happy New Year everybody! It’s pretty surreal writing 2020. Feels like the future. And what better time than the future to talk about new beginnings—specifically getting your first CS job.

More than classes, more than side projects and clubs, I’d say that getting your first CS job is the most important task you should accomplish as a CS student. Your first job is what will give you the necessary skills to do whatever you want, whether that’s leapfrogging up to the big tech companies, starting your own company, or simply learning how to program in a professional environment.

At the same time, getting your first job isn’t easy. You need to somehow have a resume when you have little to no experience. Every company seems like they require 2-3 years of experience and React, Redux, Tree-Monkey-Frog.js plus 10 years of Swift. Not to mention the wonderful technical interviews you might face. Let’s figure out how we can surmount these problems.

Where Should I Apply?

In one word: EVERYWHERE. A job says 2-3 years experience? Why not? The job listing says Software Developer and not intern? Go for it! Maybe they can open up an intern position. You don’t know the stack? You can learn it! Just apply!

There’s some caveats, of course. Try to avoid what I call non-technical technical jobs, jobs such as “Solutions Engineer” or “Product Analyst”. These are perfectly good jobs, but if you’re looking for a technical position, these are not it.

Avoid unpaid jobs. Even as a novice you should be paid. A lot of companies, ranging from pre-seed startups (aka “bro I have this idea”) to full on companies advertise “intern” positions that are really unpaid junior developers. These are the worst of both worlds since you’re expected to build stuff instead of learning and you don’t get paid. There are some very very rare unpaid internships that genuinely emphasize learning instead of productivity, but they’re few and far between.

You can certainly apply to the large tech companies such as Google, Facebook, etc. I have an article on precisely that. But unless you have some work experience or outstanding projects, you probably won’t get a response. I’m a little hesitant to recommend that you take a large tech company as your first job. It’s a lot of pressure for a first job, dealing with the complex politics and internal technology of large companies. Nonetheless, if you want to, go for it.

Definitely apply to local companies. Not only will it make the application process and logistics of working there a lot easier, but they might have an established relationship with NYU. I like using Built In NYC and AngelList. You can go to meetups and see if companies advertise there too.

Startups are another decent option for first jobs. However beware of startups that are just getting started (if you hear “MVP” or “pre-seed” or “getting off the ground”, run) and trying to use you as cheap labor. Remember, do not take unpaid jobs. Hacker News and Work at a Startup are good resources for finding startup jobs.

Use Your Network

One important resource you must use is your network. Some people have better networks than others, but barring extreme cases, everybody has some form of network. This may be family, this may be professors who took a shine to you. It could even be people you randomly met in class or at a meetup.

The key idea here is to be utterly shameless. Ask everybody you know if they have some connections they’re willing to use. Even if you’ve barely met the person. Even if you’re not sure they like you. Even if the person is not technical themselves. The worst that can happen is they say no, or something vaguely unpleasant. But that’s their problem, not yours.

A good corollary is to always try to grow your network. This means meeting people and keeping in contact. You can meet people at pretty much any social event. Sure, tech events like meetups and conferences work, but also weddings, funerals, bat/bar mitzvahs, family reunions, parties, etc. You can keep in contact via LinkedIn, email, Facebook, GitHub, WeChat, WhatsApp, and so on. You never know who will get you your next job.

When using your network, try to avoid pressuring the person you’re asking. Emphasize that they should only help you if that is their wish.

When Should I Apply?

NOW! If you’re in high school, great! Apply and you’ll be an incredible dev by the time you’re in college. If you’re a freshman in college? Apply! Sophomore? Apply! A 30-something just out of a bootcamp? No better time than the present!

For some reason people tend to self sabotage, especially if they’re getting started a little late. They worry that they’re not good enough or they tell themselves that they’ll apply once they get past some checkpoint. Don’t do that. Apply first, ask questions later.

Resume?

Resumes are tricky if you don’t have anything to put on them. I joke that I’m slowly stripping out the BS from my resume, but it’s true. Don’t be afraid to pad up your resume. I’ve put stuff like extracurriculars such as sports and dumb school projects on there. There’s always a chance the person who reviews your resume also played lacrosse in college or was a member of Model UN. Plus it’s better than whitespace. As you get more experience the fluff will get stripped and replaced with cold, hard experience.

If you have a bunch of blank space on your resume, go start some side projects! Spend a weekend or two working on one and put it on your resume. They don’t have to be extremely advanced to go on your resume.

You can get your resume reviewed in HH Websites and Resumes, as well as /r/cscareerquestions (just ignore all the big N obsessed comments).

Classic resume advice stands of course. Keep it to a page; proofread your writing; make sure the font is legible. Joel Spolsky has a good post on this.

Interviews

Companies will generally have some sort of interview. This will be technical, though maybe not the usual Big N format of solving a programming problem. I’ve had interviews that were more casual, where we talked about my projects or went through a system design problem.

System design basically means you get asked about a potential application, say a chat app, then you get asked about how you’d solve a particular problem within said app. Often this involves the various objects/data structures within the app, or maybe using a certain paradigm.

You could in theory do a whole bunch of leetcode or read a whole bunch of stuff on system design, but I wouldn’t worry too much. You’ll have plenty of time to study leetcode if or when you’re trying for your second company. Besides, the company should know that you’re a student with no prior experience. If they expect you to pump out leetcode solutions, that’s too much man.

That being said, you might want to work on the behavioral aspects of the interview. After all, that’s all they have to assess you, really. Dress well. Not necessarily fancy, but in clothes that fit and are clean. Learn to smile and make small talk (not the language!). Figure out how to phrase stuff in a positive manner, whether it’s your boring summer job from a year ago or your greatest weakness.

If you want, ask a few questions at the end. I like going through an ad hoc Joel Test with them. Or ask them about their code review process. If they hem and haw or outright say they don’t have one, that’s a bad sign. A good question to ask is how they plan on providing mentorship. Will you have an assigned mentor? How much time will you spend writing code versus learning? Would they ever be fine with you reading up on, say, docker versus doing your work? Have they had interns before?

Ask a couple questions about your actual work. What stack will you be using? Will you be writing new code or fixing bugs? How much legacy?

Goal of the Internship

If you want something to home in on with your questions, I’d try to figure out what the company views as the goal of the internship. This varies from company to company.

Some companies view interns as basically junior developers they can pay less. They won’t care at all about mentoring you. They’ll just care that you’re writing code, stat. Other companies genuinely see internships as a mentoring process, through which maaaybe you can be productive. Other companies may see it as a test of sorts before a full time offer.

It’s really important to iron this out before you accept an offer and before you start working. Internship can mean a lot of very different roles.

After You Get the Offer

First, beware the exploding offer. It’s a terrible practice in which a company will give you an incredibly short deadline to decide. I’ve had it happen to me. The important thing to remember is that hiring is a pain, while giving someone an extension of a couple days is a lot easier. Not to mention an exploding offer is generally a sign that the company is a little manipulative. Not a total red flag, but not a great sign either.

Once you have the offer, it’s good to be a little more picky. Read about the company on GlassDoor. Think about how you interacted with your interviewers and whether you liked them. Did they interview you well? Were they nice? Will you be working in a stack that’s interesting to you and helpful for your future career plans? If it’s legacy Java or PHP, maybe not. Or worse, some form of domain specific language or proprietary software only used by a few places.

At the same time, don’t worry too much about picking the best company. Entry level programming jobs are extremely low commitment. If you don’t like it and don’t need the cash, quitting is easy. If you do need the cash, even a shitty programming job is far cushier than a sales job or whatever job you can scrounge as a student.

It’s somewhat inevitable that you’ll get stuck with a mediocre if not shitty job sometime in your life. Why not now?

Of course if anybody is discriminatory, abusive or physically threatening, you should not take the job or leave the job immediately. And ideally name and shame so that others avoid the company.

On the Job

Once you have the job, do your best, work hard and have fun. Try to find people who you can learn from, but verify what they say. Just because someone has been programming longer than you doesn’t mean they’re that good at it.

Oh and make sure your taxes come out to the right number. HR screws this up surprisingly frequently.