How I got my first Software Engineer job
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the creator shares his journey from a university freshman to a full-stack engineer, detailing how he turned his life around from partying to coding 12 hours a day. He discusses his first internship, which led to a full-time job offer, and the unexpected challenge of receiving two offers in one day. The video highlights the importance of internships in the tech industry and the power of exceeding expectations, even as a student.
Takeaways
- đ The speaker initially struggled with the transition to university life, indulging in excessive partying which affected his grades and well-being.
- đ After a turning point, the speaker decided to change his lifestyle, cutting out drinking and focusing on his studies during the Christmas holidays.
- đ» He dedicated 12 hours a day to coding, learning full stack development with the goal of securing an internship.
- đ The speaker emphasizes the importance of building a resume and creating projects to showcase his skills, even if they were not perfect initially.
- đ He applied to over 60 internship positions, highlighting the power of persistence and the law of averages in increasing the chances of success.
- đ€ The speaker landed two interviews from the companies he wanted to work for, demonstrating that preparation and hard work can lead to opportunities.
- đ He prepared extensively for his interviews, focusing on systems design questions, which was crucial for proving his abilities in the tech industry.
- đ During one interview, he faced a technical difficulty but managed to continue, showing the importance of resilience in professional situations.
- đ The speaker received two job offers in one day, a testament to his hard work and the value of exceeding expectations during internships.
- đ€ He made a mistake by accepting both offers and then retracting one, which likely resulted in being blacklisted by the first company.
- đ Despite the setback, the speaker leveraged his performance in his second internship to secure a full-time position, illustrating the power of networking and exceeding expectations.
Q & A
How did the speaker initially spend their time during the first three months of university?
-The speaker spent most of their time partying, often being drunk or hungover, which affected their grades, mental health, and overall life.
What was the turning point for the speaker that led to a change in their lifestyle?
-The turning point was a day when the speaker woke up in the afternoon, threw up for the third time, and questioned their life direction, leading them to quit drinking and focus on their goals.
What did the speaker decide to do during the Christmas holidays instead of returning to the construction site?
-The speaker decided to focus on coding for 12 hours a day with the goal of getting an internship in full stack development.
How did the speaker prepare for their internship applications?
-The speaker prepared by creating several projects, building their resume, and applying to over 60 positions to increase their chances of getting an interview.
What was the speaker's strategy for dealing with the lack of interviews?
-The speaker's strategy was to apply to as many jobs as possible to increase the probability of getting interviews, understanding that persistence increases the chances of success.
How did the speaker prepare for their technical interviews?
-The speaker studied extensively, focusing on systems design questions, to be well-prepared for the interviews and stand out from the competition.
What happened during one of the speaker's technical interviews that could have been a disaster?
-During one of the technical interviews, the speaker's Wi-Fi went out, causing them to disconnect from the Google Meet call. They rejoined using their phone and a personal Gmail account with an unusual name, which initially confused the interviewers.
How did the speaker manage to get two job offers in one day?
-After performing well in both interviews, the speaker received offers from both companies on the same day. Initially, they accepted one offer but then also accepted the second offer after realizing they preferred the second company.
What mistake did the speaker make after accepting two job offers?
-The speaker accepted both offers without promptly informing the first company of their decision, which led to them being blacklisted from that company after the second company's contract was signed.
How did the speaker's internship experience contribute to their full-time job offer?
-The speaker exceeded expectations during their internship, which led to their former manager offering them a full-time position when one became available.
What advice does the speaker give to students looking to break into the tech industry?
-The speaker advises students to get an internship as it is easier to secure than a full-time job and can often lead to a full-time position due to the valuable experience and connections gained.
Outlines
đ From Partying to Pursuing a Tech Internship
The speaker begins by sharing their journey of receiving two job offers in one day and reflects on their freshman year at university. Initially, they indulged in excessive partying, which negatively impacted their academic performance and overall well-being. After a turning point, they decided to quit drinking and focus on coding during the Christmas holidays, dedicating 12 hours a day to learn full stack development. They built several projects and created a resume, applying to over 60 internship positions and securing interviews with two desirable companies. Despite a technical mishap during one interview, they performed well and received two job offers, leading to a dilemma of choosing between the two.
đ€ The Dilemma of Two Job Offers and the Power of Internships
The speaker recounts the challenging decision of choosing between two job offers and the mistake of accepting both, leading to a hasty withdrawal from the first offer and likely being blacklisted by the company. They then discuss the valuable experience gained during their internships, which ultimately led to a full-time job offer despite a hiring freeze. The speaker emphasizes the importance of internships as a stepping stone to full-time employment and encourages students to pursue them. They conclude by reflecting on their progression from a computer science student to a full-time engineer, still enrolled in university, and invite viewers to engage with them on their Discord server and provide feedback on their video content.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄInternship
đĄFull-stack engineer
đĄUniversity
đĄMental health
đĄCoding
đĄResume
đĄJob application
đĄInterview
đĄSystems design
đĄHiring freeze
đĄBlacklisted
Highlights
The speaker received two job offers in one day, illustrating the power of persistence and opportunity in the tech industry.
Initially enrolled in a university in Helsinki to study computer science.
Admitted to a period of heavy drinking and its negative impact on academic performance and personal well-being.
A turning point led to a complete lifestyle change, cutting out drinking and focusing on coding.
Coding 12 hours a day during Christmas holidays to prepare for an internship.
The importance of having a clear goal and dedication to achieving it, exemplified by the speaker's full stack development learning.
Building a resume and creating projects to showcase skills for internship applications.
Applied to over 60 internship positions, emphasizing the strategy of applying widely to increase chances.
Received interviews from two desired companies, highlighting the role of persistence in achieving desired outcomes.
The concept of 'luck' as a result of repeated efforts and increasing the probability of success.
Preparation for interviews included extensive studying to excel in systems design questions.
A humorous anecdote about a technical interview where the speaker accidentally joined with a personal Gmail account.
Receiving and accepting an offer, followed by the dilemma of choosing between two competing job offers.
The ethical implications of accepting two job offers and the consequences of such actions on professional relationships.
Exceeding expectations during an internship can lead to full-time job offers, even during hiring freezes.
The power of networking and recommendations from former colleagues in securing a full-time position.
The journey from a computer science student to a full-time engineer without graduating, showcasing the value of internships.
A call to action for students to pursue internships for better career opportunities and personal growth.
Invitation for feedback and engagement with the speaker's community, including a link to a Discord server.
Transcripts
I got two offers in one day this uploads
look so easily the most test question on
this channel has been Halo how did you
get your first job and how did you break
in the tech industry So today we're
gonna go over exactly that so if you
watch my video on replacing gaming with
coding you know that I got enrolled into
a university here in Helsinki to study
computer science now what I didn't tell
you in that video is how I got my first
internship and how that internship led
to my full-time job offer as a full
stack engineer so let's go back in time
a little bit to my freshman year in
University now you would think that I
was crying the lead code making own
projects starting 24 7 but actually
that's not at all what happened for the
first three months of University I was
literally an alcoholic bro I hadn't been
to many parties before University and
now that I've finally got into
University and had the chance to party
as much as I wanted I took advantage of
that every other day I was literally
drunk or hungover and couldn't get
anything done now of course by doing
this my grades were suffering alongside
with my mental health and my body I was
waking up at around 4pm and life just
wasn't going too good for me I had been
given an opportunity but I wasn't taking
advantage of it and you know the
craziest part of all this was that out
that this was completely normal it was
part of the student life now also I was
really enjoying the attention I got from
girls at these parties as well I got
lost in the sauce bro now thankfully One
day things really took a turn for me
thank you bro
trust me I'm not an alcoholic anymore
anyways after waking up in the afternoon
and throwing up for the third time I
really thought to myself like what the
[Â __Â ] are you doing bro where is your
life going and you know I've always been
the type to go all in on something I
want to do so at that point I completely
cut out drinking and trust me I don't
drink often also the Christmas holidays
were coming up and I had one month out
of school at this point I really had to
think about what I want to do next
summer and it was either go back to the
construction site or get an internship
so when the Christmas holiday finally
started I was coding 12 hours a day
non-stop I had only one goal for that
whole holiday and that was to get an
internship this is when I was learning
full stack development I'll link the
course here so you can go check it out
yourself it's completely free by the way
but basically for the entire Christmas
holiday I just woke up drink a Monster
coat it and maybe hit the gym on Sundays
at this point I was still living at my
parents house so I was literally in my
mom's basement coding 12 hours a day I
made a few appreciated projects and now
it was time to build my resume also my
first resume somewhere here so you can
see but it was terrible bro I actually
made one more extra project that's not
included in this resume but I couldn't
find a picture of an updated one after
building my Shady resume now it was time
to apply to as many jobs as possible and
trust me when I say this I applied to
every single job I could find now keep
in mind I live here in Finland so
there's not too many software
engineering internships in total I
applied to over 60 positions and heard
back from two of them now lucky me these
two that I heard back from were amazing
companies that I really wanted to work
for now you might say that I was lucky
in getting these two interviews and
that's fair but let's think about what
is luck if you do something over and
over and over again you increase the
probability of your desired outcome
happening after a certain point it's
just probabilities so if you have some
decent projects in your resume that
you're proud of I think you should just
start applying don't try to make your
resume perfect don't try to make the
perfect project just start applying you
can improve your resume and your
projects as you go after I landed my
first two interviews it was time to
interview prep now again lucky me I live
in the EU we don't really do lead coin
and stuff here so I knew that my
interviews would mostly consist of
systems design questions I had been
given the chance to prove myself and I
wanted to destroy my competition so I
studied and studied and studied finally
the interviews come around and I was
scared as the first two interviews were
just basically me chatting up with the
recruiters from both firms after that
there were technical runs and the other
company gave me a coding assignment as
well actually here's a funny story
during one of the technical rounds I
actually disconnected from the Google
meet my Wi-Fi went completely out and I
joined back on my phone and on my phone
I was logged into my personal Gmail that
has like a crazy name it doesn't have
anything to do with my real name so when
I tried to join back they were like who
the who is this guy but thankfully they
let me back in and we continued on with
the interview all in all both the
dangerous went pretty well and I was
fairly certain that I would get at least
one offer by the way if you're invited
to an interview don't stress too much
about your background the interview is
the place where you can prove yourself
now what happens next is crazy so I'll
get a call back from the recruiter from
the other firm and they tell me that
they want to give me an offer let me
tell you this was one of the happiest
moments ever in my life I actually did
the hard work and I got the result that
I wanted so during the phone call the
recruiter asked me if I want to accept
their offer and I'm like hell yes I want
to accept their offer I don't have
anything else lined up for me so I
accept my email back to the other firm
telling them that I had just accepted
the offer from this other place and to
my surprise the hiring manager from the
other firm Paul Smith tells me hey we
would also like to extend to an offer
bro I was going crazy at this point I
had been rejected from almost every
interview somehow I landed two
interviews and I got two offers in one
day this moment was definitely my
happiest moment in 2022 but now I was
kind of because I wanted to work for the
second company more than the first one
but I had already accepted the offer
from the first company now whatever you
do don't do what I did so I accept the
offer from the second company also so
now I had accepted two offers but
obviously I can only work one and me
being a complete be dumbass instead of
calling the first place back and saying
like hey I'm not actually coming like
take someone else I wait three days
before I had signed the second place
contract to inform the first place that
hey I'm not coming now at this point the
first company had already let every
other candidate know that they found
their guy and they're no longer hiring
them but then there's me emailing them
back saying like hey actually I'm not
coming after all I accepted this other
offer I think it's pretty safe to say
that I'm blacklisted from that first
company now so that's the story how I
landed my first internship but how did I
get my full-time offered that well if
you're an intern nobody expects anything
from you so as long as you do something
right you're already exceeding
expectations and that's exactly what I
did during the whole summer I was
exceeding expectations and did Super
well in the internship but at the end of
my internship the company had a hiring
freeze on and they couldn't hire me I
was pretty sad about that but thankfully
I got another internship during that
second internship my old manager emails
me and says hey look we have this
position to open if you're interested
let us know from there I interviewed
with two different teams and get a
position from one of them now my old
teammates were telling these hiring
managers that they should hire me and
that really really helped me but this
just goes to show you the power of
internships so if you see a student
please I beg you get an internship you
will not regret it it's easier to get an
internship than it is to get a full-time
job but it's also easy to go from an
intern to full-time engineer so yeah
that's basically the story how I went
from a CS student to an intern after my
freshman year to a full-time engineer
after my second year of University by
the way I still haven't graduated
University I'm technically still a
student I'm enrolled into the university
so if you want to see some content from
University Computer Science Life all
this stuff let me know in the comments
now if you liked the video drop a like
for the algorithm if you didn't that's
fine let me know why you didn't like it
and how it could improve the next time
also in the description is our Discord
server I'm super active there come say
hi and as always thanks for watching bro
peace
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