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How did you find the opportunities?

I got many interview requests by directly reaching out to recruiters through LinkedIn, attending career fairs including off-campus ones in Boston, applying through BentleyLink, and getting internal employee referrals. I also attended information sessions of some companies to build a connection with them. For the off-campus career fairs and informational sessions, I found them mostly through Eventbrite and Facebook and they were all free.

How did you utilize your network to find opportunities?

I sent connection request to many MSIT alumni I could find on LinkedIn and I could learn about local software engineering companies. Most of them accepted my requests and I could hear about their job searching stories and advices. In addition, when I find a job I want to apply to, I try to browse through the employees in that company and see who I can connect with using my connections from the undergraduate and graduate schools, or even high school.

General interview process for Software Engineering roles:

I had multiple interviews for different companies. I can sum up the general interview process for software engineering roles.

1. The first stage is either an online assessment which is (30 to 90 min coding challenges), or a HR phone screen (15 to 30 min) going over the resume and asking why this company, why this position, what technical skills, and career path.
2. The second round is usually a 30 min technical phone interview with a Tech Lead or Director. They ask questions on objected-oriented programming such as Java and Python, and SQL with some questions about previous internship experience, academic projects and behavioral queries.
3. The last round lasted a half hour to two hours which can be different depending whether it was a video coding interview or onsite panel interview. For onsite interview, it had whiteboard coding questions that can be often found from LeetCode.com. There were also some companies who gave a take home assignment that requires knowledge of a specific programming language or platform to test candidates' self-learning ability.

• LeetCode.com:

It is a website that collects real interview coding questions from companies. It is very useful to fresh up your programming skills since its coding questions are often only slightly different from actual interview questions. It is good to exam your coding ability, and knowledge in algorithms, data structures and system optimization.

Why did you choose VidMob?

I had two internship offers including VidMob when there were 2nd or 3rd round interviews scheduled with three other companies. I chose VidMob because it is a software/technology-driven company and provides opportunities for interns to have a full ownership on their project. After designing and building up my own project during the internship, I believe this experience will a great addition to my resume. Lastly, I prefer a smaller company environment where I can build closer connections with people, and develop a more full-stack skillset.

What are your tips for students who are looking for a job?

No matter what kind of position you are looking for, networking is the key. Also, be prepared to explain about every detail of your resume.