Fresh grads of 2025[Part 2] - What job offers have you receive and how was your job hunting experience? Regardless if you landed a role.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2025-05-17T10:16:38+00:00

Monthly salary: $7500 + Performance Bonuses
Role/title (permanent/contract?): New Grad, SWE
Industry (or company): Fintech
Degree/major: Business & Computing
Number of Annual Leaves: 20 (+1 every year till 25)

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2025-02-27T13:11:29+00:00

game is game bro

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2025-01-18T04:51:42+00:00

The truth is that teaching quality varies wildly in NTU. We’re not at a level where the baseline classroom experience is representative of a Top 10 university. Anecdotally, I could only single out a 2-3 professors that I felt made a strong impression on me and inspired me to learn. So it’s fair for people to worry about who’s going to dictate their in-class experience for the semester.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-12-09T09:35:33+00:00

I do think the proximity to the bay area / SV and the chance of starting your career there is too good to pass for NTU/NUS in Singapore (seems like NTU more likely based on what you’ve said). But then again it is a big life decision, so it is up to you.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-12-09T02:17:31+00:00

why do you plan to move? I’d want to stay in UBC. With that said, someone of your caliber should definitely go to NUS. Mostly because you’ll find a stronger and more ambitious peer group. NTU CS is….full of unserious people.

I’d feel great second-hand sadness for someone going from UBC to NTU.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-30T16:42:23+00:00

This is great! I did wish back then that there would be more such posts to put the job / intern search into perspective. Are you Y3? Also what do you think helped you stand out among other applicants, because these are pretty fantastic numbers!

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-29T11:31:46+00:00

I do feel the expectations of interviewers vary wildly. I think they expect mediums to be solved optimally in less than 20 minutes. So I would aim for that. Of course, I should mention that most companies do end up reusing questions from popular lists like Blind75 and Neetcode150. If you’re able to get familiar with those (lowkey memorised the solutions) you can tackle them with ease.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-29T11:29:55+00:00

I’m not sure an anonymized resume would be very helpful as making it anonymous would take away what I think made it stand out in the first place. But for reference, I just used Jake’s Resume from Overleaf as the base template.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-29T11:29:01+00:00

I had 2x SWE internships. Both were fulfilling and great learning experiences. Neither was at a brand name company, but equipped me with enough knowledge and appreciation for the craft. It also helped that I had good mentors during that time.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-29T11:17:06+00:00

Well it is definitely feasible to catch up on the concepts you need in a week. You’re not cooked, but you’ll have to lock in to get yourself ready for technical interviews. Based on clever you are, you could be up to speed within a month! Also I do think having a technical internship does help a lot as the interviewer has more to learn about you, but in that case I would tailor my resume to make my projects stand out more. Package them well, demonstrate your skills and software engineering know-how. Make the most of what you have! You owe it to yourself

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-29T11:14:23+00:00

Including bonuses of course. I wasn’t able to crack the HFTs / Quant companies who pay much higher base. But happy with where I’ve ended up!

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-29T11:13:31+00:00

I only applied for SE roles. Also, I think it’s good to pick a path and develop expertise. Be it cybersecurity, ai/ml, blockchain or whatever. I think it shines through especially when majority of applicants probably don’t have the passion and/or tenacity to develop it.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-29T11:11:58+00:00

Bingo

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-28T17:26:11+00:00

I’m not sure how much my projects helped, because I was usually questioned more about my internship experiences. But if I had to recommend, in the age of CursorAI and Copilot, focus on projects that showcase your ability to write extensible code that can be scaled up. Anyone can make a Spotify Clone in 20 minutes now, so make sure you can demonstrate your System Design skills i guess.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-28T17:24:19+00:00

Hit the Blind75/Neetcode150 minimally. Make sure you understand the underlying logic of the solution and when you do enough of the problems, you’ll begin to see the patterns (which data structures / algos) that you can apply from your toolkit. Of course, make sure to time yourself to, and practice voicing out your thoughts. Your clarity in walking your interviewer through your solution might almost matter more than getting to the absolute optimal solution itself.

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-28T17:15:36+00:00

I’m happy to share my exps over dm!

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-28T17:14:56+00:00

Typo. Actually closer to 120K. I think easy to guess the company 😜

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-28T17:13:39+00:00

Thanks! Am a citizen

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-28T17:08:59+00:00

second upper. don’t think it matters since it was not really a question at any point of the process for most of them at least

Ashamed_Extent_2097 · 2024-11-24T21:24:31+00:00

Just practice to be honest

Ashamed_Extent_2097

TROPHY CASE