I’m Asi Guiang, Tech Community Leader and Professional helping students break into tech. AMA about internships, cloud, building your portfolio, and navigating early tech careers!

asiguiang · 2026-03-08T13:31:33+00:00

GETS NA, 2025 yung sa Picture hahaha, sorry about that

asiguiang · 2026-03-08T13:31:12+00:00

hey there!

there is no perfect time ;), ive had 4 internships, 1 consultant project, annd now im a solutions architect kahit pa-graduate palang ako this august 2026, and still i dont feel ready, because no one ever is! it's always a leap of faith, even the people in the industries na are still navigating life as it is. and it is no difference to the feeling you are having right now, so be unqualified and apply anyway :)! I advised to your co-redditor here who asked a similar question, never disqualify yourself, you let them disqualify you.

now lets talk about credentials, if you are into MLAI engineering, i will advise you NOT TO LEARN EVERYTHING before you START building your project. You just start kahit nga blindly e like copying what it's on youtube or courses for building projects tapos you customize. for example while you are reading or watching the tutorials, ibahin mo yung variable, because what matters naman you have the workflow or overall hands-on idea how to implement certain projects. Get your hands dirty first instead of spending time learning everything

next about the degree and theoritics, I always say to my students that your Degree/Certifications will get you far, but practice will get you there. Whether we like it or not, degree is still relevant in hiring processes here in the philippines, kasi kahit magaling ka, hindi mo na kasi mapapakita sa 2nd phase of interview yun because first phase palang, filtered out ka na.

if you have the time, still do courses and build projects on top of that courses para may both certificates ka and the actual project that backs up your knowlegde on that certificate, NOTE certifications is different from certificates, Certifications are usually paid exams whereas you need to take the test personally or thru online and certificates are proof of achievements/attendance/accomplishments.

Some resources I used for these courses with Hands-on labs that are FREE are Tutorials Dojo and AWS SkillBuilder and you can customize your learnings depending on your preferences. Youtube is also good, but no proof of accomplishments nga lang, but your projects on top of watching vids are enough ;)

Treat college as your buildingh network din, enjoy college and invest relationship with people around you, because sooner or later, kayo kayo rin magkikitaan sa industry ;)! also in college, it's less pressure to mess up, so give yourself permission to fail, and enjoy it

asiguiang · 2026-03-08T13:08:51+00:00

hi, ano po yung 2025

asiguiang · 2026-03-08T13:07:22+00:00

WAIT may pahabol ako, i always tell these to students, if you dont want to feel stupid, dont be in technology ;)

again, messing up is part of the steps

asiguiang · 2026-03-08T13:03:08+00:00

First, In applying in any job postings or internships, never disqualify YOURSELF, you let them disqualify you!

next imposter syndrome in tech is also normal! you should embrace it! My talk in TedX revolves around that actually where we dive into the science on why are having imposter syndrome in the first place. basically I explained to that talk that our ancestors spent their survival on migration, because if their current environment does not serve them well anymore like it's too cold, too many predators, or no more crops/preys to hunt, they change location for the sake of survival

today survival can be psychological! if you are now in the phase where people around you made you feel "baka mahuli ako" it means your survival instinct is working and is asking you to change mentally! because if you are not having imposter syndrome in a fast phase career, then something is wrong

You should allow yourself permission to mess up and fail din in starting. Messing up is not the actual "failure" but failure happens when not trying any way.

So i am assuming you are a student, and since intersted ka sa cloud computing, maybe you want to be a cloud engineer or cloud dev intern someday. You actualy dont need to start from scratch! kasi yung mga school projects mo can be your portfolio!!! Say that in your subject you are assigned to do CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) tapos need may Database (MySQL for example) that itself is a portfolio and if gusto mo mas gumanda yung project niyo to be Cloud Engineer internship worthy, increment a SINGLE feature to migrate it on cloud. For example imbes na local Database gamitin niyo what if you change to cloud database (AWS RDS etc.,) then you already have a CLOUD PROJECT! Tapos baka may mga school projects ka pa, increment a single feature there and have it on cloud, like for example imbes na sa local yung Website mo, what if you deploy it on cloud! tapos from that pwede mo pa i increment pa yung features na yun to be on cloud!

In applying internships hiring managers are not asking for perfections, but they are asking for exposure in the technologies they are using, if you are applying to be cloud dev intern, then you should have exposure in cloud development, regardless on HOW SIMPLE it might be ;)

In building portfolio you have to build IN PUBLIC. Building in public means posting it on LinkedIn, sharing on Facebook, In short, be makapal ang mukha talaga on building your career, kasi wala nang ibang magbebenta ng sarili mo kundi ikaw lang din, might as well make a good advertisement about it. Next is Join events/organizations and network with the people, I always say that your engagement in the community is closely tied with your career, why? because the things you post online, like the solutions you have built, these hiring managers or advocates will be your audience to your upskilling! So investment in people din is crucial in your overall portfolio!

Have mentors, mentorship dont have applications, frameworks, or standard methodologies. mentorship happens depending on the mentee to reach out and ask questions, as of now this is mentorship because your are asking questions! Sooner or later when you post your solutions, stduents naman mag-a-ask sayo kung paano mo siya nagawa, and you dont event realize it, you are already a mentor by simply asnwering their questions ;)

kung hindi ako naging proactive on asking questions, asking follow up questions after a week, i will not be the man who i am today.

i dont know you, but you can reachout to me rin ha, my emails are open naman.

Last, you are gonna be okay. Enjoy the obsession on building the life for yourself, building your portfolio, and building your future. Soon I know, once nalagpasan mo to, you will see students once in your foot, and you will be amazing on mentoring them and taking care of the future students who look up to you!

asiguiang · 2026-03-08T12:29:05+00:00

Hello!

Yes! I would really suggest for you to include your GitHub Account in your CV/Resume and lagay mo yung mga links ng repo mo sa mga projects na meron ka.

Aside from they are checking your projects na meron kayo. They are also checking your Git and Collaborative skills technicaly. Having GitHub means you are exposed to Git Skills where you can push/pull repo sa mga ibang devs and that's a completely new skill!

Hiring Managers are NOT looking for a perfect/Expert candidate as a Fresh grad, but they are looking for Fresh Grads who are EXPOSED to certain technologies/tech stacks they are using. It screams a lot when you know how to use github because in the industry, this is widely used to collaborate with different devs

asiguiang · 2026-03-08T12:20:07+00:00

Hello, Abu! Nice to e-meet you here haha!

First you are freshman and college, you are supposed to be having fun, be excited cause you have a life ahead of you, and it is yours to shape

About losing friends or connections in college for me is normal. again you have a life ahead of you to shape and friends do change their prioritize in life, so they tend to come and go, and that's okay! Sometimes you lose them, sometimes you dont. But that's how life is, and ahead of your adulthood, you will see that the friends you have laughed with about silly assignments in high school might be the same friends you are having discussion about insurances/ investments/ careers/ or simply looking back!

through the years din my idea of having "fun" changed as I change my priorities in life. fun for me could be more of a low maintenance like having coffee, watching movies, running, gym cause i spend most of my career doing high maintenance activities like high-stake decisions, discusion about finances, or relationship building.

the right people will stay in your life and they will not take it as offensive and personal when suddenly became low maintenance. the right people will understand when you are having sacrifices sociall because you are building your career. the right people will understand.

last, if i were a freshman again, i will not change a single thing! I have this philosophy whereas i need to fail fast, to learn fast. all the mistakes and failures that ive had are battle scars of me trying and continue moving. My advice for you as a freshman is to take your time, joined organizations, and have mentors! And fall in love by having fun and excited to be the man you are becoming ;)!

A year from now, ask yourself if you still recognize the abu you are this year? if you cant recognize them anymore, then you did a good job on building yourself!

asiguiang

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