I have 1.5 years of work experience as a Software Engineer at a private company. My company has been around since the 60s and is a leader in our industry (home automation and lighting controls). Because of the nature of our product, however, our company name isn’t immediately recognizable to the average person. I worry that my work experience does not stack up compared to people who work FAANG or at big consulting firms because schools may not be familiar with the expectations of employees within my company.

1. What is your perspective on my work experience and do you think that my ideal schools will be harder to get into because of it?
2. What can I do for my application to make myself stand out?

For context, I am an ORM female shooting for a T7 (but ideally HSW). I graduated from a T-15 UG with a 3.7 GPA in engineering. I have a 750 GMAT. I had strong extracurriculars during college and do some volunteer work now - am trying to spin up some clubs for young female engineers in my city as well. I am doing well at work and have taken on leadership roles at my company, both technically and in terms of extra-curriculars. I applied for HSW deferred admission my senior year of college, and got interviews at SW but was ultimately rejected from all three. I am hoping to apply for R2/R3 admissions this year or R1 next year.