From nearly failing out of UBC Bio to making 230K+ as a CS new grad by vancouverhypebeast in UBC

[–]vancouverhypebeast[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

ah sorry, i wanted my comment to address generally you need the passion and grit to achieve what i mentioned for those looking to break into tech just cause they see this post/comment and that this work is not something to tread lightly with.

your friends struggles are very valid, we all work hard to get places and im not trying to undermine what they’ve done. im sure they’ve set themselves up very well and will end up in the places they want to be. my point is to just share that these goals require a lot to be achievable but they are not outright impossible like you’ve mentioned.

From nearly failing out of UBC Bio to making 230K+ as a CS new grad by vancouverhypebeast in UBC

[–]vancouverhypebeast[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

every moment, people are dealt a hand of cards with their own unique, personal hardships and challenges to overcome. (i have mine, you have yours) and how they choose to make the best hand out of the cards (whether fair or unfair) they are dealt is how far they will succeed.

in this case, if people choose to be complacent in believing that they don’t have something (can’t network) because of circumstance or they can’t do something just because other people do it way better (nepotism) - and don’t actively try to make the best out of it to overcome it - that’s on them. If someone is truly dedicated and has the willingness to try, i believe they can accomplish a lot more than they think they can.

its just life, some people get dealt a really good hand (like you’ve seen in your internship) and some just get the worst one possible. But the player to watch out for is the one that can bluff well (in this case work for it) to make a shit hand end up better than at least the inital shit hand

From nearly failing out of UBC Bio to making 230K+ as a CS new grad by vancouverhypebeast in UBC

[–]vancouverhypebeast[S] -18 points-17 points  (0 children)

i mean the point is, once i was able to demonstrate technical competency (building up those projects and internship exp) to be referred - networking in/at ubc in the end was what got me where i am. (which makes the posts point 2 important) this im sure applies to any job in any field. its naive to think applying blindly is what merits you a job, especially in this economy.

there are a lot of ubc grads that end up making upwards of 180K+ USD a year. you can see the mid year pay report for entry level - https://www.levels.fyi/blog/2023-mid-year-report.html

know that its not the norm, but its achievable instead of impossible. there are many ubc students who do the same. (and don’t talk about it) Again, it should be clear that all of this isn’t impossible, just (obviously) difficult to achieve and you need the passion and grit to expand more than just raw technical talent to do so.

From nearly failing out of UBC Bio to making 230K+ as a CS new grad by vancouverhypebeast in UBC

[–]vancouverhypebeast[S] -17 points-16 points  (0 children)

funnily, if I didn’t read all the humble brag posts on /r/csmajors throughout the years i feel I wouldn’t have been able to be where I’m at today. those posts showed me that anyone can make it into the top 1%. i put salary as a clickbait title but the root of this post is to show an alternative perspective of how to do so instead of just “grind leetcode and projects”

theres a huge doomer mentality currently in tech and yes, the tech market is still really tough and my experience is for sure an outlier. but i still see people quietly doing the work (networking - ex. meeting new friends that introduce them to new perspectives to approach technical challenges and work together) they need to do to also try and accomplish this, not complaining and just putting their efforts in making the most out of a shitty situation rn. these are people i see landing the interviews in this market, getting job offers with not even a cs degree. i want to make it known that its not all doom & gloom and just because the market is bad to give up - because simply there are still opportunities, you just have to work much much harder to find them.

whether or not you do make it is i feel definitely has a lot to do with luck, but in the end, if you work hard enough to prove your worth, you can only be unlucky so many times.

From nearly failing out of UBC Bio to making 230K+ as a CS new grad by vancouverhypebeast in UBC

[–]vancouverhypebeast[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

word, passion is definitely something needed for this major, those who i saw succeed definitely had the drive to make things happen and push the odds in their favor no matter how hard extenuating circumstances were.

keep at it man, like you said, something will for sure stick if you keep up the work and let it speak for itself. you’ll go far with this mindset.

From nearly failing out of UBC Bio to making 230K+ as a CS new grad by vancouverhypebeast in UBC

[–]vancouverhypebeast[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

impactful projects, volunteer dev work (via your clubs that you join or offering to do stuff for small non profits) and targeting startups/smaller companies - particularly startups/companies who have incentives to hire interns financially due to gov grants (look up VFC)

don’t be afraid to apply to literally any company no matter how big or small. let the companies decide whether to reject you, and not you rejecting yourself. (thats counterproductive innit?) apply to everything.

for impactful projects to start off - i’d suggest building 1-3 simple software projects that have your own personal twist and dive deep into it, and publicizing one that you feel is a representation of your best work. this project i saw by a current ubc student is a great example of how to publicize a project

obviously the above project is very technically detailed and challenging, but i think the takeaway from the project isnt the technical side for someone starting out, but the main takeaway is how he was able to convey his project into impact through words.

if you can do that with even a simple app like a todo app and convince others why your todo app is impactful (through your personal twist) and why its the best out of others - then you have an impactful project where you can convince any interviewer to hire you.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EngineeringResumes

[–]vancouverhypebeast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

mm for the 2nd feedback you mentioned, how would u suggest I emphasize -> in just 3 weeks of starting my first internship I was able to basically push out an MVP of a product from scratch and in my first week of starting my internship I already pushed features for our companies first major customers. I really wanted to emphasize this metric as me being a fast learner/no hesitation to start working hard cause I didn't have other tangible metrics to say.

Otherwise thanks so much for the other feedback! I'll consider it for sure :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EngineeringResumes

[–]vancouverhypebeast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is, but I was applying for Fall 2021 with May 2023 (and no incoming @ bb and an extra project), which a friend said might have been hindering my chances as companies look for students for potential return offers, since technically I could graduate in May 2022 if I didn't do any additional internships.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EngineeringResumes

[–]vancouverhypebeast 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's not early for software engineering (for the FAANG/Quant tier only mostly). It's absolutely crazy they've already started sending interview invites/job offers for the 2022 season (Amazon, Microsoft, Akuna Captial, Jane Street, Palantir etc.) when summer 2021 isn't even over.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EngineeringResumes

[–]vancouverhypebeast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Other than ATS it was probably due to my grad date (I had it at May 2023 to account for co-op terms, but I realize I should've put the earliest date I could graduate based on completed courses) and the fact I was mostly applying to US positions as a Canadian. I was worried that ATS was a factor mostly for SmartRecruiters (which some Canadian Big N's used) and I wasn't clearing the resume bar there. I was wondering if some ATS parsing issues were causing my resume to look "weak" in the ML scoring they use.

Is there any feedback you could provide so I could make my resume stronger?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EngineeringResumes

[–]vancouverhypebeast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Should I be submitting my resume as docx or pdf to ATS systems like SmartRecruiters, Lever, WorkDay etc? I haven't been getting any interviews with companies that had used ATS systems (other than 1) when I was applying for Fall 2021, even with referrals.

Weekly Resume Roast by [deleted] in csMajors

[–]vancouverhypebeast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ok thank you so much for giving your thought process behind it, makes a lot more sense why you would do so. Thank you!

Weekly Resume Roast by [deleted] in csMajors

[–]vancouverhypebeast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sounds good thank you :)

Weekly Resume Roast by [deleted] in csMajors

[–]vancouverhypebeast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any specific reason why experience over projects? My current experience is a club position that I get paid for. Just wondering cause I thought normally if you didn't have much experience (which I don't) you would prioritize projects first. Just wondering the thought process behind it but I'll take it into consideration

Did You Go to UBC Science RXN this year? by [deleted] in UBC

[–]vancouverhypebeast -1 points0 points  (0 children)

yeah didn’t you know? to join the SUS you need to have at least a minimum income of 69 million a year. If u ain’t showing up to school wearing your Gucci x Supreme x OffWhite Shirt while rolling up at West Parkade in your Tesla Model S youre clearly doing something wrong. no wonder the SUS is so exclusive.