To listen to Maggie’s and my podcast on the interview process, click here.
- From your experience, what are the most important parts of the guide your group constructed? What do you know now that you wished you knew earlier? What is the best advice or guidance you’ve received?
I think the most important piece of advice Maggie and I discussed in our podcast was to engage in outside projects. I cannot stress enough how vital this is for your own enjoyment, learning, and making connections. Maggie and I tend to involve ourselves in lots of outside projects–building websites for ourselves or friends, participating in hackathons, and working for OIT–to name a few. These experiences help enrich our CS experience so that we are actively learning new scripting languages, ones that might not be part of the typical NDCSE curriculum. Projects often occur in group settings, so this is also a great way to meet people, especially people interested in similar things as you! Of course, this all contributes to a hidden side effect–having plenty of technical experience with people that you can put on your resume and talk about in an interview. I have not had a single interview where I haven’t brought up one of the many projects I did outside of the classroom.
I wish I had applied to more hackathons across the country! I think travelling for conferences has been one of my favorite experiences at ND. There are lots of opportunities for undergraduates to just attend conferences–but this wasn’t something I was aware of until late into the game.
The best advice I’ve received is to invest in Cracking the Coding Interview early. It’s an incredible resource for simply re-learning the basics on data structures and certain coding questions. It serves as a fantastic guide to the entire interview process, outlining a timeline for how to properly prepare for a technical interview, starting months in advance. If you know even half of this book cover to cover, you’ve ensured yourself a solid chance in an interview.
- College traditionally has been viewed as a place of learning, not necessarily job training and yet students are spending more and more time preparing for the job interview process. Should colleges adjust their curriculum to face this reality? If so, how would you change the ND CSE program to better prepare students for the workforce? If not, discuss why you don’t think changes are needed and how the ND CSE program already supports students.
The ND CSE does an excellent job supporting students, but can always make improvements to better prepare students for the workforce. I think the recent course scheduling changes will have a significant positive impact on younger classes when applying for full-time roles (specifically, taking Data Structures as sophomores). However, the College of Engineering and First Year of Studies programs need to be more flexible in allowing more CS classes to be taught earlier. This summer, I was shocked to learn that one of my colleagues who was from Berkeley was one of 300 in her class who were also working at Google. When I asked about her course schedule, I was shocked to hear that she and her peers began taking 4-5 CS classes the fall of their first year. Understandably, Notre Dame just doesn’t have this flexibility, but I could certainly see the case for one or two required CS classes offered during freshman year.