Get a Software Engineering Job/Internship - Ultimate Guide

Let's divide the job search process into 4 stages:

  • Searching for and applying to jobs
  • Getting your resume shortlisted
  • Clearing interviews
  • Getting an offer letter

Let's look at what do you need to do at each of these stages. Note that each of these require significant work that needs to be done way before the job search process starts. Details about those are also mentioned below.

Searching for and applying to jobs

Getting your resume shortlisted

  • Since most job openings receive 100s to 1000s of applications, it is not possible for a company to interview everyone who applies.
  • To reduce the number of interviews, Recruiters and Hiring Managers shortlist only those resumes which stand out or matches the most to the job roles.
  • Having common basic projects on your resume or having a 3* rating on CodeChef is still better than having nothing related to programming. But note that these things won't help you stand out as 50% of the applicants would have the same thing.
  • Few things that can help your resume stand out:
    • Good ranks in programming contests
    • Demoeable projects that actually solve a problem and whose code is not easily available on the internet
    • Decent open-source contribution
    • Good research work
    • Being from a Tier-1 college. Not much within your control.
    • Having worked at a big tech company previously. Not applicable for freshers.
  • Make sure that your resume follows the best practices: Resume best practices for product-based companies
  • Confused, what to do?: Competitive Programming or Open Source Contribution?

Clearing interviews

Note that 2 things are extremely important here:

  • Learning: You need to learn all the major concepts that is expected of you as a programmer/developer
  • Practice: You need to focus a lot on practicing to build expertise on the concepts that you learn

Learn how to code & build strong foundations

Interview Prep Roadmap & Tips

Focus on Problem Solving, Data Structures & Algorithms (Most Important)

Prepare for Machine Coding Round

Prepare for Behavioral Round

Prepare for System Design [For senior roles | 2+ years of experience]

During the interview

Getting an offer letter


If you find this guide useful, please star it and share it on social media, whatsapp and any other programming community.

You can follow us on our social media handles for updates:


Programming communities you should join: