Ask HN: Graduating CS soon, how do I find a job?

I’d check with some of your peers and see what their experiences have been, but I wouldn’t be overly anxious just yet. In terms of timing, campus recruitment has an annual cycle. (We’ll hire year-round for entry-level, but for pretty obvious reasons, it’s seasonal in terms of the activity focus.) Right now, we’re reviewing the outcome of last year’s campus and intern programs, determining changes, and predicting budgets for next year’s program.

If you’re a May/June 2022 grad, don’t sweat it even a drop. If you’re a December 2021 grad, you’re a little off-cycle but campus programs know you exist so there’s a mini-wave for the half-year grads. But mid-August to late Sept is probably the lowest period for “mining inbound resumes” as the campus team has been busy wrapping up starting last year’s group and planning for the coming year (and taking summer PTO).

If you’re graduating from a CS program at a traditional college and have a 3.0 GPA or better, it’ll be stressful (because of the stakes), but you’ll find a role to take your first professional step. You don’t have to stand out per-se, which is good news because internships and summer work in the field is the best way to do that and that’s not practical in your last year. No worries. Can’t change it now and don’t need to. We take “cold” graduates as well. If you have a 2.5 or 2.2, it be a little more effort, but if you can do the work, you’ll find a fit. If you have a 3.8+ (at least in major and a 3.5 overall), you’re probably seeing only timing effects.

Talk to the campus placement people at your college as well. See what their advice is (especially if a Dec grad). Have them look over your resume for glaring issues. I suspect they’ll help you, both practically but also psychologically to reflect on the activity/calendar cycle.

(It’s also worth asking that group how “fresh” the job board is. Some of those listings could have been posted back in May and if you applied to them after an entire graduating class saw them, they’re either filled or the company is incapable to fill them and has given up on them.)

It allows you to bypass (some?) restrictions on who you can message.

Without it, I think you need at least to have a mutual connection. (Which wouldn't be that hard to achieve with fellow alumni.)

Summary: It's now what you know that gets you the job. It's who knows you.

I am surprised to have not read this in other comments, but I would strongly recommend to pick a field or product you feel very passionate with and contact with [small/medium] companies showing a "job" page on their website (or even just contact).

As a fresh graduate, no one with common sense could expect you to have some experience, but if I had to recruit a junior team member, passion and eager to learn is what I would hunt for.

Oh and, don't worry about rejections or being ignored, it happened to most of us!

Good luck.

This is my experience. Rather than blindly sending out 200 applications, take that time to find 5-10 positions you think you’d be uniquely qualified for, given your skillset, and tailor your CV to each of them.

I did this and got interviews at every place I applied (straight out of undergrad), and offers from the majority of them.