I just graduated from college and don’t have a job yet. I’m trying to figure out what to focus on next, and I’d love some advice.
A little about me:
– I contribute to open-source projects.
– I’ve done a few internships during college, mainly building full-stack web apps.
– Worked in a few startups, also mainly on full-stack projects.
– Built full-stack apps for clients.
– Ran a fun YouTube channel for a few months.
– Built some AI-powered apps using tools like OpenAI.
– Solved 100+ DSA problems to improve my coding skills.
With AI tools now, I can build full-stack apps by prompting and understand all the code. But I’m not sure what to focus on next: Should I deeply master a stack like MERN, or keep experimenting with AI and building different projects?
I’ve tried a lot of things — side projects, internships, open-source, AI apps — but I don’t feel like I’ve truly mastered anything yet.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? What would you do if you were me?
Thanks in advance.
You're essentially caught in a bad spot right now and will likely need to resort to some old-school cold calling like what sales people do. Only difference will be that "no" means no here. You're selling yourself, but you don't want people to hate you while in the process of that.
The reason I'm mentioning the above is because cold-applying to random posts on LinkedIn, Indeed, etc, results in about a 5% response rate. So I mean do the cold applications because something is better than nothing, but ultimately, you're going to need to do more.
An additional reason I'm mentioning doing this form of "cold-calling" is because recruiters are overwhelmed, but no one seems to want to admit this. They are inundated with applications that all look identical, but instead of only getting 100-200 applications for a position (which is still a lot), they're getting 500+. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the cold-application response rate has dropped closer to 1%-2%.
> Has anyone been in a similar situation? What would you do if you were me?
The truth is, this downturn is a little more unique than those in the past. AI and people gaming the system is wreaking havoc on the jobs pipeline in addition to the economic aspect of things.
As for anything else you should do: turn off sensational social media and try to block the doom and gloom. It will not help you.
When you get some actual experience of solving business tasks, dealing with colleagues and superiors, spending 8/5 at work and so on, it will be easier to make these decisions, and with a year or two of experience you get more options to choose from.
earlier at least my resume got me interviews with real people, but now sometimes nothing comes, and if it does, ai often screens me first. i know i can do the work, but i struggle to express my thoughts clearly and put my points across in interviews.
how would you suggest improving in this—any tips for communicating better or making it through ai screening?
I've been in Ops for 20+ years now and started on 1st line support for an ISP, although I had very few options without a degree (or much of an academic background really).
An entry level role might be a stepping stone to other positions within the company - and an opportunity to network with colleagues in other departments.
Over the years I built professional relationships and moved up to 2nd line and then 3rd line (sysadmin). This provided industry experience, certifications and sufficient domain knowledge to move elsewhere.
A few peers from 1st line moved over to development after they helped provide direct feedback to the devs as users of their software.
i took a break earlier due to health issues and missed placements, and now i’m doing open source as a maintainer, but it doesn’t pay enough. i feel a bit stuck because with ai moving so fast, i’m not sure what to focus on or if learning something new will take too long. i only have about three months or the rest of this year to figure things out, so maybe it’s better to focus on finding roles related to what i already know.
would you suggest trying something new, or sticking to my current skills to get a job faster?
my college is average it had a job placement office but in the final year due to some issues i couldn't able to sit any of the placements
i don't know about alumni association but there are some people from the college who are at good position but what is the right way to approach them also when i talked with some recent college senior working in a company they only say me like master your skill try learning this
why this is happening though i know am not that kind of genius but i had build stuffs i can get things done
how to approach people correctly do i directly say i need job hire me
You need to shift from education mode to employment mode.
yes i am trying to find the job i do surf linked in daily check for hiring here and there tried to dming founders
what do you think what else should i do.
You can also look locally. Go to various websites for companies where you live and see if they have any job postings. I was browsing Google Maps a few months ago and noticed some tech sounding company a mile from me, I went to their website and they had 3 openings for what seemed like a cool job (working on the software to run the Jumbotron screens in stadiums).
There are also contract houses. Sign up with one of them and they’ll farm you out to a company. It’s not always the most stable, but it can give you some early experience, or get your foot in the door at a company that will eventually hire you directly.
Like others have said you need to switch to employment mode, and finding a job is your full-time job
If you're not in a good financial position, stabilizing your finances would be the first priority. I would focus on developing your professional networks and reaching out to past colleagues etc for job leads/referrals. You're at a stage where you've very little to lose and everything to gain from any interaction with reality/real-world problems.
Working on AI/vibe-coding, esp understanding the fundamentals, will be advantageous as everyone is still figuring things out. Your lack of experience won't hurt you as much, since no one really have any. Be careful with using too much AI assistance for learning, as it can actually slow you down and give you a feeling of compentency/productivity without deep understanding.
Good luck!
my financial position is not good now. i have only this year left. i already taken time off recently i got a disease so.
i do know that i like coding and i will continue in this field only. the only thing is that like most of my internships were in frontend and two are fullstack
i tried to connect with people but i don't know if i am connecting with right people i am unable to put myself i hesitant on my skills
how to find people? in my college time most of my time went on doing works for internships trying to earn from here and there and now i don't have proper connection with anyone.
As a hiring manager, I'm usually not looking for a specific skillset from recent grads, but whether they are competent learners and have good communication skills. Both of these attributes means they can quickly adapt and more likely to contribute (or at least be less of a burden in the short run).
From your other posts, I'd recommend you work on your writing (English and your local language) to be more professional. Don't use AI writing, as you'd lose your writing "voice" and others will judge you for it.
For networking, I'd reach out to senior engineers in your area or prior companies to ask for advice on what's important to learn that you didn't learn in college. Don't ask for a job, as that could send their guards up. Follow through with their advice and update them regularly, every few weeks. The goal would be to show them you're a quick learner and can communicate well. They're more likely to recognize an opportunity and send a lead your way. It may not be with their current company, but a friend's company etc. Many jobs are shopped around informally via vetted social relationships before being shown in public.
If you're really strapped for $$, taking on any tech-adjacent job could be useful, including customer support roles where you can practice your communication skills.
If you want to achieve employment as a fresh graduate in the current economy you need to look for areas that have the highest barriers of entry. Otherwise you will be competing against candidates with 8-15 years of experience that may not be very good at what they do but at least they have a stacked resume while you have nothing.
As a former JavaScript developer almost nobody knows what they are doing and most of those people are permanently locked into a mindset of expert beginner with 8 years of experience. Compare that to something like 3D graphics programming or financial modeling that requires actual smart people opposed to imposter syndrome pretenders.
It sounds like you're already a good enough candidate - most people don't know and don't care about basic things like how a CDN works or what's the difference between TCP and UDP. And all the DSA grinding in the world don't help if you don't know the basics. If you go deep, you could be going deep into something with no value.
There's generally two things interviewers look for - smart and gets things done. You're smart enough, now you have to get the job.
also sometimes i thought these skills already replaced by ai why someone will hire me
but yep i am trying thanks
How are you apply to jobs?
How many jobs have you applied for?
What is the furthest you have gotten in the interview process?
Are you working with any recruiters?
Have you tried applying to another internship to see if you can convert to FTE?i apply to jobs mainly through linkedin, yc, emails, and company career pages, sometimes even dming people on linkedin.
in the last month i’ve applied to over 100+ jobs, including some random ones not really based on location, and i also try to talk to people directly.
in the interview process, many times i make it to the final round, sometimes not.
I haven't worked with any recruiters mostly local startups with small teams.
i've already done 5+ internships and 2 fullstack client projects, so i'm wondering if i should focus on applying for more internships in frontend, or just focus on full-time roles now?
i get your point, but i dont feel like i haven't started life am 23, finished my degree, worked at a few startups, even tutored students, worked in shop too in early days
just looking for something a bit more stable and meaningful now
do you think someone just starting out can actually break into that?
feels like a lot of people are already ahead in the ai space sometimes i wonder if i should try anyway or stick to areas i've already worked in
How did you do at those startups ? Your best bet is approach them again and ask for a potential role. Without some connections, it is extremely difficult to get a full tiem job right now in tech especially as an entry level person.
Some suggestions for you:
1. Get focussed on one stack. This is the unfortunate reality. You don't have enough real world experience to say "I can pick up any stack especially with AI". Thats what everyone else is saying. Too much noise. You need to separate yourself from the rest.
Get really really good at one stack (pick whatever you are already experienced with and double down). Then create a project or two in it (as real world as possible). Put it on a personal website. Something that shows. Don't just do the usual low quality "bootcamp" stuff. Those won't fly.
2. Approach any existing network of people you have worked with/for. You mentioned working at startups already. Start there.
3. Approach smaller companies/other startups (after #1 above) on Linkedin and make a specific case to founders directly. This is not hard. If needed, get subscription to Sales Navigator (if you can afford) and search for companies in the less than 50 employee range. Find their CEO/CTO and hit them up directly with specific message on why YOU and why you want to work for THEM. No generic BS. Be specific.
4. Be very very flexible. Mention that you will relocate for the job. Forget about Working from Home. Find whatever you can and move for it if needed. Show that you mean serious business.
These are some of the strategies that may help. It is very hard right now though. All the best.
i did pretty well on every startup in some of them i was the only frontend dev build end to end features integrated apis enhance ux. i was never kicked out on any of them though in some projects got completed in some i already did 8 months work and still they don't increase my pay so i left i also build end to fullstack app of a client on upwork delivered working mvp in just one months but in the end due to serious health i couldn't continue
thing is that i don't really take connections seriously that time i was in college i focus on building more and more everything was new for me
yes i am trying for full-time as an entry level
1. well does building for startups, building for clients doesn't count in real world experience?? only building for company counts??
in my college i just keep doing internships and stuff and if got time i learned a bit and do some entertainment yes i did personal projects later and also building now. i never take any bootcamp
2. i did approach some not replied some say learn DSA some say master what you have done till now
3. i tried lots of yc companies i applied and talked and dming many founder most not replied some replied but they not hire remotely or from my country
4. if they pay me i am willing to relocated but i think all the skills i get now is not valued anymore in tech.
i know things changed a lot still i build everyday i am trying
again thanks for all the tips.
I chose this approach in case the OP wanted deeper tangible pointers which is only possible with an understanding of their specific situation and kind of projects, location, etc.
I shoould have made this more clearer in my first comment
yeah true it just feels super competitive sometimes even friends drift if u r not ahead
it still becomes sometime confusing but i do know i need some stability and steady income
People you know is the best way to find a job.
Meanwhile, just get any kind of job because it shows you are willing to work and that’s a good impression to make.
Good luck.
would really appreciate any feedback or critique on it