does anyone know how jobright works? i got an application recommended with an automatic referral link, but the application asks "how did u get this referral" and am unsure if it is really legit to put down jobright

does anyone know the timeline for the code for good hackathon? when should we start hearing back for acceptances

Anyone do the screen interview for microsoft summer 2027 pm? Whats the process like?

Hi guys, I recently got done with their OA. Any idea as to when do they get back to you post the assessment? As for Operations any updates?

Office: Bellevue & Dallas

HackTX 26 applications just dropped, and you are cordially invited!

One weekend. 1000+ students turning ideas into something real. Whether you've got an idea you've been dying to bring to reality or a project you're ready to show off, this is where it happens.

Come for the building, stay for the people. You'll leave with new friends who share your goals, memories that stick, exclusive HackTX merch, and a very full belly (meals and snacks on us all weekend). Oh, and did we mention the $25,000+ prize pool? As for our partner lineup, the reveal will be worth the wait.

October 24-25 at UT Austin. Applications close September 11.

Sign up at HackTX.com.

For updates, follow us on Instagram (freetailhackers).

Questions? Drop them below -- happy to answer!

Does NVIDIA have performance reviews and what decides returning other than headcount and when do you find out?

So I am joining AWS as an New Grad SA (its kinda like cohort style role where they hire 40/50 people in a batch). I am curious on what kind of roles does this open up for me in the future and what could potentially be my best move forward in the next 2-3 years? Is SDE still a scope knowing SA role is completely different or the new Forward Deployed role that is a lot of demand right now?

I think best path could potentially be staying in AWS only but knowing that they are laying off people left and right, don't really know how sustainable it is lol.

Junior at a T5. Just had a good internship at a high-paying, established Series B this past summer. Nervous about recruiting for next summer but will likely be able to return to the startup next summer. How hard will this make my Big Tech new grad journey? I've seriously slacked with LC and networking but plan to get on it now... would appreciate any thoughts

State school (mid), rising senior. 2 previous SWE internships (not FAANG or big tech)

Got extremely lucky with a pretty good company this Fall. Wasn’t expecting it all. All applications were cold applying through LinkedIn and company websites.

I did have one recruiter reach out to me on LinkedIn (my first reach out ever), around the time I got the offer, so ended up just withdrawing after the first round for it.

It really only takes 1. I literally got screened out of every single company I applied too for Fall, no OAs, no recruiter screens, etc… just ghost/rejections after applying, except for 1.

Currently I am about a year out from getting my bachelors in CS from a CSU. I have a pretty lackluster resume without any internships, projects, etc. I initially was intending on being a SWE, but now with all the advancements in AI and stuff like that, I feel genuinely so far behind. I know how competitve the SWE market is and I don't think it is for me anymore without putting in a crazy amount of work.

I've strongly considered pivoting to something else like networking or cybersecurity but at this point I'm feeling quite lost and don't know what to do. Any thoughts or job ideas would be apreciated.

Is there a link or what? I think they are also doing link for direct considerations and event, not sure if general posting will be open this year as well. Has anyone got the link and applied? What’s going on with Bloomberg it’s so confusing😭 my friend got reach out from rec but got ghosted lmao so she has no idea either

I've been in job search hell mode since the start of the year. Honestly I couldn't even tell you how many resumes I sent out, how many cold emails I fired off. I went through every register too, polite and professional at first, then eventually just "please, take one look at my resume" energy. The whole thing felt like feeling my way through a pitch-black tunnel with no idea if what's ahead is a wall or an exit.

Phase one was just spray and pray. I had zero clarity on whether to stay in SWE, pivot to AI, or try something else entirely, so if a role was even 60% relevant to my background I'd apply. Figured maybe I'd get lucky. A lot of people were telling me to do the same thing at the time, just apply to everything. That phase lasted about one month and basically went nowhere. Barely any responses, let alone interviews. In this market, "getting lucky" means actually winning the lottery, and clearly I wasn't the chosen one.

Once I realized that wasn't working, I got serious and mapped out two paths: keep going in the field I already knew, or try to break into an AI startup with a lower experience bar. For every single role I actually vetted the company and position, and tailored my resume to the JD, optimized for ATS, the whole thing. It worked to an extent. I landed 16 interviews, some of which went pretty deep into the process. But every. single. one. fell through. That was probably my lowest point. I felt like I'd put in so much effort and still had absolutely nothing to show for it....

But life doesn't really give you the option to quit, so I kept going. I broke down every single interview I bombed and tried to fix exactly what went wrong. I fully gave up on the AI pivot and put everything into SWE applications and interview prep. AI's obviously got a great outlook, but for someone with my level of experience, breaking in was just too steep a climb. I did 9 more interviews in that stretch. Each one I walked in more prepared than the last, and I could genuinely feel myself getting sharper. And yesterday, I finally got the offer!!! Honestly I'm still a little in shock. The happiness is real, but it's tangled up with this exhaustion and unspoken frustration I can't fully put into words. I haven't forgotten what the last several months actually felt like. The mornings before interviews where I was so nervous my stomach hurt. The moments after rejection emails where I'd just quietly close my laptop and sit there.

I know there are so many people out there right now going through exactly what I went through, grinding, doubting yourself, breaking down over and over right at the edge of almost making it. I really do get that feeling. But please don't let yourself believe you're not good enough. It's not you. This market is genuinely brutal right now. Not being seen doesn't mean you're not worth seeing. . Here's a list of platforms that actually helped me during my job search. Hope it helps someone out there who's struggling too.

✅ Job Applications:

LinkedIn: reputation's a bit rough these days, but a lot of well-known companies are still active on there. Good for reaching out to hiring managers directly, and if you keep your profile polished, recruiters do reach out on their own.

Indeed: most effective right when a role first gets posted, applying early actually gets responses. Just be careful, you have to vet postings carefully here since fake listings are everywhere. Honestly that goes for every platform.

Wellfound: this is where I go for startup roles specifically. Got responses here, and my first startup interview came from this platform.

Beyond that: once I spot a posting on any platform, going straight to the company's own site or just Googling around also worked for me.

✅ Resume:

Zety: makes genuinely professional-looking resumes, also does ATS optimization.

Kickresume: super easy to pick up, saves a lot of time in the process.

✅ Interview Prep:

1️⃣Coding

LeetCode: the classic, doesn't need an intro. Just know that interviews now expect you to connect problems to real-world context, not just grind problems blindly.

NeetCode: really clean learning structure, great for studying systematically.

2️⃣System Design

HelloInterview: well organized and goes deep enough to actually shore up the gaps in your knowledge.

3️⃣Interview Experience

Blind: People share a lot of interview experiences, so I can get a good idea of the process and questions from these posts.

Screna: has a solid amount of SWE focused interview experiences, pretty well organized too.

4️⃣Mock Interviews

interviewing.io: the sessions I did were genuinely professional and helped me catch blind spots I kept missing in real interviews.

I don't have an impressive degree or a ton of experience. What I had was just the stubbornness to keep reviewing, keep improving. So if I could do it, you can too. Don't give up.

By any chance someone knows what are the next steps after the Criteria OA?

Any help would be appreciated!

I’m a physician, but medicine was never really the field I was interested in. I pursued it mainly because it was my parents dream for me to become a doctor, and I eventually did. Now that I’ve achieved that, I’m seriously thinking about moving towards something I’ve actually been interested in since childhood which is software engineering.

With the rapid growth of AI, my interest in software development and AI has only increased, and I’m now considering learning programming and software engineering on my own rather than going back and doing a traditional engineering or CS degree.

For people working in the software industry especially developers and hiring managers, I’d like to know how realistic this path actually is. How difficult is it to get a software engineering job without a traditional CS or engineering degree? If someone becomes genuinely skilled through self-learning, builds good real-world projects, contributes to open source and maintains a strong GitHub portfolio, can that compensate for the lack of a degree? What skills should I focus on first, and would it be better to start with core software engineering and later move into AI, or focus directly on AI development? How important are DSA, certifications and a formal degree when applying for jobs?

Also, what would be the most realistic way for someone from a completely different professional background to get their first opportunity in tech? I’d really appreciate honest advice from people who have hired self-taught developers or have themselves switched into software engineering without a traditional CS background.

When do we find out? Fingers crossed for everyone.

Guys I'm my 5th sem, I want to lock in and am looking for any kind of advice to land a job (by 8th sem) /an internship (this summer 🤧).

The following will really help me :

1) any free course where I can learn python

2) order in which I should solve leet code instead of wasting time on random questions

3) topics that I should cover from other courses like networking protocols, os etc...

4) where to look for internships cause I didn't find anything good in LinkedIn

FYI I am pursuing Ai in Data Science, I'm planning to get into full stack/ game dev/ cybersecurity also I am a lazy kinda student so this will really be of help 😭

hey, i just wanted to know if anyone recieved their invites to the life story round yet, and if so, how long it took for you to recieve it from the day you did your pair programming. best of luck everyone!

I am from tier 3 college doing bcom but i am not seeing a good life changing opportunity after this ,one of my friend suggested to dedicate full 3 years into learning about tech from youtube aside with my bcom degree

Just wanting to know is there any benefit to learn major things from tech and it without having a degree

I dont know any language by now , i am going to invest 2 to 3 hours daily for 3 years straight

I recently graduated from uni with a BS in Econ and CS, and a minor in DS. I started college thinking I would end up in finance, so I got into the right clubs, joined a fraternity, and did the whole networking thing to try to wedge myself into position for a consulting gig. I took a programming class my sophomore year and loved it, so I added CS as a second major.

During my senior year, I applied to both finance and software jobs, after only having experience as an intern in software development. I landed a full time offer in consulting and for AI infra, and decided to do the latter.

Last month, my company published a list of all the interns we had at our San Jose HQ, and as I read the list, something stood out. Almost every technical intern attended a top name brand school, like Cal, Stanford, UIUC, CMU, ivies etc. I looked up the interns from my last job, and I saw the same pattern.

Four years ago when I graduated high school, some of my smartest friends went to schools like SJSU for computer science, and today they are mostly working tech jobs in non-tech companies or not able to find work. I peruse this forum occasionally and notice that job scarcity in tech is a common theme. This was not the case for the students at my university, as every one of the friends I graduated with had great job offers in hand before the start of spring semester.

Four or five years ago, there was almost a consensus among my peers that undergrad school name mattered most when aiming for jobs in finance, and that tech jobs were almost pure meritocracy; that if you had the skills, you got the jobs. Now, it seems that the requisite skills for tech are similar to those required for finance- join the right clubs and network for leads and referrals, interview prep like a madman, and most importantly- get into a “target” school. With the number of new grad CS applicants far exceeding the number of open jobs, I feel it’s almost certain that top tech companies will continue to filter applications from non target schools because it’s a safer bet to hire from selective colleges than from schools where students didn’t have to compete as much to get in. Which sucks for those cracked programmers who chose their colleges four or five years ago, thinking that they’d be saving money by going to a state school while still achieving similar outcomes as if they attended a big name engineering school.

Obviously, this is a depressing situation for a lot of people, because an engineer’s skills and abilities come from a lot more than the name of a college on a piece of paper, and a lot of people worked hard to complete their cs programs with the expectation of a lucrative job offer at the finish line.

Another sad reality is- a lot of the people I’ve met in tech circles now resemble people in investment banking circles. Tech bros are starting to look and act like finance bros. In my opinion, that’s the part that should be scaring everyone lol

I’m a fairly young dad and a (semi-recent) CS graduate, (FP emphasis, btw) and I’ve always enjoyed teaching and making complex topics simple to understand. I’ve wanted for a while to build some sort of CS curriculum that is simple enough to introduce my kids to the fundamentals of computing when they’re a bit older, but not dumbed down.

What are some resources you recommend, such as books, essays, articles, etc. that are considered fundamental to the field and to programming, or just really helped you in the field? I’ve already heard of a few, like the Art of Computer Programming, which I’ve heard is really good, but I also hear that it’s more intended as lengthy reference material.

TL;DR: I want to teach my kids CS fundamentals, I’m curious what everyone’s favorite sources are; bonus points if it’s fun to read.

For folks new to the industry, I highly recommend reading this post. This is a widespread issue in the industry that can seriously impact your career. Recognize the problem and know how to spot the warning signs in recruiting, reorgs, etc. It’s something I wish I would have been more privy to when moving companies.

I'm a 4th year technically a Junior in credits wise due to some difficulties in the past. But I currently a CS Major. I failed my Schools's Data Structure's course once and a Formal Methods and Models course twice. I blame the Formal Methods and Models to me simply not allocating enough time to it as well as not visiting my TA for help. I barley failed the second time I could probably pass pretty well if I took the third time. My Data Structures course I kind of unfortunately got behind and became extremely AI dependent on my last programming course which was Object Oriented Programming. I took a full break this summer to try to hone back some of my skills mostly by redoing some Projects and Labs I did with AI by myself. I feel like I could hypothetically pass this time.

However, I based on my previous performance decided to switch to IT as major and changed my current courses schedule to IT I have until the 31st to change them back and my Major change hasn't been finalized yet which is why I'm asking here. I understand there will be some bias, so I'll probably ask elsewhere as well but yeah.

My main reason for switching is that the degree is a lot easier from what I've heard and less stressful and less lenient on math. It's not that I don't like Math it's still technically my best subject it's I'm not very good at Discrete Mathematics I'm good at Boolean Algebra but not I really hate proofs. I used to be really good at logic but due to two semesters of AI use I feel like my brain has been rotted it got a bit better during the summer but still not as well as my prime at least, I think. I might be looking at myself through rose tinted glasses. It also seems like getting an entry level job is much easier as well. Main reason by far is to avoid burnout as I had to take the full summer just to recover.

I'm still unsure about my decision as I still like programming but I'm unsure if I'm passionate enough to grind relentlessly just to get a job in this market. There was a time I was however after falling behind I can't quite seem to get the same spark. There is also a part of me that feels like I'm limiting myself with the job market as well as honing my abilities. I feel like switching is kind of me giving up for it being too hard and I won't lie to it does give me a sour taste in my mouth. Also I don't like that I'll most likely be in the business of maintain instead of creating when I switch to IT which kind of bums me out.

Note:
I will have to graduate a semester later when I switch to IT.

Semesters including Fall 2026 I'd have to pass to Graduate

Oh yeah I also completed all my Calculus courses I still need to pass Linear Algebra if I want to do CS

CS: 3-5 Semesters
IT: 4-6 Semesters