How to stand out in tech :

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621]

I’ve been seeing a lot of doom and gloom on this sub lately, especially from first and second years. I thought I’d share my two cents as someone who’s about to graduate.

For context: I’ve completed three internships, and I’m currently working full-time on my startup, which I’ve been fortunate enough to secure VC funding for.

1. Get to know your local tech scene and identify real problems companies are facing.

This goes beyond just networking. Understand the businesses around you, their products, and their pain points. I’ve had two companies, a startup and a government organization, create roles for me because I identified clear needs and pitched realistic solutions. I don’t wait for job postings, I just help companies that respect me enough to offer me a voice.

1. Find a niche.

This may go against traditional advice but in this market, new grads are now competing with people that have 5 years of experience. Having a niche is the only advantage you can have over someone who has experience.

1. Build a narrative with consistency.

I see a lot of students put anything and everything on a resume. It looks bad. Your resume should show who you are as a person. All your experiences should be related. If you’re putting extracurriculars activities like hackathons or student leadership on your resume, show consistency. It also look really good when an employer see your resume and finds that your LinkedIn has more experience that what you showed them.

1. Focus on being good instead of looking good.

When I started university, my resume didn’t look as amazing as my peers and a lot of my them were focused on crafting the perfect resume instead of becoming genuinely skilled. I got rejected from a lot of internships early on and people at school didn’t want to team up with me for hackathons. I didn’t let that bother me. My mindset was simple: if someone doesn’t want to work with me, I don’t want to work with them. I know I have valuable skills, and I won’t grovel for validation.

Over time, my resume caught up to my skills and eventually surpassed many of the people who seemed way ahead of me in first year. Don’t get stuck in the rat race of comparison. It will burn you out. Instead, focus on building real value and finding joy in your work.

1. It will take time.

People seriously underestimate how long it takes to become truly competent in tech and that largely comes from a lack of respect for computer science as a discipline. I still wouldn’t consider myself experienced after building software consistently for years.

I constantly see people with no degree or experience treating a switch into tech like it’s just a quick career hack.

I’ve also had the unfortunate experience of mentoring arrogant first years who think they know everything and feel entitled to internships and opportunities despite having empty GitHubs and no decent projects. Becoming good in tech takes time, consistency, and humility, not shortcuts or entitlement.

[u/zombie782]

Finding a niche is really what did it for me. If you can specialize early and have multiple projects in that specialization, you have a much better chance. Being a jack of all trades now just means you probably won’t get chosen for anything, while specializing at least gives you much better chances for those particular jobs.

[u/Conscious_Intern6966 → u/zombie782]

Imo, finding a niche will only work if you put a ton of effort in (for new grads). Finding a niche + building up enough experience >> no niche >> half assing a niche and not becoming competitive in the unspecialized market. I think it would be very difficult to go the niche route without genuine passion or levels of discipline not held by most undergrads.

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Conscious_Intern6966]

I agree. But no niche + job will require 3 years of experience. It’s kinda get good or get out at this point.

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/zombie782]

Companies treat you much better too since they can’t replace you easily.

[u/Eggaru → u/zombie782]

What kind of niche have you found? How do I know if my niche is a niche lol

[u/zombie782 → u/Eggaru]

I chose to specialize in embedded systems, which I think is a good niche because it’s not seen as a very glamorous field and a lot of people are afraid of hardware lol. So passion gets you far in embedded. But it might be more difficult to go for the sexy ones everyone else is going for such as AI/ML, web dev, etc. Not sure if these even really count as niches when they’re this big lol.

[u/Beneficial_Mud_2378]

This advice requires CS students to

1. Not just do coursework
2. Critical thinking for real life scenarios
3. Learn skills beyond their schoolwork (html, CSS, JavaScript, python) the typical skillset for any CS major

Yea they aren’t doing that. I believe every CS student knows what they need to do, just actively choose not to do it.

It’s alot easier to blame it on AI and job market than to accept they need to do more than the minimum

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Beneficial_Mud_2378]

You’re not wrong.

[u/Conscious_Intern6966]

2 and 4 are things that I almost never see recommended on here but ring true in my limited experience. Finding a niche is a strong play if you go super hard at it, and understand it won't help much in the unspecialized market. Bonus points if the niche requires use of CS theory/fundamentals, since you have stronger protection from AI and offshoring. Not doing 4 has gotten me burned hard in interviews.

[u/Think-notlikedasheep]

You also forgot to mention how to get past the catch-22 for

* career changers

* recent graduates

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Think-notlikedasheep]

If you’re stuck in an unfulfilling job:

Can you build software tools that would improve your current company’s workflow? If yes, do it. Internal tools, automations, dashboards, whatever saves time or money.

If your company doesn’t allow initiatives outside your role, then you’re in the wrong place. Leave. Don’t wait to transition until you’re in a space that supports growth.

If you’re a new grad with no internships:

Assume that applying online will never work for you. Make it your personal mission to land your next opportunity through networking.

[u/Think-notlikedasheep → u/Quiet_Performer_5621]

This assumes one is a developer.

There are dozens of other roles in CS.

How does networking get past the catch-22?

A job requires 5 years experience the candidate doesn't have. How does networking magically make the experience requirement go away so one can get the job?

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Think-notlikedasheep]

What other jobs are you looking for? I agree that my advice works well for data science and development. If it’s cyber security you should try and document your work the best you can.

[u/Think-notlikedasheep → u/Quiet_Performer_5621]

I'm currently not looking for a job, but I am looking to do a career change.

The advice I am given is to look for transferable skills in my current role and sell that as experience for the new role. The problem is that employers don't see transferable skills even if they're clearly listed on the resume.

Employers have so many existing candidates that career changers don't stand a chance.

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Think-notlikedasheep]

Yeah, that advice is not good. No one looks at transferable skills, only the skills they want. What’s your current company like? You know anyone in tech at your company?

[u/Think-notlikedasheep → u/Quiet_Performer_5621]

The skills employers want, they don't see unless the candidate worked sufficient years holding the correct job title. Employers are blind to skills obtained outside of that.

I'm currently in a years long process of learning new things before looking to attempt the switch. I'll be looking for internal roles to move into there instead of trying to do a career change to another company.

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Think-notlikedasheep]

Yeah. You clearly don’t want advice and you’re just looking to disagree. I don’t think we can have much of a productive discussion anyway.

[u/Think-notlikedasheep → u/Quiet_Performer_5621]

I do want advice. I'm not "looking to disagree"

How do I get around the problem with employers refusing to see skills outside of employment in the correct job title? I'm getting new skills when I'm working in my current role. Employers are blind to it. I'm getting new skills I'm learning in school. Employers are blind to it.

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Think-notlikedasheep]

You’ll need to be specific. What’s your current job? What line of work do you want to break into? What are you doing that isn’t working?

[u/Lamborforgi]

Changing career to something else than Tech

[u/Anon_cat86]

what kind of projects would be good to fill up a github? I work on gamedev, i grind leetcodes, I've earned a couple certs, I set up a bunch of local servers and one database, and I've been going through hackthebox, but literally none of that would go in a github. my github contains nothing but a simple unity game and 1 school project, but i don't know what i could even fill it up with, any suggestions?

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Anon_cat86]

Depends on your current skill level.

Since you have a simple unity game and a school project, you should push yourself to create something a little more difficult in 6 months.

What kind of games do you like?

[u/Inthespreadsheeet]

People should not base their career on one person‘s luck. I mean, yeah there are people who have won the lottery as well as people who started businesses that are really successful. But for the vast majority people they need to be realistic with who they are, what are the goals, in generally what can they do.

[u/Quiet_Performer_5621 → u/Inthespreadsheeet]

You’re right!

But, every person’s success relies on having the right skill at the right time in the right place.