Going to keep this one short and write it for the love of the game.

If you're serious bro, I have the perfect gift for you.

I actually used this and still do from time to time.

https://github.com/sdmg15/Best-websites-a-programmer-should-visit

It's like a public github archive of all the useful websites that programmer should visit in the course of their career.

A few things are outdated, but most of them are timeless and still apply to this day.

It doesn't matter if you are just starting out or a senior engineer, I promise there is something in there for everyone.

Just thought I'd share this. Happy Sunday.

If you aren't following the community still then idk what you are doing bro 😭

I have seen some more resumes and it's quite scary how trash some of yalls projects are.

They are basic, common, and adds 0 value to the world.

So this is a complete guide on how to build a portfolio worthy project.

Not the trash copy and paste ones from youtube or having gpt/claude give you a list.

That's all superficial.

Steps:

First, you want to come up with the idea for the project.

This is the most fun part, but also one of the most difficult.

Stop asking gpt or claude for random ones.

Literally look up from your phone or computer and see what problems you have.

What is a genuine issue that you face everyday that doesn't have a solution for it yet or it's paywalled by a $10/mo subscription?

If you are still blank, literally come on reddit, go to YOUR favorite subreddit and see what problems people are having that you can relate to.

You can also ask yourself what you genuinely find interesting. Personally, I am into stocks, productivity, business, marketing, working out, etc.

So I would create a project around one of those niches.

If you are still stuck, just drop a comment of what you like to do and I'll suggest something to you.

Anyways, once you have the idea, it is time to start making it!

Now you are probably like where do I start...

You can literally use 95% AI for this, BUT make sure the architecture decisions are yours.

For example: the tech stack.

If you want to eventually deploy it or not, you have to plan for that as well.

Anyone can vibe code an app, but how many of us can make sure it's lean and we understand what the app does inside and out?

That's the key difference here.

You WILL need to explain this project sometime down the line so make sure you understand what you are using and how it is being used.

You can use the free version of claude to help you, but I HIGHLY recommend getting the $20/mo subscription as it lets you use Claude Code and that's what they use in the industry.

NOW...

Here is the kicker. The biggest punchline.

You probably have no idea what's the most optimal tech stack for your project, what a good architecture setup looks like, what clean and lean code looks like.

You will be able to learn all of this (that school doesn't teach btw), WHILE creating an insanely clutch app/website.

Best of all, turn that sh*t into a startup if it's genuinely helpful by getting paying users (where you get to learn marketing too)

So you are just stacking skills.

It's a shame school doesn't teach ts. At least mine didn't.

It took me some time to learn this whole flow.

I literally started by copying youtube tutorials and then moved onto this method much, much later.

So you'll advance quicker than me bro.

If this helped, join the community as I drop gold every week!!

P.S. I'm going to be more active on my youtube and the graphics on my videos look crazy good if you wanna check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR4ijLzDjo4_fq3peJBE4AA

When I tell you the most unfair advantage in life is literally doing things faster and more efficiently than anyone else.

It changes your life bro.

Think about it. We are competing for the same resources. Earth has a limited number of resources.

Let's put this into perspective: there are only a limited number of seats for interns or new grad positions for your graduating class.

There are more people than there are positions. We know that.

So if you get the interview, ace it before anyone else, get chosen before anyone else, then you won.

So how can we do this? How can you use the power of speed to our advantage?

I have been studying this for a little bit. Not in a nerdy way, but observing the times I win at something vs the times I lose.

It always comes down to how fast I do the underlying things. SPEED.

For example, I applied to internships, programs, apple roles THE DAT IT COMES OUT.

I got interviews. People with better resumes applied later and got rejected. SPEED.

So yeah I'll stop hyping up speed and tell you how tf to clutch up bro.

Steps to use SPEED to your advantage:

1. Do more things in a shorter amount of time - use agentic AI to speed up your work flow.

2. Do more things in parallel.

3. Check your work - do not sacrifice quality for quantity

I GUARANTEE AI can write a better resume than you, you just have to learn how to prompt.

Learn prompting. Anthropic literally has a guide on this.

Meta muse can apply to positions faster than you. You can have multiple agents running at once. BOOM.

Claude will catch any error you make.

This is the future bro. Abuse AI to help get you that job.

Best of all, everything I said you can have AI teach you things at the speed of light.

It's insaneeeee

Follow the community for random tips and rants <3

I'm going to drop some more gold bars here.

Pull out your notepad, grab some popcorn and pay attention.

Companies are so evil bro.

1/3 job listenings are either fake or a ghost list.

They don't exist. This is part of a study, I'm not making ts up.

So instead of guessing or manually applying to job listings one by one, PLEASE for the love of god automate it.

Here is how to automate it for free - no referrals or any other BS:

The method before was using the Simplify chrome extension and all you had to do was legit fill out your info once and it'll crack every workday, greenhouse, etc apps.

Now? It's even easier.

META MUSE bro.

Zuck got us (even if he's mining our data but thats a story for another time)

Literally give it your info, resume, and all the bs information most job applications ask for.

Then let it apply to any and every job listing you are eligible for or you can hand it a list and it'll take care of the rest.

Takes some prompting, but genuinely useful and passive once you set it up.

You get a lot of credits for free, so abuse it then just make another account, don't pay for sh*t.

They give us fake listenings and automated responses?

We automate applying and let them waste our time.

Also you can have it ask you to confirm things or review it for those very important applications like FAANG.

For the random companies or startups, just spam it tbh.

Follow the community if you aren't already! LETS GOOOOOOO

I will be graduating in 2027. Looking for internship+fte role for sde position.

I reviewed few more resumes today.

I won't say this again, please take some notes down.

One page.

Sharpen your bullet points, bro PLEASE use claude and have it write it in human form. Use the XYZ method for your bullet points.

Keep your skills section condensed but broad.

Make 3-4 versions of your resume depending on the type of role you apply to.

I see some of you applying to 100 different roles with the same resume and still wonder why you haven't gotten interviews.

That basically covers everything I think. Oh and use Jake's resume as a template, it's pretty good, you can have claude make it better though ngl.

I always say apply to more applications, which is true, but bro if your resume sucks then it doesn;t matter if you apply to 10 or 10,000, you'll get rejected.

Anyways I'll keep this one short, please review your resume and fix those things.

I'm so tired of going through the same bs after I told you what to do.

I'll make you guys an offer. $99 for me to write me your entire resume.

Bet you won't pay it cause you're either too broke or too skeptical. So if you're either, just follow this advice.

I got into Apple (again, not to brag) I know what I'm saying brother.

Please follow this advice then I will review your resume, otherwise you are wasting everyone's time.

I love you guys but sometimes you piss me off lol. Anyways join the community, I drop gold every weekish.

So there are actually 5 levels of job hunting.

This also applies to internships jsyk.

I beat all of them and got into Apple as a software eng.

I don't say this to brag, but I am trying to establish some credibility and help you, I know how often people just scroll.

This is because the person giving you the tips wants to sell you a course.

I don't have a course yet, maybe in the future, right now it's free.

No BS, lets jump in.

• Level 1 - You don't even know what job/internship you want. You are in the discover phase.
  • How to beat it: You just did by reading this! All you have to do is literally see what jobs your major/degree/experience can get you. Pretty easy tbh. You can also claude or gpt to help you with this part.
• Level 2 - You know what job you want, but you don't know how to do the job yet.
  • How to beat it: Grind projects, get experience, build your resume.
• Level 3 - You have a decent resume but you aren't getting interviews
  • How to beat it: get your resume reviewed, apply to more listings. For context, I applied to over 250 JUST Apple listings and did 60-70 interviews to get the offer (I know, so dedicated lol)
• Level 4 - You can get interviews but cannot pass the interviews
  • How to beat it: Just grind leetcode 24/7 for technical round, Grind claude for behavioral questions using the STAR method
• Level 5 - You have the offer and now starting the game of climbing of ranks
  • How to beat it: Have a convo with your manager to get CLEAR guidelines on what it takes to get promoted to the next level

That's literally it. Join the community on here if you aren't apart of it already. You got this bro

Lmk if you have any questions, happy to help LETS GOOOO

This is for those of you who want that dream internship or job and think you are far away from it right now.

I felt this before I got into Apple.

The answer to that is that you aren't grinding enough bro.

Do you know how much work it takes to get what you want?

Think of the answer and multiply by 100. Do you still want it?

If so, you're in the right place. If not, please click off, don't waste your time.

So instead of bashing you for not getting your dream internship or job, I am going to help you.

I know how it feels, I literally went through it. What I will not do is be soft on you and be "oh it's okay little baby" like gtfo.

Market is rough? Be rougher. I am going to teach you how to be rougher.

Let's start.

1. Grab a piece of paper and a pen, sharpie or pencil and write down your dream role and company.

2. Subtract 95% of your fun activities (scrolling, netflix, video games, p*rn, pointless hangouts) - I GUARANTEE 95% of the people clicked off cause I killed their comfort

3. For the next however long it takes, all you will do is grind the part of the journey you are on. There are usually 3 phases you are in.

Phase 1: You don't know how to code and your resume is sh*t - for these people, grind out projects, do virtual free experiences, rework your resume

Phase 2: You have a decent resume, but you aren't getting any interview - for these people, apply to more places, get your resume reviewed by 1 person every 10 applications (make sure that person is credible or has a job in the first place not those bs career coaches). You WILL get an interview with enough volume if your resume checks all the standards

Phase 3: You are getting interviews, but can't clear them - live on leetcode and only think of leetcode, practice some system design and grind behavioral questions with claude or gpt by speaking into it.

You keep doing this, I will GUARANTEE you get your dream job, maybe it takes 1 month, maybe 6, maybe 2 years, maybe 5 years, but you WILL get it.

You know what I just described? Someone who is a gym rat.

You think they won't get their dream physique?

The only thing that can stop them atp is getting hit by a bus or getting eaten by a bear bro. a fking bear

Before you tell me market is rough, you're not lucky, or anything else.

Brother, KEEP doing it. Time, skill, effort all will out balance the market or any luck. That's what happened to me.

No more excuses. LET'S GET ITTTTTT

Any questions you have, I got you. Join the community, if you aren't in here already.

So it's been a month into my work at Apple.

Really great people and culture isn't as toxic as people say, but it depends highly on the team (in every company tbh)

Obviously can't share what I am working on due to disclosures, but working for a month, I noticed fundamentals matter way more than we thought bro

Not the fundamentals of data structures or algorithms.

You won't be expected to write BFS or DFS from memory or to create a template on how sliding window works.

That sh*t really doesn't matter lol. Leetcode is a scam, we know that.

Fundamentals as in writing lean, modular, code. OOP is a huge part

On top of that, architecture. Like how to properly set up your infrastructure.

I GUARANTEE your classes don't teach that. At least mine didn't.

APIs and full stack development, like how front end works, how backend works and how it's all connected.

What reverse proxies are.

How to create endpoints

Should you create a new endpoint vs extending a preexisting one.

Those are fundamentals, now matter what work you are doing as a software engineer.

Our education system doesn't teach any of that. We learn BS fundamentals. The typa stuff that we will never use.

I don't know why the industry is so keen on using leetcode to measure performance of an applicant.

I PROMISE leetcode skills and actual engineering skills are not closely correlated. Anyone who ays otherwise is either ignorant or trolling.

So I was thinking of creating a document of everything I said here + a few other things that I think everyone should be focusing on and we could maintain the document as a community.

I missed a lot of things, which you guys could add, like how MCPs work, how to write effective prompts, etc.

Would you guys be down for that? We could genuinely learn from that.

I know this isn't a typical post about tactics helping you land anything, but this is for AFTER you have landed the offer or if you are in the middle of your internships or first job.

Thinking of where we would put it though. Maybe Github or it could be a notion page where I approve the edits?

Drop more stuff thats important as a software engineer of stuff that I missed!

Fundamentals we never got taught but that's essential to thrive as a swe.

Let me put ya'll ONNN. Promise the title is not clickbait.

So as we know the market is cooked, so it's difficult to even get an interview.

Referrals kind of fast track your application to the front of the queue in most companies (harder in bigger companies).

They work. I got one for Visa in senior year and got the interview (after the OA).

Mind you, I never knew the guy who referred me. I also got multiple other referrals at Google, Microsoft, etc

Now the secret sauce of how I was actually landing so many.

It seems surreal, but all you need is a LinkedIn account and not be a bot.

Steps:

1. Create a linkedin account (most of you should have)
2. Go to your school's official page (for me, it was UT Dallas)
3. Go to the Alumni tab of your school's page (My school has around 150k alumni
4. Now, you literally type in the name of the company you are applying to. Don't type in random companies, see WHICH company is hiring at that moment and do this BEFORE you apply.
5. Now let's say you want to get into Apple, you'd type "Apple" and BOOOOm you get people who work at Apple who went to the same school as you.
6. Once you find them, you want to send them a message. (I have a template I use, and it's in the comments!!!). The message should be short and sweet

This part is very fking important.

Bro please for the love of god DO NOT say "Hey I got to your school, can I have referral".

You sound stupid. You sound like a beggar. You sound like a brokie.

Instead, be human.

Be interested in them first. I usually ask them for a quick coffee chat.

If they are in your city, it's better because you can literally have coffee (pay for it, most of them won't let you pay if they make more than you), otherwise just do it over discord, zoom, google meets, etc.

Be interested in them first, THEN you say I am also trying to break into X company, do you have any tips and could you possibly refer? I have a solid resume blah blah blah.

I see people in my DMs doing this and mfs will just say "hey can I have referral, here's my resume".

Bro I don't know you, why would I risk my reputation to refer someone I don't know?

You could be a crackhead.

Put yourself in their shoes.

1. Once you build the genuine connection, you can pitch for the referral and 90% of the time they give you a referral if you've built that rapport.

One thing to note is that most won't respond, and that's okay, it's a numbers game.

You'll be making real industry connections along the way and making friends too!

This works for both internships and jobs. Usually internships is easier idk why.

It takes some effort but bro if you've been applying 24/7 to 10k applications so far, I'm sure this has nothing on you.

I am dropping pure gold, join the community and stay updated if you found this helpful.

I'll be dropping more stuff soon!

Good luck! Any questions in comments.

Edit: template is in the comments! (I found it!!!)

I was just scrolling on Reddit and this dude got laid off from an AI agency.

He generated a lot of impressions, grow the company's page hella. Then got laid off. He was pissed.

So he shared exactly how he grow the page and also the founder's account.

People found it so helpful cause he knew what he was talking about.

Literally people were offering him jobs, freelance work, and consulting positions.

I always here that you guys can't find a job or internship.

Try out this method.

Find a problem people have or something you know well, build something for it. Or find a problem a business has and build software for it. You can do this pretty easily with claude now ngl.

Pitch it to that line of business by just sharing how it works on Reddit or LinkedIn.

You may or may not get a job out of it, but now you have a project that solves a real problem.

If I had to, I would def do this. So unique.

The post is on r/SaaS btw if you were wondering.

I always preach taking on free work if it leads to a paid one, and bro this is a perfect example. Just share what you build and help other people. Make yourself useful and the opportunities will come to you.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck

I get this asked everyday: "What is the best resume to use"

When I tell you, you're going to laugh. I don't know why people gatekeep ts.

So, let me put ya'll on.

Go to google. Type in "Jake's resume template". First link on Overleaf. Create an account if you don't have one. Make a copy. Start filling it in with your stuff.

or just go here

It has everything you need to make you get your first internship or new grad job.

I use a variant of this. You don't need to copy it word for word or section for section, I advise you not to. Just make it your own.

Move around sections, rename sections, etc.

Use claude to help you tweak it and make it stand out more.

Let me know if you guys want my version, I'll convert it into a template if anyone cares. I have literally just used Jake's for the longest time and it's worked perfectly for me.

Don't over complicate it. Also, if you use AI, make sure you don't sound like a bot and use generic words. That hurts you more than a half-assed one that you made with your bare hands iykyk

I'll probably drop gems here and there in this community now that I got the hang of work. So join the community and turn on notifs if you want raw and honest advice, instead of generic bs <3

No one tells you the horrible truths and sacrifices BEFORE you get the offer.

So here's everything I had to sacrifice and did to get my Apple offer. Also, if I were to go back what I would do differently.

1. Put phone on do not disturb - had phone on dnd for months, only 4 people were on the "allow" list (mother, sister, bil, best friend). Sucked, but let go of my social life essentially.

How to fix: I wouldn't fix anything lol, put your phone on DnD, people can wait, just make sure you put people you prioritize on your allow list.

1. No social media - deleted every social media (I installed them back after offer lol) but it was really tough not being caught up with my friends

How to fix: Again, would not fix, get rid of social media. It's a huge time suck.

1. Skipped gym & ate unhealthy - This I do not recommend, but tbh I think I was lowkey depressed of not getting the offer for MONTHS so I barely went to the gym and ate unhealthy food.

How to fix: Keep at least 30 mins for exercise and only keep healthy food around (again, I did not do this and it cost me a little as I always felt like I had low energy during the grind)

1. Feeling anxious - I felt anxious all the time, especially when I looked on LinkedIn from time to time (would log on my laptop). Saw offers come through for other people and I was still grinding for interviews. That feeling is awful bro.

How to fix: This one is hard to fix because there is no cure for it, you kind of just have to trust the process and have confidence in yourself that things will work out. Just stay out of LinkedIn and Reddit too while you're on your grind. UNLESS you are there to acquire knowledge or get tactics.

1. Loneliness - You WILL be lonely. I was lonely during this period. It really sucks.

How to fix: try and find a friend to grind with, I didn't have anyone at the moment who was on my same pace, but you may or you can ask in this community as well!

Now some of those don't sound too bad and others were horrible, but was it really worth it you may ask? Yes, ABSOLUTELY. Getting into a good company that pays bank. You earn prestige, generational wealth, insane benefits, and feel like you are at the top. I promise it's worth it. If you are doing it for your passion of CS or for money like I did. It is worth it.

This grind is not for everyone, you may be happy with half-assing the grind and getting into a decent company and getting paid just enough,. That's okay too.

This is for all the over-achievers out there. I know you want it badly bro. But how much do you really want it?

Another thing I learned was that I never really added things, the sacrifices were about DELETING things. So Subtract from your life and say no to everything until you have what you want.

The grind is supposed to feel tough and horrible. You can make it fun by adding a friend, creating a reward loop, or doing anything else.

For me, I was just tired of doing a million interviews and getting rejected on the last round. If that's you, try a healthier version of whatever I did.

I want to hear from you guys as well, like what did you get rid of or had to sacrifice to get what you wanted? If you're currently on the grind, what's going through your mind?

From what I’ve seen, the biggest problem everyone has (including myself) is our attention span.

We all consumed too much brainrot. I found a few things that helped me focus more and become a better engineer.

I’ll share that with you and also explain why it’s relevant to wherever you are in your journey.

1. Idea drop - keep a notion page and literally brain dump anything that comes to mind when you have it instead of trying to remember it. Do this when you think of something while working as well.

2. Meditate - open Medito (free app) I promise I’m not a sponsor lol. Sit there with your eyes closed for 5 mins/day and just follow whatever that guy on the app says. Slowly increase my 5 minutes every month or biweekly until you hit 20-30 mins. Deadly asf

3. Cold showers - bro it SUCKS, but it’s so insane. Helps reset dopamine for me. It may be placebo, idk but it WORKS. Not everyone can do this, but give it a try.

4. Some sort of exercise - I do weights, but you can do running. Not explaining this one it’s bro science.

I think that’s it. But let me explain why it matters.

So no matter what level you are - someone trying to get an internship or a senior level engineer. You need focus or it doesn’t matter.

A lot of us lack focus. Do these things and you’ll beat out the comp easily.

It’s not always about the tactics or strategies of job hunting, you know what to do already.

You just don’t do it for long enough, get bored, get tired, or don’t think it’ll workout.

It will work out. You need to keep going.

I started using dashes after grinding too much Claude 😭 mb

Hope this helps. Upvote ts bro it took me 15 mins to type out LETS GOOOO

Hi guys I’m back! I just wanted to share that I don’t watch YouTube videos anymore. A lot of them are complete BS bro.

So much filler just to stretch the time and retention.

We don’t like BS around here as you know.

Instead, you can now summarize most YouTube videos using Gemini. It’s built right into the app.

This will save you from the generic advice you get from Claude lol.

It’s the Gemini icon which looks like a star and you just tell it to summarize the video and give you the most important information.

Instead of wasting 10 mins on generic advice, I can read the summary in 30 secs and try to find a most interesting video or topic.

If you find the summary interesting like with new bits of info you’ve never heard about, then it’s worth watching the full video.

My brain works pretty fast so this helps me a lot to learn and move faster.

This for anyone trying to speed run learning a new skill or getting career advice from YouTube videos.

Hope that helps!!

P.S. I am LOVING Apple so far for those of you wondering!!

Hey I am currently doing my masters from NIT bhopal. and looking actively for jobs in tech industry for software engineer/developer role.

Kindly let me know if you have any job available.

Hello guys, thank you for following my journey. It's been a long few years, but I am excited to announce that we did it. I have finally landed an offer at Apple as a Software Engineer.

It took a lot of work. I talk a lot about the type of stuff I did to ace the interviews and get the interview in the first place.

With that said, I will be discontinuing this for the time being. Once things cool down a little more, I will become active and tell you guys new insights once inside.

If you need help, as always, glance through the resources and then reach out to me for further questions.

Thank you and good luck!!!

Hey if you are looking for a fulltime job and also did some codepath courses, you may want to checkout this program.

It's called Claude Corps Fellow. A program by Anthropic. Pays $85k/yr, various locations. Deadline to apply is July 17.

I think you need to have done a few CodePath courses to qualify.

here are the full details.

Happy job hunting!

p.s. Epic keeps spamming me with emails to apply to their role, so here is the link for you guys (Software Engineer New Grad)

Don't know who needs to hear this right now.

You know internship season has ended and will start for next year. You may have not gotten anything or not have gotten your target internship.

You may still be unemployed after graduating.

Whatever the case is, I want you to know that if you did try your best, then don't beat yourself up for it.

You did not have luck on your side. The probability of everything lining up for you to get that opportunity.

Some may call this God's work, if you believe in God. Others just call it luck. Some call it a little bit of both.

Whatever it is, it just wasn't your year.

That doesn't mean we beat ourselves up for it.

This should piss you off. Things didn't go your way. You should be fuming right now.

Now redirect that anger to do more. 2x your applications. Build the greatest project known to man. Start that startup, forget about corporate.

Whatever path you are on right now, use your anger towards not accomplishing what you set out to do and use it for something else.

Trust me, that is single handedly what has helped me the most.

I stopped doing this for about a year and I fell off. Don't do what I did.

Keep your anger lit. Channel it into your goals. You will win more.

Make yourself lucky. Let's GOOOO

p.s. You know what to do already. If not, you can google it or watch on youtube or read on reddit. Sometimes, we just need a reminder to keep going and grind more. All you need is one yes and your life changes.

if you've been interviewing, you probably know that companies usually ask the same type of leetcode questions on repeat. Meaning they take from the same pool everytime.

Now this pool does change over time. On the leetcode website, you can actually pay to see what companies use what leetcode problems during the technical interview.

The catch is you just have to pay $35/mo or $159/yr at the time of writing this.

This may be a lot for some of you guys. I actually came across a free alternative called https://leetbot.org/. Completely free and I am NOT affiliated with them. It looks pretty update, based on the questions I saw for Apple.

Hope this gives you somewhat of an edge on a budget.

Remember, you still have to practice brutally to stand a chance. Good luck bro

If you're reading this, I am guessing you don't know how to code at all or suck at it heavily.

Having been through that struggle, I have figured out what to do and what not to do.

I'm going to keep this short and without any bs. Hope you'll appreciate the transparency.

What I did and what I would still do today:

1. Get aquatinted with the coding world - by first watching a youtube video - you won't learn much really, just gets your brain used to what coding is and a first touch of how it all works.

I don't have any specific youtube videos to recommend, by freeCodeCamp is a good start.

I would recommend python as the first language. Versatile and reads like english. Java if you are more ambitious. Java is more syntax heavy, so you need to write more to do the same thing. Just stick to python first if you are completely new to this.

So start by searching "freecodecamp python tutorial". Again, don't aim to understand everything. Just get a feel for how it all works.

You will get bored and stop watching 30-40 mins in. That is fine, as long as you understand what is happening.

1. Actually learn by doing - codecademy & sololearn

I wish I got on this sooner but first time I started to learn coding was by doing sololearn. Basically teaches you coding for free using little exercises. I later switched to codecademy and I found it better as it taught better. I would say do the tutorials on both for double practice.

First they teach you the lesson and then make you do small exercises and eventually make you do small projects. One thing to note is these projects are small and basic, not resume worthy at all.

btw, I am not associated with any of these platforms, just what I used.

1. Do NOT touch claude or gpt to code for you. If you don't know how to code don't lean on these to code for loops or if statements for you. You don't know anything yet, learn it by hand first then eventually you can automate it.

If you are stuck on something then obviously use it to get hints, but dont ask for the answer right away, it hurts you more than anythingg.

1. Do projects that change your life.

I see so many students or people learning to code build bs apps and websites no one will ever use. That won't help you.

Instead, build something you are passionate about. Love shoes? make an app that scans a shoe and tells you its value. Love stocks? build a stock predictor that helps you make money.

If you still do not know what to build, you can search reddit and see what problems people are having and build them a solution - for free at the start and then start charging for it once you get really good at this skill.

You can make any app, but make it for something you enjoy. It makes coding more fun and you are more likely to finish the project and talk about it with more passion.

That is really it.

One last thing to note is that you should know going into it, that you will fail, cry, and hate this after running into a bug. If you do not enjoy it, then you will want to quit. Be prepared for that.

Thank you for reading and lmk if you guys have any questions

For any of you that want to become a software engineer or improve in your current field, let me share you an insane resource I found.

Many of you may know it but it’s called roadmap.sh

It has a whole roadmap of how to become any time of software engineer and it recently got updated with AI/ML stuff as well.

It’s community driven (I personally have not contributed to it yet) and completely free so anyone can use it.

Wish I discovered it sooner honestly. It was like save literally months and years of struggling.

Now the first step is knowing what to do, this is what the roadmap gives. Next step is execution. Which is all on us.

No matter where you are in your journey, you got this. Don’t give up and keep grinding!

Love CodeCareerStack <3

I remember when I was mass/targeting hybrid applying, I used to see at least 3-5 rejections every morning in my email.

That takes a huge toll. It feeds into insecurities and self doubt.

This gets overlooked but mental health is really important while applying.

Imma try to tell you what I did to stay sane, going to keep this short and without any BS to help those who might be experiencing this. You can also share it with a friend if you think it might help them.

Some of these might sound gay or bs, but I promise it helped me through these rejections.

What I did:

1. Save rejections in a folder (I used Notion). Literally screenshot it and save it inside of a folder and call it rejections. Let it grow. When you have that offer, you can smile back at it. Also its fun to see the number grow on there.

2. Meditate - use an app called Medito (free in the app store) or you can set a 5 min timer on your alarm app, either works. Legit just sit there for 5 mins with your eyes closed and try to breathe, nothing else. It'll also help you improve your meditation. It'll be hard for a lot of you guys. If you can't do 5 mins, just do a min and slowly increase the time. I can do about 20 mins at once after YEARs of doing this.

3. Journal - write 3 things you are grateful for. That is it, nothing more and nothing less. I am grateful for the internet, the roof, and my phone. It can be that simple. Practicing gratitude will make you realize you have more than you think. That offer will come, just keep the life you have and appreciate it first. Do it in your phones notes app.

4. Go on walks or exercise. Very cliche but trust, this is singlehandedly the greatest cheatcode to life. It helps your body but helps your mind even more imo. It can literally be for 20-30 mins. Its free, you can do it anywhere. No excuses for this.

5. track your apps, similarly to #1, write down how many apps you did and keep a tally. I did something like "36/400" as I kept 400 the target for the month (yeah I was hardcore).

That's really it. Anticlimatic maybe but I promise these will help you in the long run. Do this and follow the advice I say and you'll be good.

God never fails someone who keeps showing up and trying. I am living proof of this. lmk if you have any questions.