Switching software areas last minute

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I graduate in a semester and my software technical areas during school were in the firmware/embedded area. I’ve had multiple internships at good hardware companies, but after these internships, I don’t think I enjoy this area of software, partly because I now find front-end application software (what Google, Facebook, MS, etc. does) more appealing and the people working in firmware/BIOS seem to be older.</p>

<p>I feel like I’m at a disadvantage getting jobs at companies like Google, FB, etc. because I don’t have much experience with coding as CS students. Anyone have similar experience or tips to get into big software companies?</p>

<p>Also, what type of software engineers do financial/gas companies look for? I’m assuming similar to the ones the big software companies look for…</p>

2

<p>If you have a portfolio of side projects on GitHub to show off, you’ll be in a much better position than most people. So establish one. Also be prepared for algorithmic coding interviews (a la “Cracking the Coding Interview” and the like).</p>

3

<p>agree with above, building your portfolio is the way to go.</p>

<p>Almost all software interviews consists of tests (but most of them are very simple ones)</p>