A 22 Year Old College Graduate Landed a Job with a Top-Tier Startup Here in Austin - Here's How He Did It

As I'm sure everyone can agree, we need some positive stories and happy endings in these current labor markets. This is the story of a 22 year old recent college graduate who presented himself in such positive light that it resulted in securing a strong offer with an elite startup here in Austin.? Let's call him Michael.?

Computer Engineering graduate in May of 2024 and was very active in his job search. While the labor markets are better than they were one year ago, opportunities for recent graduates and junior software engineers can still be very challenging to find.? Michael possesses a very healthy and positive energy about him and despite knowing what he was up against, he was making it very clear to those he met that he was ready to pour his heart into his first job out of college and give it everything he had. As good fortune would have it, I happened to have a client that was looking for a junior full stack developer and Michael was super excited for me to submit his resume. This startup is a really special company here in Austin and their founder is an incredible entrepreneur.? I emailed Michael's resume to him with these words,?

Hey ****! So yes, he's a recent college grad but he's been coding since he was a Freshman and the tech stacks he has worked on align quite nicely with the job description. But even more important than that, I love this young man's energy and even though he is a recent grad, I am willing to put my reputation on the line that Michael, with his special combination of work ethic and engineering talents, he is up and running inside a month!

It was very clear in my words that I was pounding the table for my client to speak with Michael. I wanted to give this young man a shot at securing an incredible opportunity coming right out of college. After reviewing his resume, my client asked me to get availability for an introductory call with their VP of Engineering.? I was beyond elated to secure this interview for Michael but make no mistake, I knew we had a lot of work to do in order to move to the next round in the process.? Two days before the interview, Michael and I had a 15 minute.prep call in order to discuss a strategy where he could leave the most positive impression possible. Upon settling into our call, I told him there were three items that he could make abundantly clear in the conversation with the VP and if done so, I was 99% certain they would move him forward in the process.? And here they are,?

1. Strong interest in the company space -

This is quite simple and obvious but I asked Michael to do some research on this company (a climate tech startup) and in his conversation with the VP, he can express how interested and passionate he is about Climate Technology.? In addition to this passion, can he speak specifically as to what this company was doing and how that resonated with him?? When we express interest in a particular industry or company, the validation of our words really does come down to the details that we speak of.? Everyone these days will hop on a call and tell the hiring manager, "Oh, I just love Climate Tech and the space means so much to me!". That's nice and all but how do you back those words up? How do you validate that statement? You do so with details and information that show you've done your research and it's a subject matter that you are truly curious about. Michael agreed 100% with me and mentioned that he had already spent an entire afternoon reading up on the company's mission and the particular area of Climate Tech they were involved in. I thanked him greatly for this and knew we were good to go on this item.?

2. Excellent problem solving abilities -?

Even though Michael's tech stack experience aligned with my client, I spoke about a unique angle he could take once the conversation turned technical. In this first interview, could Michael convey to the VP that he possessed very talented problem solving skills? That for him, it was all about breaking a problem down and finding the most efficient solution? Make no mistake, Michael had to show strong programming abilities in Typescript but I just didn't want all of the focus on a particular answer to a problem. I wanted to use this conversation as an opportunity to speak to his foundational qualities.??

For a technical assessment, rightly so, the majority of focus is on finding the right answer. While I will never dispute that principle, since Michael was a recent graduate, I was more focused on the projection of his fundamentals and his software engineering foundation. In conversations I have had with developers through the years, I have heard them tell me that a lot of times it is not so much about the solution but rather, the approach to solving the problem and the path that is taken to that answer. How do you break that problem down? How efficient is your solution? In my conversation with Michael, I asked him to communicate such qualities to the VP and that projecting himself in this manner would shine a nice light on him.?

3. Willingness to do anything put on his table -?

This third item was the most important one that I wanted to speak with Michael about. And similar to the first two points, my focus was on conveying this quality rather than coming right out and saying it. Could he give the impression to this VP that if they were to hire him, they would be bringing on a software engineer that was 100% ready and willing to dive into anything asked of him. And I said to Michael that when he communicated these words, he could portray a very valuable human quality that doesn't get discussed much in our society. I'm talking about the dynamic of trusting another person to the point that you could be taken advantage of.??

Now, I cracked a joke with Michael in saying that should he join this company and be put on third shift (Midnight to 8am) Customer Support, he would need to push back and let the company know that this is something he cannot accommodate. We both had a quick chuckle but I made it clear anything short of that, heck, bring it on!? I'm sure we've all experienced that very uncomfortable situation of having out trust violated by another party and those moments can definitely sting. That said, for my community of younger software engineers, expressing this kind of sentiment to your hiring manager can put you in a very good light and make you stand out from everybody else.?

At the end of the call, Michael thanked me for the insights and his first call with the VP was a slam dunk success. The next step was a Systems Design assessment and Michael stepped up and delivered very nicely on this as well. From there, he proceeded to the final onsite with this startup and upon meeting everyone in person, Michael very nicely confirmed all of his personal qualities with the entire team and two days later, they made him an offer. After sleeping on the numbers, Michael woke up and accepted. In closing, let's revisit the variables that resulted in an entry level Computer Engineering graduate securing an offer from a top tier startup here in Austin. Here is everything that Michael so very nicely put on display for this company,?

1. He was very passionate about the space this company was in and made it very clear that he would love to be a contributing member to this movement.?
2. His foundational problem solving skills are very impressive and his #1 focus is always on finding the most efficient and effective "path" to the problem.?
3. When it comes to leadership, he gives 100% of himself to his manager and without question, does everything asked of him. Put anything on Michael's plate and without question, it's guaranteed that he will dig in and get the job done.??

If you are a software engineer under 25 years old and early in your career, should the opportunity present itself for you to express these kind of human qualities like Michael did, please step up and do so. Make no mistake, you will definitely have to shine on the technical assessment but as picky as companies are being these days, they are looking far beyond mere engineering aptitude. You are truly passionate about the space the company is in, you love to dig in and solve hard problems and you have the kind of personality that no matter what your Engineering Manager asks you to do, you will step up and happily do it.?

And who knows, if you're one of 40-50 applicants for one job opening, maybe this approach will be enough to put you at the top of the mountain?? It was realized for Michael, a 22 year old Computer Engineering graduate and I could not be happier for him.?

Thanks,?

Mark Cunningham

Technical Recruiter

512-699-5719

[email protected]

https://thebiddingnetwork.com

https://markcunningham91.blogspot.com

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/markhc