My LinkedIn Hiring Process: A Retrospective and Advice

A couple of days ago I announced that I had locked[in] and that I had accepted an offer from LinkedIn to be one of their Summer 2025 Software Engineering Interns, a thought that still feels unreal. What was more surprising, however, was the shocking response I received following the post. Before sending it out into the world, my best posts probably had about one or two thousand impressions and received around 50 likes, but my offer announcement sharply rose to be my biggest post ever on LinkedIn, gaining over 45 thousand impressions and over 600 likes at the time I'm writing this. I received numerous connection requests, comments, and messages congratulating me, and many more asking for advice, and as I answered them, I realized that there's a lot about the software engineering internship hiring process that's unknown (although I know now that the full title is a mouthful).

There's a lot to cover and a lot that I would love to have known when I first walked into my freshman dorm two years ago, so there might be a lot in this article, and admittedly I'm not 100% sure how helpful it will be since this is my first time writing a public article. Plus, it almost certainly won't be a universally applicable guide. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunities and background I have and the fact that I'm able to attend college, let alone a college like 美国西北大学 . However, I will try my best to provide as much advice as possible to as broad of an audience as possible, and I hope that everyone can at least leave this article with at least one piece of knowledge they didn't know beforehand. Regardless, here's the journey I took to get an offer from LinkedIn, advice from it that I wish that I had earlier, and a massive thank you to everyone for their positivity in my last post.

How I locked[in]

There are a lot of places I could start, but I think that the best place is when I first interacted with LinkedIn beyond the service, as a part of Management Leadership for Tomorrow 's Tech Trek. The program was a multi-day event where the organization flew out members in the Tech cohort of its Career Prep program to California to meet with companies. The experience was amazing and there's a lot I can talk about, but the main thing here is that it was when I joined LinkedIn's Talent Community, as LinkedIn is one of Management Leadership for Tomorrow's partners. If I had to guess, joining their talent community early and Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) were the first major steps towards securing an internship at LinkedIn.

After a couple of months, I received a message on LinkedIn from my recruiter Jaime Webb , which informed me that LinkedIn's Summer 2025 Software Engineering Internship application had opened. I finished applying for the position later that day and promptly notified her. A couple of days later, she replied and provided me with a HackerRank assessment, which was surprisingly the hardest part of the process, although that might be because I was less prepared compared to the interviews later down the road. It contained a combination of coding questions that were probably around a Leetcode medium, and none of the concepts were more difficult than graphs or trees. Thankfully, I was able to pass my tests just before the time ran out, and after updating my recruiter, she reviewed it and told me I was moving on to the recruiter call.

While I was a lot more experienced with interviews by this point, the fact that I had passed the assessment (which has always been a massive hurdle for me) combined with the fact that LinkedIn was a top company for me didn't just raise the stakes; it caused them to skyrocket. I remember spending days reviewing the material my recruiter gave me about LinkedIn, going down rabbit holes, and diving deep into LinkedIn's websites to learn more about their culture and values. With all this information, I reflected on my experiences and values, searching for what I truly wanted in an employer, in an internship, in a career. Once I was satisfied with my answer, I compared what I wanted in a company with what LinkedIn values and noted what we had in common and how I could show that through my experiences. Going deeper, I realized that the two biggest things I care about when I apply to a company are the potential impact I can have while employed and the work-life balance I can maintain, which matches perfectly with LinkedIn's culture; as they put it, they "dream big, get things done, and know how to have fun" (LinkedIn Culture and Values ). I also noted questions I had about LinkedIn and the internship program through my research, wondering how values were expressed and curious about the events interns have to grow. With these in mind, the recruiter call was a cakewalk, although I think that might be because it was surprisingly relaxed; my recruiter made the call feel like a normal conversation and not like an interview as I had anticipated. She asked some clarifying questions; I asked a couple of the questions I had, and I quickly heard back from her telling me that I had made it to the final round.

Remember when I said that the stakes had skyrocketed? Well, now they had left the Solar System. I had scheduled my interview to be as soon as possible and had a couple of weeks to prepare. My recruiter had graciously provided me with tons of information about LinkedIn and the final round, and chief among them was a PDF containing information on what could be asked, as well as Zoom recordings from the summer that provided advice about the interview. Wanting to pace myself, I blocked time in my schedule for each day until the interview to go over the material I received, brainstorm questions to ask, review the Neetcode 150 , find any technical questions LinkedIn frequently asked, and reflect on my past experiences so that I would be ready for any behavioral question they could throw at me. When the day finally arrived, I was nervous and spent the entire morning before my interview reviewing the information I had gathered. When the time came, I hopped onto the Teams meeting, hoping I would pass.

Thankfully, both interviews in the final round went pretty smoothly. I had a behavioral interview to start, and I felt like I had answered everything to the best of my ability, with all of the questions I had asked being appropriate for my interviewer, although it did eat into the time of my technical interview. Having said that, I was quite surprised with how easy the interview questions were, being assigned two questions by my two interviewers, with each one being as difficult as a Leetcode easy or medium, and covering topics that were probably not more difficult or complex than trees. While I wasn't able to solve the second question optimally, I had programmed working solutions by the end of the time, and after asking a couple of questions, my interview was over. I sat in my chair for a bit, and after thinking about the questions I was asked for a couple of minutes, I realized the optimal solution to the second question and quickly sent an email to my recruiter to relay to my interviewers. As soon as I hit send, I realized it was over and that I couldn't do much more. At the same time, though, I was filled with energy, my heart and mind racing like a racer who had just experienced their first runner's high. I had never felt better than that moment, knowing I couldn't do much better than what I had just accomplished. A couple of days later I got a call from my recruiter, and any remaining dread that I might be rejected was extinguished with a trifecta of joy, excitement, and euphoria. I had gotten an offer.

In total, I had sent out 90 applications before I pulled the golden ticket, and I sent out another 70 more before I locked[in]. The process was arduous, but in the end, it was worth it. Now, as I'm writing this and reflecting on my experiences, several key things stick out to me, which I think (but am not certain) helped contribute to my offer, which I believe everyone interested in an internship at a company like LinkedIn should know.

What everyone seeking an internship in tech should know

1. Take advantage of every opportunity you can...

...and when I say every opportunity, I mean every opportunity. Admittedly, this might be easier in college, but there are dozens of experiences you can pursue before and while you apply for internships, and each one can provide experiences that you can reference at every stage of the hiring process. Personal projects and classes can help you learn how to code. Research and teaching opportunities can be great resume entries that show your experiences and are great things to reference during interviews. Clubs can provide a bit of both. It varies from person to person and from situation to situation, but the key is to make the most of what you have. This advice goes beyond the resume, as any opportunity can be recalled during an interview, and if you can contact your recruiter or another person involved in your hiring process, every opportunity to ask a question, follow up after an interview, clarify something (as I did in my final round), or show appreciation to them is another point towards your initiative and interest in the company and role.

2. Your network is your net worth

Admittedly, I didn't come up with the line above (I think I heard it from a member of MLT), but it is true. Try to find opportunities wherever you can to network. Go to events at your school, attend career fairs, find conferences, and meet people everywhere in between to increase the chance that you'll find someone who can offer you advice on how to get to your dream job, or even better, give you a referral. This is where I think the organizations I joined shined the most. When I joined SHPE Northwestern University , I was paired with a mentor, who first introduced me to all these new resources and eventually MLT's programs, which led me to network with many more companies and programs, such as ColorStack at Northwestern and CodePath , which grew my network and skills exponentially. Without these organizations, I certainly wouldn't have been able to join the talent networks I did, and I probably wouldn't have received an offer from LinkedIn.

3. Research, Refine, and repeat

This is probably one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give just about anyone, as it applies to the entire hiring process of just about every company. Always make sure to research the companies and the roles that you're applying to. You should know what they do, what you'll be doing if you go and work there, what they want in an applicant, what they value, and what each step in the hiring process entails if you can find it. Make sure to highlight position requirements and recommendations in your resume (if you need a template to make your resume, I highly recommend Jake's Resume ). Reflect on your experiences and what you want in a job and company, and relate them to company values and the position's activities. Whenever you are asked a question in a behavioral interview, make sure to follow the STAR method (state the situation, tell them the task, assert the actions you took to accomplish it, and recall the results of your actions). Practice coding questions based on the companies you're applying for using tools like Leetcode and the Neetcode 150, and if it's tested, practice system design with tools like donnemartin's System Design Primer . For technical interviews asking about your experiences, make sure to review your resume and understand what skills and tools you used in experiences and projects and why. It might sound like a lot but being able to practice (especially if you can practice like it's the real thing), evaluate how you did, and then practice again with your mistakes in mind is, from my experience and the experience of others, the best way to ace interviews.

4. Apply early and often

Admittedly, this is advice more beneficial for people who have more time before they apply for summer internships, but it is crucial to apply to positions as soon as they open, so make sure your resume is always up to date and that you're constantly looking at resources like Curve & Ouckah's Internship List (Summer 2025 linked here ), Pitt CSC & Simplify's Internship List (Summer 2025 linked here ), and LinkedIn accounts that announce when internships, new grad roles, and other positions are open. If you're really interested in a company, make sure to go to their site and sign up for any talent community list or anything similar, which will ensure that they have your information on file. Generally, most positions open around August and September, and most hiring occurs into October and November, but some applications open as early as May or June, while other positions can be open way later and even into the year of the internship. By applying early, you'll be compared to fewer applicants, meaning that fewer slots will have filled up and recruiters will have more time with your application, making it more like you'll get an offer or at least hear back from someone.

5. Never give up

When I say never, I truly mean never; even if you're hundreds of applications in, don't give up. I've heard of people receiving offers as late as spring, so don't think that you won't get one now that it's October. Continue to push forward and apply everywhere: the tech industry, finance, local companies, research schools, national labs, and everything in between. Revamp your resume; update your LinkedIn to include every experience and accomplishment you've had, including the ones on your resume and the ones that aren't on it. Update your elevator pitch for when you introduce yourself to employees and recruiters so that you can quickly and succinctly explain who you are, what you've done, and what you want to do (if you're a student, make sure to explain your name, graduation year, school, and major as well). Continue practicing for interviews, continue meeting new people, continue having new experiences, and continue growing as a person. Breaking into the tech industry certainly isn't as easy as it was a couple of years ago, but if you continue digging, you'll eventually strike gold.