My path to get a SWE job at JPMorgan

Hi Everyone !

"A lot of you have been asking me...…"

Nope, no-one asked me on LinkedIn but still I would like to help my friends who are just starting college or are in 1st/2nd year and want to learn practical skills apart from just plain Competitive Coding Culture which is getting common due to a large number of YouTubers terming it as the only way to get into big MNCs, This is also for any person who wants to learn the same skills as me.

I got placed through a very different hiring process which needed good Software Development skills along with Data Structures and Algorithms ( For initial round ) rather than rote algorithmic problem solving. JPMorgan conducted a hackathon for which around 400 candidates were shortlisted across the country, via initial rounds which had Data Structures and Algorithms, Hirevue video interviews, College grades etc. But the real hiring happened in the hackathon, where me and my team won first price. Enough of this intro, lets get straight to resources. Links to all these resources is at the end of this post.

First Year

1) The first step I took was to read a book : Head First Programming by David Griffiths, Paul Barry, It was an introduction to problem solving using programming in Python. You get to learn alot of CS fundamentals and the book is written in a very interesting way with tons of funny illustrations as well. A must read for people who are just starting their programming journey.

Then I completed a Harvard CS50, "Intro to CS" playlist on YT by David J. Malan ( The best CS teacher on this planet ) David sir explained very important concepts in an engaging and lucid manner and the delivery was super crisp and accurate. Overall, a very good lecture series.

2) Next I completed C++ programming playlist by Bucky Roberts on thenewboston YouTube channel, to get a good grasp on C++. Learning C/C++ as your initial language helps in learning other languages easily.

Bucky is a great instructor and his style is "No Nonsense, Pure Content". Learning C++ didn't just mean watching his videos, I also completed alot of online challenges on various platforms. A huge set of programming questions is on https://edabit.com/challenges/cpp

3) Now in my first summer, I took Colt Steele 's Full Stack Developer Bootcamp on Udemy to learn HTML, Css, Js from scratch to an pre-intermediate level. It was an amazing course 10/10 recommended, It helped me in landing a small freelance internship as well, along with marking the start of my projects portfolio.

Second Year

4) For Intermediate-Advanced level Python, I read Data Structures and Algorithms in Python by Michael T Goodrich and then Hands-On Software Engineering with Python by Brian Allbee, This was one of the best books I ever read for software development.

The latter book increased my knowledge of Software Design, Best practices and taught me how to write scalable and distributable code.

5) Now in my next summer, I wanted to learn MERN stack. I took Node with React course by Stephen Grider to learn Node.Js along with Express and MongoDB. This was a very good course which enabled me to learn a lot more about JavaScript web development best practices in general.

I also took The Complete Junior to Senior Web Developer course by Andrei Neagoie to level up my skills. Andrei being an excellent instructor also teaches us How to learn stuff. Watching his courses helps in developing a love for the content, while providing industry ready skills at the same time.

I improved in by watching Ben Awad and freeCodeCamp on YouTube. Freecodecamp on YT is a heaven for developers a huge thanks to Quincy Larson.

Third Year

6) During all this, I also got interested in Machine Learning and Data Science, I took the Andrew Ng ML course and Deep Learning Specialization on Courseera. After that I just started making projects and learning new things on the fly.

7) After all this ( which took 3-3.5 years ) I reached a stage when I could pick up new skills just by reading documentations and blogposts, So I picked up skills like AWS basics, and a bit of DevOps by reading docs.

Fourth Year (7th Semester)

8) For Coding Interview preparation, I took a course for Data Structures and Algorithms by Coding Ninjas India ( It is in Hindi + English ), Algorithms by Abdul Bari playlist on YouTube, and Solved problems on HackerRank and GeeksforGeeks.

Apart from just doing these courses, I also studied courses like Operating Systems, Database Management Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Linear Algebra, Statistics, Computer Architecture etc in my University. These courses are not absolute essentials for getting a job and in alot of cases, you may not need knowledge gained from them, But it is always advisable to learn them when you have an option to, make use of your time in University rather than just playing video games.

Remember, After every course I took, I used to try making a small project with the knowledge gained through it by myself in some hackathon or just in some free time. This habit is extremely important as when you watch a tutorial, you might feel that you have grasped alot from it. But when you enter the muddy waters, you realize how much you could actually grip on to. This will help you in analyzing the flaws and rewatch the video/read a blog post to get that grip for eternity.

You can ask any question to me on LinkedIn via direct messages, and I would be happy to help.

Links to resources mentioned above :

• Head First Programming Book : https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/head-first-programming/9780596806682/
• CS50 : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhQjrBD2T381L3iZyDTxRwOBuUt6m1FnW
• C++ Programming Playlist : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAE85DE8440AA6B83
• Web Developer Bootcamp by Colt Steele : https://www.udemy.com/share/101W9CBUMacl1TQHg=/
• Data Structures and Algorithms in Python : https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/data-structures-and/9781118290279/
• Hands on Software Engineering with Python : https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/hands-on-software-engineering/9781788622011/
• MERN full stack web course by Stephen Grider : https://www.udemy.com/share/101WPmBUMacl1TQHg=/
• Junior to Senior Developer Course by Andrei : https://www.udemy.com/share/1013iuBUMacl1TQHg=/
• ML Course by Andrew NG : https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning
• Deep Learning Specialisation : https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-learning
• Coding Ninjas Course on DS and Algo : https://www.codingninjas.com/courses/onlline-c-plus-plus-course
• Abdul Bari Algorithms playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDN4rrl48XKpZkf03iYFl-O29szjTrs_O