It's 2:36 a.m.🌠, Saturday's dawn is a few hours away. While reading docs on
Celery | Django, just saw a snap notification on my phone, reminding me of a snap-throwback of last year-same day. The snap was of my laptop, where around 11-13 tabs were open, some were React - Articles, some were of Leetcode and Codeforces problems, one was about how to build an ATS-friendly resume, and remaining Internshala and Linkedin Jobs. I took a moment --> embraced the beauty of that past M.O.M.E.N.T. ⌛ A FLASHBACK is being formed in my mind about how things were exactly 1 year ago.

Random thoughts 💭 were revolving around my head about placements, projects & internships. There was a sense of fear about how the Year 2021 will be. What turns it will take ...and so and so and so.

Now I think, I am not alone. It's not only me, who was/is in this situation, but almost all my college juniors are also in the same place, multiple tabs open, solving DSA problems👨🏻‍💻, making notes📋, watching project tutorials👨🏼‍🏫, sleepless nights🤯, questioning about how 2022 will be🤔, and aiming best to Ace🎯.

Having said that, here are my unsolicited mid-night thoughts and tips penned down📝, that I think will help you out to score a good internship/job offer.

In the first place, you all should have a Linkedin and Github account.

If you haven't --- STOP ❗️

...... Create the accounts right away 🚀

Done ✅

Kudos - let's connect then 🤝 Github , LinkedIn

Preparation Strategy 🎯

Let's break down this into different verticals.

V-1 => DSA and OOPS 👨🏻‍💻:

This is just like the bread of the cake or foundation of the building. Almost all interviews consist of at least one DSA based problem, which you need to code. Big companies and good Startups have a dedicated Interview round based on the DSA. So I am sure you guys aren't gonna miss this 😉

Those who are incognizant about where to start solving problems, you can kickstart here - Beginner Array Problems 🚀

Tip 💡: Remember I told you about GitHub, here is the scenario where it will shine ✨ Create a DSA repository on Github, and make a habit of solving at least 1 problem (though I would recommend solving a minimum of 5) a day and commit it to your repository. Here is how I did it My Dynamic Programming Journey 🚀

Other Important links where from where you can practice

V-2 => Projects ⚡:

This is the vertical I love the most 💖

In my opinion

I CAN'T EMPHASIZE MORE. JUST START BUILDING PROJECTS NOW. 🙏

Tip 💡: Create a team. A team that motivates you. A team that encourages you to do more. A team that understands you. Great Project requires a great team. Here is my team 💖 => Anushka Deshpande , Prajakta Mane & Akash Salvi Thank you guys for everything! 💫

Bootstrap your own projects, if you need ideas, here is the curated list of various project events and repositories, where you can hunt for project ideas.

Summer/Winter of Code 💥:

📌 dwoc.io/organisations
📌 sigmm.org/Resources/software/projects
📌 njackwinterofcode.github.io/projects.html
📌 slop.dscdaiict.in/projects
📌 winterofcode.com/#js-organisations
📌 opencodeiiita.github.io
📌 rada.re/gsoc/2020/ideas.html

Github Repos 👨🏻‍💻:

🌏 github.com/sqreen/awesome-nodejs-projects
🌏 github.com/Kushal997-das/Project-Guidance
🌏 github.com/karan/Projects
🌏 github.com/jslee02/awesome-project

V-3 => English Communication Skills 💭

This vertical is very crucial but often neglected. Though it's not like if you don't know English you can't score a job, but good communication skills make a huge-huge impact on the interviewer, s/he feels a sense of confidence in you, which is a great signal ⭐️

Ways to improve English - Books, English Newspaper, Movi.....Aaah! I'll leave this up to you.

V-4 => CN, OS, DBMS and other core subject 💻

Though not every interview has questions on core CS Subjects, still there are odds of getting questions around these topics, so better have a basic/intermediate understanding of these subjects, and how things work under the hood.

📌 For OS you can refer to - Gate Smashers Operating System
📌 For CN, refer - Gate Smashers Computer Networks
📌 For DBMS you can practice on - SQL - W3 School

Are you feeling sleepy? I am though it's 3:41 a.m. 😂 Let's sum up real quick 🚀

Climax 📸

🔥 Github Streaks >>> Snapchat Streaks. (Maintain your Github Profile 💯)
🧑‍💻 Be super active on LinkedIn, as you are on Instagram.
🗓 Forget Weekends. Weekends must be highly productive.
📄 Resume speaks. So no spelling errors, no false info. single page & ATS-friendly ✅
👬 Take mock interviews of friends a day before the actual one.
📩 Cold Emailing is a skill. Praful Mohanan is the Epitome! 🦄
🎯 Solve at least 500 problems. Arvind Patel solved 1000+ (650+ on Codeforces)
💭 Communication Skills. Practice them straight away. Makes a huge impact. 🌈
⚒ Projects are a must. If you skip it. You are on the losing edge. No alternatives. ❌
🧠 Hackathons (hirings) are an ocean of opportunity. Arvind Patel is the blue whale🐳
👬 Don't refrain to ask seniors. It's now or never.
❌ Rejections are a part of this process. Learn from them. Go ahead 🔥

And lastly - All the best guys 💖 . Really excited to see, what wonders you make and where your destinations are 🚀

Good Night! 🌙

Connect me - Dhruv Kothari

Unsolicited late-night thoughts 💭 : Placements 💼