Simple and Crisp :
If you want to land your first
job, what you need is 99% Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) and 1%
development. Now, you might think, "Oh, 1% development? I can do that
anytime." Yes, you're right. But that 1% means you should have just a couple
of solid projects. So how many projects do you need? Not 10, not 15, not
20—just 2. Both projects should be properly deployed, and at least one of them
should have its code available in a public GitHub repository.
Keep in mind that while
development only makes up 1% of what you need, that 1% must be of the highest
quality. What do I mean by this? Your code should be clean and well-organized.
Here is why :
Reason: When you submit
your resume, the first thing that happens is that a bot scans it for
eligibility. It checks for things like graduation year, GPA (if required by the
company), skills, experience, and projects. Based on these factors, your resume
gets a score (for example, out of 10). If your score passes a certain
threshold, your resume moves forward to the next round of screening. Companies
don’t want to waste computing power on all resumes, so in the first round, many
resumes are eliminated for reasons like not meeting the graduation or GPA
requirements. Also, don’t make your resume seem too good to be true. How can
you do that, just be real. About project section SHOW IMPACT. Google has even
said this: show the impact of your project. Describe what it does and express
the results in numbers, such as an X% increase in performance or a Y% profit.
This happens in the first phase.
In the second phase, the bot
looks for links. Here’s very very important tip: Never use URL
shorteners like Bitly or TinyURL in your resume. These bots scan for domains to
verify if your project is deployed or if your code is on GitHub. If you use
short links, the bot might not be able to scan them properly. If your project
is deployed and your code is clean, the bot will give your resume a higher
ranking. This is how you get your resume selected, and why that 1% of
development should be of the highest quality.
The other 99%? That’s DSA. DSA
will be the focus after your resume gets selected. The truth is, DSA will
always be important. So just dive into it and practice as much as you can.
Why do companies care so much
about DSA?
The fact is, DSA is hard. If you
can master DSA, companies know they can teach you development. They also know
that if you can do DSA, you can adapt to development work because you’ve
already proven you can handle difficult problems.
That’s it! Focus on 99% DSA, but don’t forget that the 1% development should be top-notch.