My daughter is an MIT graduate and a junior software developer who’s currently unemployed. She has a solid academic foundation, but it’s been hard translating that into job offers in the current market.
I’m trying to understand what actually matters right now from a hiring perspective. Beyond brushing up on core CS, what specific skills should she focus on building? More importantly, what kinds of projects genuinely help at the junior level?
For example:
– Are end-to-end projects more valuable than algorithm-heavy ones?
– Are there particular domains where a well-executed project sends a strong signal?
From your experience as interviewers or hiring managers, what projects actually make you stop and say, “this person is ready”?
Even a fun COBOL program might make all the difference.
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