Hi Everyone,
I’m a 4th-year CS student at a university in Ontario (not Waterloo or UofT), and I’d appreciate some advice on how to improve my chances of landing a role in FAANG/big tech after I graduate. Here’s my situation:
Background: I’m now set to graduate in May 2026 after recently accepting a 12-month DevOps internship (Jan 2025–Dec 2025). Up until now, I’ve only had one other internship as a Salesforce engineer (this past summer), where I worked on a small serverless project with Terraform, Azure, and Python. That amounted to 2–3 months of programming, and outside of that, I didn’t get much exposure to SWE-related work.
Challenges:
– My new grad recruiting experience so far hasn’t gone well. I interviewed for a return offer at my first internship but was rejected.
– I’ve only had two interviews for backend intern roles in November (both at the same company), but I didn’t land those either.
– I started Leetcoding more seriously this semester (to prep for those two interviews in November) and have worked through about half of the Blind 75. However, I know I still have a lot of ground to cover.
Current Opportunity: I recently got this DevOps internship (also at the company I got rejected from for the two backend intern roles) and accepted it because I really wanted the experience. The pay is about average for what you’d expect for an internship in Ontario I think (about $25–$30/hr CAD). I’m viewing this as an opportunity to boost my resume, but I feel like I need to make the most out of it (but idk how). I’m also participating in PwC’s Jump Start Your Career program, where I’ll complete my AWS Cloud Practitioner exam this week and aim to finish the Solutions Architect Associate by the end of April. While I know these certifications are more IT-focused, I felt they wouldn’t hurt to have.
My question: How can I leverage this DevOps internship to land a big tech role after I graduate? I know I need to keep grinding Leetcode to pass interviews, but I’m worried about making it past resume screeners. What else can I do during this internship to strengthen my application and stand out to recruiters?
TLDR: 4th-year CS student graduating in May 2026 due to taking a 12-month DevOps internship. I only have one prior internship (Salesforce engineer) and limited SWE experience. New Grad Recruiting has been tough, but I want to use this internship to strengthen my resume and eventually land a role in FAANG/big tech. Any advice on what I should focus on during this time?
submitted by /u/AggressiveDelivery89
[link] [comments]
r/cscareerquestions Hi Everyone, I’m a 4th-year CS student at a university in Ontario (not Waterloo or UofT), and I’d appreciate some advice on how to improve my chances of landing a role in FAANG/big tech after I graduate. Here’s my situation: Background: I’m now set to graduate in May 2026 after recently accepting a 12-month DevOps internship (Jan 2025–Dec 2025). Up until now, I’ve only had one other internship as a Salesforce engineer (this past summer), where I worked on a small serverless project with Terraform, Azure, and Python. That amounted to 2–3 months of programming, and outside of that, I didn’t get much exposure to SWE-related work. Challenges: – My new grad recruiting experience so far hasn’t gone well. I interviewed for a return offer at my first internship but was rejected. – I’ve only had two interviews for backend intern roles in November (both at the same company), but I didn’t land those either. – I started Leetcoding more seriously this semester (to prep for those two interviews in November) and have worked through about half of the Blind 75. However, I know I still have a lot of ground to cover. Current Opportunity: I recently got this DevOps internship (also at the company I got rejected from for the two backend intern roles) and accepted it because I really wanted the experience. The pay is about average for what you’d expect for an internship in Ontario I think (about $25–$30/hr CAD). I’m viewing this as an opportunity to boost my resume, but I feel like I need to make the most out of it (but idk how). I’m also participating in PwC’s Jump Start Your Career program, where I’ll complete my AWS Cloud Practitioner exam this week and aim to finish the Solutions Architect Associate by the end of April. While I know these certifications are more IT-focused, I felt they wouldn’t hurt to have. My question: How can I leverage this DevOps internship to land a big tech role after I graduate? I know I need to keep grinding Leetcode to pass interviews, but I’m worried about making it past resume screeners. What else can I do during this internship to strengthen my application and stand out to recruiters? TLDR: 4th-year CS student graduating in May 2026 due to taking a 12-month DevOps internship. I only have one prior internship (Salesforce engineer) and limited SWE experience. New Grad Recruiting has been tough, but I want to use this internship to strengthen my resume and eventually land a role in FAANG/big tech. Any advice on what I should focus on during this time? submitted by /u/AggressiveDelivery89 [link] [comments]
Hi Everyone,
I’m a 4th-year CS student at a university in Ontario (not Waterloo or UofT), and I’d appreciate some advice on how to improve my chances of landing a role in FAANG/big tech after I graduate. Here’s my situation:
Background: I’m now set to graduate in May 2026 after recently accepting a 12-month DevOps internship (Jan 2025–Dec 2025). Up until now, I’ve only had one other internship as a Salesforce engineer (this past summer), where I worked on a small serverless project with Terraform, Azure, and Python. That amounted to 2–3 months of programming, and outside of that, I didn’t get much exposure to SWE-related work.
Challenges:
– My new grad recruiting experience so far hasn’t gone well. I interviewed for a return offer at my first internship but was rejected.
– I’ve only had two interviews for backend intern roles in November (both at the same company), but I didn’t land those either.
– I started Leetcoding more seriously this semester (to prep for those two interviews in November) and have worked through about half of the Blind 75. However, I know I still have a lot of ground to cover.
Current Opportunity: I recently got this DevOps internship (also at the company I got rejected from for the two backend intern roles) and accepted it because I really wanted the experience. The pay is about average for what you’d expect for an internship in Ontario I think (about $25–$30/hr CAD). I’m viewing this as an opportunity to boost my resume, but I feel like I need to make the most out of it (but idk how). I’m also participating in PwC’s Jump Start Your Career program, where I’ll complete my AWS Cloud Practitioner exam this week and aim to finish the Solutions Architect Associate by the end of April. While I know these certifications are more IT-focused, I felt they wouldn’t hurt to have.
My question: How can I leverage this DevOps internship to land a big tech role after I graduate? I know I need to keep grinding Leetcode to pass interviews, but I’m worried about making it past resume screeners. What else can I do during this internship to strengthen my application and stand out to recruiters?
TLDR: 4th-year CS student graduating in May 2026 due to taking a 12-month DevOps internship. I only have one prior internship (Salesforce engineer) and limited SWE experience. New Grad Recruiting has been tough, but I want to use this internship to strengthen my resume and eventually land a role in FAANG/big tech. Any advice on what I should focus on during this time?
submitted by /u/AggressiveDelivery89
[link] [comments]